Bulgaria

Formalities

Citizens of the following countries may enter Bulgaria without a visa and stay for up to 90 days:

• All EU countries
• Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Brasil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein, Macau, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, San Marino, Singapore, Switzerland, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela

Foreigners (except for EU citizens) have to register at the police within 72 hours. If you have booked with a travel agency, this will be taken care of. If not, usually your hotel will handle the necessary paperwork (ask). If you do not stay in a hotel, you will need to go to the police and take the tedious task of registering on your own. Bulgarian authorities are really cracking down on this. Failure to register might mean a 2000 Leva fine. Also unless you are an EU citizen take care that you have an entry stamp in your passport, otherwise your exit could be quite troublesome.

By plane

There are four international airports: Sofia, Varna, Bourgas, and Plovdiv. There are a lot of charter and last-minute flight offers to Varna or Bourgas leaving from Western Europe (especially Germany and Great Britain). You can go from German airports to Bulgaria and back for less than 100 Euro, if you are lucky. Recently, several low-cost airlines have also started offering regular flights to Bulgaria. Wizz Air flies directly between Sofia and Budapest and London and has a seasonal service to Bourgas. Hemus Air flies to London Heathrow. EasyJet flies between Sofia and London Gatwick. MyAir flies to Sofia from Milan, Bari, Brussels and Bologna. Sky Europe flies from Bratislava to Sofia, Varna, and Bourgas. The government is planning to open a new airport near Veliko Turnovo (Велико Търново) in the next 5 years.

By train

International trains provide a large number of routes to Bulgaria, notably Sofia and Varna, arriving from such places as Kiev, Istanbul, Vienna, and other common cities. The primary trains from Bucharest to Sofia, and back, run twice daily through the border city of Ruse. For example, recent trains are scheduled from Bucharest to Sofia in the daytime departing 11:35/arriving 21:30 and a night train departing 19:35/arriving 06:10. Passport control and customs takes place in Ruse, approximately mid-trip. Check local train stations for updated information.

By car

If you want to reach Bulgaria from Western Europe by car, you either can take a ferry from Italy to Greece, or you will have to pass through either Serbia (make sure you took a green card from your national insurance company) or Romania. Travelling from Greece you have to go from Thessaloniki towards Serres and then to Promahonas. In Bulgaria you have to pay road tax at the border (around 5 euros for 7 days). You will get a special sticker that you have to place on your car. There are no tolls on Bulgarian roads. Besides the sticker, you may need to pay the Bulgarian authorities health insurance (2 euros per person for 3 days, slightly more for more days) and car disinfection costs (4 euros for a standard car). Make sure you get a receipt! Expect long queues on certain days.

By bus

Buses to and from Sofia go to most major cities in Europe - while Bulgarian bus companies will be cheaper (and mostly offer less comfort), the tickets are hard to get by if you are travelling to Bulgaria, so you can always take Eurolines buses. Don't be surprised if an extra "border fee" is asked from each traveller by the bus driver - it makes your border passing quicker. Most buses from Western Europe will pass through Serbia, so be sure to check if you need a transit visa beforehand (Serbian visas for citizens of the EU have recently been abolished).

By boat