Our home town is young, very green, cool and vibrant. Blagoevgrad is surrounded by cold alpine lakes, high peaks, all-year snow caps, unspoilt forests, mineral springs and resorts. It is a small but very fresh and ravishing place to live and study. Blagoevgrad is a university centre that accommodates 15 000 students (80 000 citizens in total).
The town attracts local citizens and guests with annual cultural events, hiking and baking opportunities, opera, modern restaurants and a rich nightlife. Blagoevgrad is just 90 km away from Sofia, 30 km from Macedonia, 200 from the White Sea and 50 km from two worldwide famous ski resorts. You are welcome here.
Blagoevgrad has a number of cultural inspirations – four theatres, an opera house, several art galleries, a historic museum, a Youth complex, festival halls and others.
Annually, the town hosts music, dance, theatre, art festivals, art exhibitions and concerts. Worldwide stars like Patricia Kaas, Gypsy Kings, Bob Sinclair, Patrick Bruel, ZAZ, Imany, Ayo, LP and Morandi have performed live in Blagoevgrad.
The Youth house embraces the young children of Blagoevgrad. They practice pottery, stained glass craft, ceramics, modelling, painting, musical instruments, robotics and other developing activities.
The cultural calendar is opulent and everyone can find something enriching and satisfying.
The emergency number in Bulgaria is 112. In Blagoevgrad, there are two large multi-profile hospitals, a 24/7/365 emergency centre and numerous smaller specialized hospitals. Erasmus students can use their European Health Card for emergency and urgent care. Dentists in Blagoevgrad work with high precision and professionalism at decent prices. Pharmacies are allowed to sell general drugs like painkillers, some anti-influenza medicines, gels, vitamins, food supplements and others.
Blagoevgrad offers numerous leisure and recreation activities. Some of them include swimming in mineral pools, ski tracking, rafting, hang glider, rope garden, adventure park, karting, hiking, horse riding, fishing, karting, horse riding and others. The town has several public sports facilities for football, tennis on court, basketball, volleyball, boxing, etc.
Blagoevgrad is a relatively small town. The local bus system consists of 7 lines. The ticket price is less than 50 euro cents.
From the central bus station, there are buses going to Sofia every hour. Other popular and available connections include Bansko, The Rila Monastery, Sandanski, Thessaloniki, Athens, Skopje and others. You can check out the buses to Sofia here.
By cab, for less than 3 EUR a person can go from the furthest point to the city centre. The price per/kilometre is 40 euro cents (as of 13.04.2021). There are no scammers in the town.
Blagoevgrad has a very well developed railway system, which connects the town with Sofia. From Sofia, by train, a person can go anywhere in Bulgaria.
Blagoevgrad is among the towns with the highest number of sunny days in Bulgaria. Our climate is warm and pleasant. Summers are warm to hot (35-38C). Winters are short, mild and almost snowless. The best time to visit Blagoevgrad is during the shoulder months from April – May, and September – October. The town is protected from the cold northern winds due to the natural barrier of the high Rila massifs and the hills near the village of Belo Pole. The mountain breeze, descending from the Rila along the Bistritsa river, cools the air during the summer heat. Thanks to the many mountain forests around the town and the lack of industrial pollutants, the air in Blagoevgrad is clean and fresh. Summer is long and dry, characterized by low rainfall.
Our canteen provides a variety of healthy and delicious food at very affordable prices. Our Erasmus+ students have a 50% discount on all meals and drinks. The canteen offers home-made vegan, vegetarian and meat food. Our cooking products are fresh and delivered every day. Students are also able to enjoy takeaway food.
Working hours: 11:30 am – 02:00 pm.
SWU is proud to possess fantastic indoor and outdoor sports facilities, which include but are not limited to a multifunctional sports hall, outdoor fields for tennis on court, basketball, football, gym, athletic tracks and others. Our Erasmus+ students have access to the municipality’s indoor swimming pool.
Additionally, we can offer traditional, Latin and modern dance courses for our students, of course, all free of charge!
Founded in 1976, the heart of our students’ knowledge, possesses 50 computerized workplaces for study and research. Our Erasmus+ students have free access to numerous digital resources provided by SWU and the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science. Students are able to access the resources in-campus and from the dormitory.