Boyana Church, Sofia: Tickets, Opening Hours, Getting There

All prices are in euro: Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026. We checked ticket prices, hours and visiting rules on 4 November 2026 on the church's official website and the National History Museum's site (the church has been a branch of the museum since 2003). Our tour and transfer prices were read from our booking system on the same day, and the price shown when you book is the one that counts.

Boyana Church tickets and prices

These are the prices the official site lists today:

Entry is free on the last Monday of every month after 15:00, on 18 May (International Museum Day), on 17 September (Sofia Day) and on 1 November. No reservations are taken during those hours, so expect a queue. Visitors with disabilities and one companion also go in free. Tickets are sold at the desk on site; the only advance option is the email booking described below. The combined ticket with the National History Museum that appeared on the old price list is no longer on the current one, so budget for two separate tickets.

Boyana Church opening hours

• Winter, 1 November to 31 March: daily 09:00 to 17:30, last tickets 17:20.
• Summer, 1 April to 31 October: daily 09:30 to 18:00, last tickets 17:50.
• Closed: 1 January, Orthodox Easter Sunday, 24 and 25 December.

There is no weekly closing day, so it is a good Monday plan when some of Sofia's museums are shut. If you are in town for Christmas, note that 24 and 25 December are exactly the days it closes.

Visiting rules: 9 people, 10 minutes, no photos

The rules are strict for a reason: every visitor adds humidity to a very small space, and the paintings are more than 760 years old. The museum asks everyone to follow these:

• A maximum of 9 visitors inside the church at once.
• 10 minutes in the medieval rooms. Entry runs in 15 minute slots, and some slots are kept for booked groups.
• No photography or filming inside, phones included. The churchyard and park are fine.
• No food or drink on the museum grounds, no smoking or vaping, no drones, and no dogs (guide dogs in the courtyard only).
• There is a wheelchair and pushchair ramp, and there are toilets.

Do you need to book Boyana Church in advance?

Individual visitors and small groups of up to 5 can turn up without a booking, buy a ticket and take the next free slot. Organised groups are admitted only with a confirmed reservation. You can reserve a slot on site after buying your ticket, or by email at reservation@boyanachurch.info: if your time is free, they send bank details, and your proof of transfer serves as the ticket. If you want a fixed time, arrive at opening time or email a few days ahead.

What you see inside: the 1259 frescoes

The 1259 paintings hold nearly 240 human faces, many with individual expressions and moods, which is rare for the 13th century and why some art historians call Boyana a forerunner of the Renaissance. Ten minutes is not long, so here is what to look for:

1. The donor portraits: Sebastocrator Kaloyan and his wife Desislava, full length in rich robes. Kaloyan holds a model of the church and offers it to St Nicholas. Opposite them stand Tsar Constantine Tikh Asen and Tsaritsa Irina, with halos. They are among the oldest surviving portraits of real people from medieval Bulgaria.
2. 18 scenes from the life of St Nicholas on the narthex arch, from his birth to his death. Among them is the Miracle of the Carpet, the only medieval wall painting of that story.
3. The Last Supper: look at the table. The food includes turnips and onions, local Bulgarian fare rather than anything from the Gospel account.
4. St Ivan of Rila, founder of Rila Monastery: the oldest known image of him.
5. St Ephraim the Syrian, whose eyes are said to follow you wherever you stand. Test it.
6. Christ Pantocrator in the dome, and the Archangel Gabriel of the Annunciation, a calm, perfectly balanced figure that recalls classical sculpture.

The building grew in three stages: the eastern church in the late 10th or early 11th century, the painted central part in the 13th century and the western wing in the mid 19th century. It was a working parish church until 1954, and the last major restoration of the frescoes was completed in 2006.

The park and the giant sequoias

Do not leave straight after your ten minutes. The park around the church, about 6,800 square metres, has three giant sequoias planted by King Ferdinand himself in 1907 or 1908, and the grave of Queen Eleonora, who saved the church in 1912. The villagers wanted to pull it down and build a bigger one; she gave them another plot of land instead.

