I had a great time at coworking Bansko. I stayed there for a week after my bikepacking trip from Ohrid through Macedonia. Bansko is a wonderful scenic, relaxing place with fresh air and very low living costs. The community is super welcoming and the coworking space a very good, well equipped place to work. There are lots of community activities happening and you won’t get bored.
On my way back I wanted to cycle all the way down to Sofia after I had climbed it all up a week ago. Before you can enjoy the very long downhill ride though you start with a small climb to get you warmed up. Once in the valley, it’s a nice ride along the river to Blagoevgrad. From Blagoevgrad onwards, you are taking the old road next to the newly built highway wich is perfect because there are hardly any cars and cute old restaurants along the way to keep you well fed.
In Dupnica the head wind became so strong that I hardly had a chance with my two front panniers that are not very aerodynamic. So I decided to jump on the train, also because I had a night bus to catch and didn’t want to get fully exhausted. Catching the train was super easy and cheap, if I remember correctly I paid about 2 € for the bike and maybe 4 for the ticket to Sofia. The train is a nice, german built train with a bicycle coach.
If you want to cycle along, check out the route on strava or google maps.