National Archeological Museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences — Attraction in Sofia City

Verdict: A fine museum with fine staff, despite the facility needs some updating. Highly recommend visiting!

Conditions of some exhibitions need to be updated, and they really need to NOT put transparent labels with black-colored fonts on glass cases -- it was impossible to see clearly what the label says if you are not situated at the perfect angle to the label because lighting can be tricky.

But the exhibition items are top-notch, from pre-history times to more modern times. The Thracian treasures are particularly impressive. They have a visitor's pamphlet with maps and exhibition highlights, and actually tell you why some highlights are highlights. The exhibitions are organized by chronology in each room so it's hard to miss out on a particular item you want to see. The staff are really helpful and friendly, very keen to share with visitor's the finer aspects of the exhibits (check out the glass-eyed horseman statue, for example), the details you might be missing when you were just walking by, and in general help you with information and immersion in...

I was pleasantly surprised by this collection. The museum looks tiny from the outside, but it contains an incredible volume and array of unique pieces from throughout the region. I really enjoyed the fact that many of the pieces are displayed on walls and on racks, instead of in glass cases, so you can get a bit closer and have a look at details that you might otherwise miss. The museum also allows photography, and the absence of diplay cases makes for better images. I ended up spending almost two hours there, and one of the docents was kind enough to answer some of my questions, and share some additional information. (If you go, try to find the horse with the glowing eye). If this is your first time visiting Sofia/the region, I would recommend making this one of your first stops. It will give you some context, and also some ideas about places to visit in the city and...

Door closed at 10 am to the museum, only to find that museum was open but just had the door shut.

It’s a small Museum of one large ground floor with a rare sparse display.

Little or no English description in English on the ground floor and therefore best to start of 1st floor with English descriptions., also More Modern displays as ground floor displays looks like they came out of the 80-es.

The first floor which ran through the civilisations of the past was good, with some amazing army helmets. There was an interactive screen in English but could not covert the screens in the other rooms to English.

12 lev entrance is not Worth the money.

The staff look at their phones all the time and when asked if they can turn the interactive displays- usually one per room to English, shrug their shoulders.

Poor experience and not...