Military Museum Sofia

Military Museum, Sofia - darkometer rating : 3 - The National Military History Museum (to give it its official full name) covers Bulgaria 's military history from way back to almost the present day. The older bits may be less interesting to dark tourists, but the 20th century sections have some highly noteworthy items. A particular attraction to those into these things is the extensive collection of large military hardware in the open-air part, including Soviet -era fighter jets, tanks, and large missiles. > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos What there is to see: When I visited this museum (in April 2011) it was part of a larger package (see the sponsored page for " Communism Tours ") and involved a guided tour through the museum's exhibition halls. Such guidance would not strictly speaking have been necessary, though: Labels and most explanatory text panels in the museum are bilingual in Bulgarian and English (of more or less OK translation quality) so that you can extract as much information as you want on an independent visit. Without a guide setting the pace you also have more flexibility as to where you want to linger longer or which bits to swing past more quickly. I would have preferred that. That said, however, the guide was very good – highly competent in English, pleasant and obviously knowledgeable too, and here and there clearly adding extra information not covered by the text panels/labels. She even allowed me to take photos. So I'm not complaining. It's just that I think many dark tourists, tending towards being independently minded, might prefer to go round the museum on their own. The museum's halls are spread over two wings and 4 floors (3 if you discount the floor for temporary exhibitions) in the main building.