🇧🇬Bulgaria

The Schengen arithmetic

• 90 days in any rolling 180. Not 90 days per visit and not 90 days per country. Every day anywhere in the Schengen area counts against the same allowance.
• Bulgaria has been a full Schengen member since 1 January 2025. Air and sea controls went on 31 March 2024 and the land borders followed on 1 January 2025, so driving in from Romania or Greece is no longer a border check.
• This changes your day count. Bulgaria used to sit outside the 90/180 clock and now sits inside it.
• The rolling window is the part people get wrong. On any given day, count back 180 days and add up your Schengen days in that period.
• The passport must have been issued within the last 10 years and be valid for 3 months beyond your intended departure.

EES: no more stamps

• The EU Entry/Exit System has been fully operational since 10 April 2026.
• Your face and fingerprints are registered on first entry at a Schengen external border, and reused on later trips.
• No stamp goes in your passport. The system computes your 90/180 balance itself.
• Keep your own record of entry and exit dates. If the system's view and yours differ, you want the evidence.

ETIAS: not yet, and no date

• ETIAS has not launched and there is no announced launch date. The Q4 2026 target that circulated through 2025 was removed from the official pages in July 2026.
• Applications are not open. Any website selling you an ETIAS today is a scam.
• When it comes, the fee is EUR 20, free for under-18s and over-70s. The old EUR 7 figure is obsolete.
• It will be a travel authorisation, not a visa, valid three years or until the passport expires.

Where your nationality lands

• The Schengen short stay visa fee is EUR 90, EUR 45 for children aged 6 to 11.

• Turkey, Serbia and North Macedonia are outside Schengen. The crossings to all three are external borders, so a side trip leaves the area and your EES record follows you back in.

• Between EU countries there is no duty-free limit. Goods bought tax-paid in another member state travel with you; customs may only ask what a very large quantity is for, against indicative figures of 800 cigarettes and 10 litres of spirits.
• The tobacco allowance is the lower one for land and sea arrivals: 40 cigarettes rather than 200. The rest of the allowance is the EU standard - 1 litre of spirits over 22 % (or 2 litres of fortified or sparkling wine), 4 litres of still wine and 16 litres of beer.
• Other goods are capped by value - EUR 430 arriving by air or sea, EUR 300 by land - and the allowance cannot be pooled between travellers for a single item.
• Cash of EUR 10,000 or more must be declared, counting notes, coins, cheques and prepaid cards together. The money is seized for not declaring it, not for carrying it.
• The Turkish border at Kapitan Andreevo is where this is enforced, and it is the busiest land crossing into the EU.

Cover

• EU and EEA visitors: carry your EHIC. It gives access to state healthcare on the same terms as a resident.
• UK visitors: the GHIC does the same job. Neither card is travel insurance, and neither covers repatriation or a private clinic.
• Travel insurance still matters for anything the state system does not cover.
• Private clinics in Sofia are inexpensive and quick, and are what many residents use for anything non-urgent.

Ticks

• Tick-borne encephalitis is present in Bulgarian forests and the season runs spring to autumn. The vaccine is worth discussing if you are hiking or camping.
• Lyme disease is the commoner infection. Cover up, use repellent, check yourself after a day outdoors.

Everyday health

• Tap water is safe in the cities; in remote villages ask.
• Pharmacies (apteka) are well stocked and pharmacists advise on minor problems.
• Bring enough prescription medicine for the trip plus a margin, in original packaging with a copy of the prescription.

Two seasons, two countries

• The Black Sea coast is a July and August proposition. Sunny Beach and Golden Sands fill and empty completely; out of season much of the infrastructure closes.
• Bansko, Borovets and Pamporovo are winter resorts and are among the cheapest ski destinations in Europe. Their season runs roughly December to April.
• Sofia and Plovdiv work all year and are where the country's actual life is.

Practicalities

• You will be asked for your passport at check-in.
• A city tourist tax applies on top of the rate in most places.
• Plovdiv is the better base than Sofia for a short cultural trip - one of Europe's oldest continuously inhabited cities, and considerably prettier.
• Book Bansko early for the season. It is small and it fills with British and Israeli ski traffic.

If you have an EU plan, stop reading

• Roam-like-at-home applies. A SIM from any EU or EEA country works here at your domestic rates, with your domestic allowance. Buying anything local is money wasted.
• UK plans are not covered any more. Several UK networks reintroduced EU roaming charges after Brexit - check yours before you land rather than after.

Local prepaid SIM

• A1, Yettel and Vivacom cover the country, including the Black Sea coast and the ski resorts.
• Prepaid starter packs are cheap and sold in operator shops and malls.
• Bring your passport - prepaid SIMs are registered.

eSIM

• An eSIM is live before you land and skips the shop entirely, which on a short trip is the whole argument for it.
• Check your phone takes one. Most flagship phones since 2019 do; most budget models do not.

Practical points

• Keep your home number reachable for two-factor codes. If you swap in a local SIM as your only card, bank apps that text a code to your home number stop working at the worst possible moment. A dual-SIM phone, or an eSIM alongside your home SIM, solves it.
• Wi-fi is widespread in cafes, hotels and stations.

Sockets in Bulgaria are Type C and F at 230 V, 50 Hz - the round Schuko outlet.

• A Europlug fits every socket in the country.
• British, American and Australian plugs need an adapter.
• Greece, Turkey, Romania, Serbia and North Macedonia all use the same socket, so nothing changes at a Bulgarian border.
• 230 V, so American 120 V-only appliances need a converter.
• Sofia's older apartment blocks often have two-pin unearthed sockets that take the same plugs with no earth behind them.
• Type F is the earthed version of the same outlet, with clips on the rim rather than a third hole, so a two-pin adapter fits but earths nothing.

