Sofia drinks well and cheaply. The café-on-the-pavement is a daily institution; bars range from grungy student dives in Studentski Grad to elegant rakia gardens in old houses behind the cathedrals.
The current hot streets are around Krastyo Sarafov and Shishman in the centre, with everything from craft-beer taps to wine bars. The student quarter has the cheapest beer and the latest closing times. Rakia bars specialise in Bulgaria's national spirit — order it chilled, with a shopska salad, and you have understood half the country.