Swimming Pools in Sofia: Outdoor, Indoor, Rooftop and Mineral

Sofia gets hot in July and August and sits on mineral springs, so its pools range from Olympic lap lanes to warm mineral water at the foot of the mountains. These are the 14 pools I'd pick in and around the city, grouped by what you want from a swim, with summer hours, the season, typical prices and the rules that catch visitors out.

Sofia's pools at a glance

City pools for swimming and a day in the sun

1. Vazrazhdane Complex

Vazrazhdane is the pool I'd send most visitors to, because it sits in a park close to the center, with a metro station, buses and trolleybuses nearby. The municipal complex covers 6,600 square meters inside Vazrazhdane Park, with 5 outdoor pools, 8 slides and about 500 sunbeds.

It works all year. Besides the summer aquapark, there is an indoor pool, a sauna park with a steam bath and Finnish and infrared saunas, a salt room and a bistro. The complex is open from 7 AM to 11 PM, and the outdoor aquapark from 9 AM to 7 PM in season, at 4 Bulgarska Morava Street.

2. Diana Swimming Complex

Diana is the serious swimmer's pool. It belongs to the National Sports Complex Diana at 1 Nikola Gabrovski Street, and its 3 outdoor pools are all Olympic size, open from 1 June to 31 August, with a diving tower and stands for 2,500 people.

The indoor pool is 50 by 20 meters, 2.8 meters deep, with 8 lanes and water at 27°C all year. The indoor hall is open to the public and holds up to 500 people. A gym, sauna, steam bath and jacuzzi sit beside it, parking is free, and buses 94, 88 and 102 stop nearby.

3. Spartak Swimming Complex

Spartak is in Lozenets at 4 Arsenalski Boulevard, next to South Park, and it is the lap pool I'd pick if you are staying south of the center. It has 2 indoor pools of 50 meters and 25 meters, a children's pool, an outdoor beach and a 25-meter outdoor pool with a 10-meter diving tower.

There is a sauna, a steam bath, a gym and a cafe, and it opens from 7 AM to 9 PM. Buses 76 and 102 stop close by.

4. Pulse Beach West Park

Pulse Beach is a big modern outdoor pool complex in Lyulin, at 60 Doctor Peter Dertliev Boulevard, run by the Pulse Fitness chain. It has cabanas, music and full beach-club service, and it opens daily from 9 AM to 8 PM in summer.

I'd pick it for a long, lazy day with friends, with lunch and a drink by the water. Lyulin is in the west of the city, and metro line 1 runs out to it from the center.

5. Varadero Complex

Varadero is a long-standing local favorite in the Levski G district in the northeast of the city, near Letostrui Street. It has a large pool, rows of sunbeds and a summer beach bar, and it opens daily from 9 AM to 8 PM.

I'd go for an unfussy local afternoon in the sun. Come early on a Saturday if you want a sunbed.

6. Akademik Swimming Club

Akademik is a working sports pool near Studentski Grad, the student town, and Geo Milev. It is popular for lap swimming and training sessions, and it opens from 7:30 AM to 8:30 PM.

I'd use it on a longer stay in the southeast of the city to keep up a swimming routine.

7. Hotel Montecito Pool

Hotel Montecito has a large outdoor pool in a quiet garden at 357 Tsarigradsko Shose Boulevard, on the road toward the airport. It serves food and drinks by the pool, and it opens daily from 9 AM to 7 PM in summer.

Cabana sits on the same boulevard at number 133, so the two suit anyone staying on the east side of the city.

Rooftop pools in Sofia

8. Kitchen 59 Rooftop Pool

Kitchen 59 has a pool on the roof of its hotel and co-living building at 59 Tsar Boris III Boulevard in Hipodruma, one level above its rooftop bar, with views over the city toward Vitosha. The pool opens from June to mid-September, and hotel guests get it first.

The pool area opens from 10 AM to 10 PM. The tram stops outside the building and the center is about 15 minutes away, and the bar below is one of Sofia's best rooftop bars once the sun goes down.

9. Cabana Rooftop Beach Bar

Cabana is a summer beach bar on the 5th floor of the Walltopia building in Poligona, at 133 Tsarigradsko Shose Boulevard. It has a pool, loungers, bean bags and a 360-degree view over Sofia, and it opens from 11 AM to 11 PM.

A front-row sunbed costs about €23, and cocktails about €10 to €14. Weekend evenings turn into DJ parties, so I'd come in the afternoon for the pool and stay for the music only if that is your plan.