The head shake

• Bulgarians shake their head for yes and nod for no. This is real, it is not a myth, and it will confuse you on your first day.
• It is inconsistent with foreigners - many Bulgarians switch to the western convention when speaking English, which makes it worse rather than better.
• When it matters, ask for words. "Da" is yes and "ne" is no.

Language and script

• Bulgarian is written in Cyrillic, which Bulgaria invented and is quietly proud of.
• Learning the alphabet takes an hour and transforms your ability to read street signs, menus and station boards. It is the single highest-return thing you can do before this trip.
• English is widely spoken by younger people and in the tourist economy, less so elsewhere; Russian among older Bulgarians.

Power

• 230 V, 50 Hz, sockets type C and F. The same round two-pin plugs as most of continental Europe.

Manners

• Take your shoes off indoors in someone's home.
• Orthodox churches expect covered shoulders and knees.
• Do not confuse Bulgarian with Russian, and do not assume the Soviet period is a neutral topic.

The lev is gone

This is the fact that invalidates most published Bulgarian price information.

• Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026, becoming the 21st member of the euro area.
• The fixed conversion rate was EUR 1 = BGN 1.95583.
• The lev stopped being legal tender on 1 February 2026, ending 146 years of the currency.
• Dual pricing in both currencies was mandatory until 8 August 2026, so even that transitional signposting has now ended.

Practically: any guidebook, blog or price list quoting lev is describing a currency you cannot spend. Divide old lev prices by roughly 1.96 to get a sense of the euro figure, and expect some rounding upward in practice, as happens in every changeover.

Cards and cash

• Cards work nearly everywhere and contactless is standard.
• Carry some cash for village shops, markets and mountain huts.
• Commercial banks were required to exchange lev coins for euro free of charge through the first half of 2026 - if you have leftover lev from an earlier trip, that window has closed for most purposes and the central bank is the remaining route.

ATMs

• Always refuse the machine's offer to charge you in your own currency. Dynamic currency conversion at an ATM or a card terminal costs several per cent, every time, and the offer is worded to sound helpful. Choose the local currency and let your own bank convert.
• Use bank ATMs rather than the independent machines in tourist areas, which add their own fee on top.

Tipping

• Around 10 per cent in restaurants where service is not included.
• Check the bill. Some tourist-area restaurants add service and hope you tip again.

The road vignette

• The Bulgarian vignette is electronic and tied to your plate. No sticker.
• Buy it online at bgtoll.bg, at a petrol station or at the border before joining a national road.
• Rental cars usually have one - confirm it in writing.

Buses over trains

• Intercity buses are faster, more frequent and more comfortable than the trains on almost every route. This is the reverse of most of Europe and it is worth knowing before you plan.
• Sofia to Plovdiv or Varna is a bus journey, run by several competing companies from the central bus station.
• The train is cheap and slow, and scenic on the Septemvri to Bansko narrow-gauge line, which is worth doing for its own sake.

In Sofia

• The metro is modern and cheap and reaches the airport, the centre and the main stations.
• Buy tickets in the app or from a machine.
• Validate every time.

Driving

• Mountain roads are good but weather-dependent, and winter tyres are compulsory from mid-November to the beginning of March.
• Some passes close in winter.

An electronic vignette bought before the first motorway, and roads that vary sharply once you leave them.

• The e-vignette is bought online or at a petrol station and is tied to the plate; weekend, weekly, monthly and annual versions exist.
• The alcohol limit is 0.5 g/l.
• Motorway quality is good and the secondary network is not. The A1 to Burgas and the A2 to Varna are modern; the mountain roads to Bansko and the Rhodopes are narrow, unlit and slow.
• Winter tyres are required from 15 November to 1 March.
• Dipped headlights are compulsory all year.
• Fuel is among the cheapest in the EU, which is why cars from neighbouring countries fill up before crossing back.

Taxis

• The rigged meter is Bulgaria's signature scam and it operates at the airport, at Sofia's stations and in tourist areas.
• Read the per-kilometre rate on the car window before you get in.
• Use Bolt, or book from an official desk.
• Insist on the meter and take the printed receipt.

The mountains

• Bulgarian mountain rescue is PSS, reachable on 1470 as well as 112.
• The Rila and Pirin ranges are serious mountains with fast weather and avalanche risk in winter.
• Off-piste skiing is where the accidents happen and rescue is not free - check your insurance covers it.
• Marked trails close in winter and the marking is not always maintained.

Crime

• Violent crime against visitors is rare.
• Pickpocketing happens in Sofia's crowds and on busy coastal promenades.
• Card skimming has been reported at independent ATMs; use bank machines.
• Bar and nightclub overcharging occurs in the coastal resorts - check prices before ordering.

Roads

• Bulgaria's road safety record is poor by EU standards.
• Mountain roads are narrow and unlit, and winter conditions arrive early.

The numbers

• 112 works from any phone, free, with no credit and no SIM, and operators handle English.

If you need help

• Report a theft to the police and get a written record. No insurer will pay a claim without one, and obtaining it later from another country is close to impossible.
• A lost passport means the police first, then your embassy.
• Your embassy cannot pay your bills or get you out of jail, but it can issue emergency travel documents, contact your family and provide lists of local lawyers and doctors.

Before you need them

• Save 112 in your phone now, and write your accommodation's address somewhere that does not depend on a charged battery.

• Not every country keeps an embassy in Bulgaria. Several cover it from a neighbouring capital - check yours before you need to know.

• 1470 is the number to save before going into the Rila or Pirin. It reaches mountain rescue directly.