How to get to Boyana Church

The address is 3 Boyansko Ezero Street in the Boyana district, on Sofia's southwestern edge, about 8 km from the centre.

• Taxi: the simplest option, roughly 15 to 25 minutes depending on traffic.
• Bus 65: since 15 April 2026 the new line 65 runs from Krasno Selo metro station and ends at the church. The church's older website still lists buses 64 and 107, but line 107 was rerouted in April 2026, so check the current route in Sofia's public transport app before you set off.
• By car: the official site lists no museum car park, so park in the nearby streets and read the signs. If you want your own wheels for the area, see car hire.

Landing in Sofia and keen to start with Boyana? The airport is on the opposite side of the city, so drop your bags first with a private transfer from Sofia Airport to the city centre, from €30 per car, and head to Boyana the next morning.

Boyana Church and the National History Museum

The National History Museum, one of the richest museums in the Balkans, is about 2.5 km by road from the church, in the building that used to be the head of state's residence in Boyana. Since the church visit is short, the two fit together well: an hour at Boyana including the park, then an hour and a half to two hours in the museum, with Thracian gold treasures and the story of Bulgaria up to today.

• Tickets: €9 adults, €2 pupils and students, €3 over 65. There is a family rate for visitors with children: €3 per adult and €2 per child over 7. Preschool children go free.
• Hours: October to March 09:30 to 18:00 (last tickets 17:15), April to September 09:30 to 19:00. Closed on 1 January, Easter Sunday and 24 and 25 December.
• Public transport: buses 63, 111 and 304, and trolleybus 2.

For the rest of the city's museums, see our guide to the best museums in Sofia.

Boyana Church and Vitosha in one day

Boyana sits right where the city ends and the mountain begins, so most people pair it with a morning or afternoon on Vitosha. The mountain itself, the Golden Bridges stone river and the walks are covered in the Vitosha and Boyana section of our day trips from Sofia guide. A few practical ways to do it:

• A half day in central Sofia and on Vitosha with a local host, €80 per adult and €40 per child, roughly 09:30 to 14:30. It does not include Boyana, so add it yourselves: a short taxi ride once you are back down, and in winter the church is open until 17:30.
• A full day on Vitosha with the Bells Park, two lakes and mineral pools, €90 per adult and €50 per child, with a stop at the Golden Bridges, about 14 km by road from the church. The €15 pool entry is not included.
• Central Sofia, Vitosha and the Rila mountains in a day, €90 per person, including the Golden Bridges and the Kopitoto viewpoint. The pool ticket is extra.
• Boyana Waterfall: a circular walking route leaves the Boyana district for Boyana Lake and the 25 m waterfall, a half day walk in almost every season.

On our tours you pay 20% online when you book and the rest to your host at the end of the tour.

Boyana Church with kids

Ten minutes is about as long as most children manage in a quiet room, which makes Boyana easier than it sounds. Under 7s go free, school pupils pay €3 and there is a ramp for pushchairs. Prepare them: inside you whisper and touch nothing. Give them a mission before you go in, such as finding Kaloyan holding a tiny church, or checking whether St Ephraim's eyes really follow them. Then let them loose among the sequoias, and if there is energy left, use the family rate at the National History Museum.

Where to stay and what else to do in Sofia

You are back in the centre within half an hour, so there is no need to stay in Boyana itself. Pick from our hotels in Sofia and fill the other days from our tours and activities in Sofia.

Frequently asked questions

The bottom line

Boyana Church is worth the trip as long as you go in with the right expectations: a short, strictly timed visit to a tiny room of extraordinary paintings. Pair it with the National History Museum or Vitosha and it becomes a very good half day. To see where it fits in a longer stay, read Sofia in 3 days, and for the rest of the country, our Bulgaria attractions guide.