Mineral pools in and around Sofia

Sofia sits on hot springs, and while the Central Mineral Baths in the center have been a museum since 2015, the springs at Pancharevo, Bankya and further out still fill public pools. Korali and Infinity Center sit in Pancharevo, Aqua Bankya is the one you can reach by train, and the last two are a drive of 20 to 40 minutes.

10. Korali Complex

Korali sits right above Pancharevo Lake, on the edge of Pancharevo village along Samokovsko Shose, about 15 km southeast of the center. It is a classic of the Sofia summer, with natural thermal mineral water, direct views over the lake and the mountains behind.

It opens from 9 AM to 7 PM. If you only try one mineral pool near Sofia, this is the one I'd choose, for the lake view alone.

11. Infinity Center Pancharevo

Infinity Center is a modern wellness and pool venue, also in Pancharevo village. It offers thermal mineral water, loungers and a forest setting, and it opens from 10 AM to 8 PM.

I'd pick it for a spa day among the trees, and Korali for the view over the water.

12. Aqua Bankya

Aqua Bankya is in the spa town of Bankya, at 2 Tsar Osvoboditel Street, about 17 km west of the center. It is known for clean thermal mineral water and family-friendly pools, and it opens from 9 AM to 7 PM.

Bankya is the easiest mineral pool to reach without a car. Trains from Sofia Central Station take about 25 minutes and cost about €1, and the drive takes about 25 minutes too.

13. St Sofia Golf and Spa

The St Sofia golf club in Ravno Pole village, about 20 minutes' drive from the city, has a mineral pool surrounded by its greens. It opens from 8:30 AM to 8 PM.

On hot summer weekends it is worth reserving a sunbed in advance, and you need a car or a taxi to get there.

14. Belchin Garden

Belchin Garden, at the Belchinski Izvori springs in Belchin village, is a thermal spa resort about 40 minutes south of Sofia, near Samokov. Its mineral pools face the mountains, and it opens from 9 AM to 8 PM.

It is the furthest out of the mineral pools, and it fits on the road to Borovets, the ski resort 10 km above Samokov, if you are heading that way.

Waterparks and pools for kids

Vazrazhdane, with its slides and mini waterpark, is the best family pool in the city itself. For a bigger day out with children, these three waterparks sit just outside Sofia.

Paradise has slides and plenty of lawn for lounging, Windmills has several themed pools and slides, and Konza has large pools and slides away from the city traffic. For Sofia with kids on a hot afternoon, Aqua Bankya's family pools add warm mineral water to the list.

Indoor pools for the rest of the year

From September to May, Sofia's swimming moves indoors. Diana's 50-meter indoor pool is kept at 27°C all year, Spartak has its 50-meter and 25-meter indoor pools, and Vazrazhdane has an indoor pool next to its sauna park. All three let the public in.

Several hotels have indoor pools too. Sense Hotel Sofia, Hilton Sofia and Maison Sofia have them, and Grand Hotel Millennium has a pool with panoramic views. If a pool matters to you on a trip to Sofia in winter, the best hotels in Sofia with spas are the simplest way to have one.

Lakes and the sea near Sofia

Pancharevo Lake, below Korali, is a half day out of the city for a walk or a picnic by the water. The mountain lakes are a different matter: the Seven Rila Lakes sit inside a national park that bans swimming and even dipping your feet.

For proper sea swimming, the Bulgarian Black Sea coast lies across the country to the east, and its beach season runs from June to early September, with July and August the crowded months.

Pool season, prices and rules in Sofia

The outdoor season runs from early June to early September. A few heated pools open on the last weekend of May if it is warm enough, and the municipal pools open between 1 and 15 June. Mineral pools like Korali and Belchin Garden stay open much longer, some of them all year. The best time to visit Sofia for a pool day is July and August, when highs sit around 26°C and heatwaves can push past 35°C.

A ticket usually includes a sunbed and an umbrella while they last. Most open-air pools work on a first come, first served basis at the door, and only the rooftops and the busiest resorts take sunbed reservations.

Getting there is easy for the city pools. Vazrazhdane, Pulse Beach and Spartak are on or near Sofia's metro and bus lines, and the out-of-town ones need a train, a car or one of the licensed taxis in Sofia. Public transport for getting around Sofia costs €0.80 a ride on a contactless card, capped at €2 a day.