General Information

Getting here

Sofia International Airport is well connected with direct flights from a number of European cities, and with the long-haul destinations, the big European hubs (e.g. London, Frankfurt, Munich) are used.

From the Airport

There are regulated taxi cabs (yellow, company sign reads "OK" and the telephone number 9732121, company website http://www.oktaxi.net/) just outside Arrivals at the airport. The fare from the airport to the city center should not exceed 12-13 BGN given normal traffic conditions. If in doubt look for the taxi booth at Arrivals INSIDE the terminal building and ask for assistance. DO NOT follow anyone who approaches you directly with an offer to take your luggage and give you a ride in their taxi cab without being asked to!

There is a regular bus line operating between Sofia Airport and the city center, Bus 84. The bus ticket costs 1 BGN and must be punched as soon as you get on the bus. You are required to punch an extra ticket for your luggage if it looks bulky (i.e. more than what's generally accepted as hand luggage). Get off at Orlov Most (Орлов мост), once the bus makes a left getting off Tsarigradsko shose (Цариградско шосе, the long road with the fast moving traffic that takes you to the center) if you intend to take the Metro to the conference venue or to your hotel.

Get off at the next stop at General Gurko (Генерал Гурко), once the bus makes a right turn rounding the park with the big Soviet Army monument, if you are walking. From there it is a short walk to the conference venue and to most recommended hotels. Or you could take a trolleybus from across the street (1, 5, 8) and get off at the second stop for the conference venue. Make sure you punch your ticket!

Time Zone

GMT +2 / (UTC +02:00) Helsinki, Kyiv, Riga, Sofia, Tallinn, Vilnius

Voltage and Adaptors

Bulgaria has the usual European power standard. Bulgarian sockets are 2-pin with voltage: 220-240V. Please bring a travel adaptor and voltage converters in order to avoid problems on-site or in your hotel.

In case you need to buy a travel adaptor, the closest place to the congress venue is the City Center Sofia Mall, where you can find any of the technology shops and buy an adapter there: Pulsar; Technomarket or iAbalka.

Internet Access

Wireless internet access will be provided inside the halls where talks, tutorials and workshops are taking place, as well as in the system demonstration area.

All Wi-Fi networks named starting with “ACL” are available for use by the attendees. Normally at any point at the NPC you will see more than one such Wi-Fi network, for example: “ACL”, “ACL Hall3”, etc. There is no general rule which one is better to use. Choose the one with the strongest signal and if you cannot connect to it try to connect to another.

When you connect to the ACL networks at the venue for the first time you will have to open a browser and enter any internet address. You will be redirected to the NPC home page where you simply click “Continue” using the default values in the form you see. You need to do that in order for your device to be registered and to be allowed to access the internet (not just for browsing webpages but also for Skype / e-mail etc.)

More detailed information you can find in our brochure ACL2013 Know Before You Go