Know before you go : Bulgaria Edition

In this article, I’ll make an overview of everything useful to know before going to Bulgaria, including some travel tips.

You’ll find : 

Bulgaria is a country located in Southeast Europe. The country shares borders with Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece and Turkey.

The capital is Sofia, and the largest city in Bulgaria as well. The city is located inland, at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country.

The city covers 492km² and Sofia’s population is around 1,25 million.

The best time to visit Bulgaria is in Summer (June through August). Otherwise there’s rain and chilly weather.

We went in May and it was overall a good weather (max 19 degrees). We had a storm and rain one afternoon, otherwise it was just a bit cold at night.

The currency in Bulgaria is the bulgarian lev (BGN) and the current exchange rate (February 2025) is 1 BGN equals 0,51 €.

Most restaurants and museums accept the card for paiements, but I recommend withdrawing money for subway tickets for example.

The prices for restaurants vary depending if you go to touristy areas or more local places, but overall it’s quite cheap.

As we prefered to try local food (shopska salad, grilled meat…), the restaurants we went to weren’t expensive (maximum 20€ per person each time).

Regarding the places to visit such as the various monasteries or the different churches, the entrance was free and for the main museums around 3€.

Regarding accomodations, you can find most Airbnb / hotels in downtown Sofia around 50€ per night for two people.

Clothing : I would suggest packing something for the rain, because even though we went in Bulgaria at the end of May, we had quite the storm one afternoon.

If you plan on coming in May, it’s a bit chilly as well as the sun sets, so bring pants and a sweater in case.

Adapter: Bulgaria uses Type C and F power outlets, like most European countries. Travelers from outside Europe will need a plug adapter. A power bank is also handy for keeping your devices charged during a long day of exploration !

There’s a lot to bring back from Bulgaria !

Traditional items : When exploring the different towns, you’ll come across really beautiful pottery and ceramics (plates, bowls, trivets…), but there’s also a lot of handmade wood objects, wool products.

Food : Food-wise, you can bring back lokum (sweet treat), rakia (bulgarian spirit), wine, herbs or spices.

The official language is Bulgarian (it is written using Cyrillic, the same alphabet that is used to write Russian), however you can manage in English.

But here are a few words you can use :

Hello: Здравейте (Zdraveyte) [ZDRAH-veh-teh]

Thank you: Благодаря (Blagodarya) [blah-GOH-dah-ree-ah]

You’re welcome: Няма защо (Nyama zashto) [NYAH-mah zah-SHTOH]

I (don’t) understand: Разбирам / Не разбирам ((Ne) razbiram) [(neh) rahz-BEE-rahm]

Sorry: Извинявай (Izvinyavai) [eez-vee-NYAH-vai]

My name is…: Казвам се… (Kazvam se…) [KAHZ-vahm seh]

Yes / No: Да / Не (Da / Ne) [DAH / NEH]

As we came from France, our mobile plan included internet and calls in Bulgaria.

However if you need to buy one upon arrival, A1 Bulgaria has great options available for tourists and it’s not expensive at all.

If you are planning on visiting only Sofia, you absolutely don’t need a car. But if you plan to visit more of Bulgaria, I recommend booking with EasyRent. They were the only car rental company with cars available last minute, we even got upgraded with an amazing car and got the full insurance coverage. Even though they took a long time to give the deposit back, they’ve been very kind and helpful !

There’s a lot of things to see in Bulgaria ! You can spend a day in visiting Sofia, discover the countryside, see the Monasteries …You won’t be bored a second !

Here’s a list of the best things to do in Bulgaria :

That’s it for my Bulgaria travel tips ! To have a lot more information and pictures about these places, you can read my ultimate Bulgaria itinerary.

I have also made a detailed post about the best day trips from Sofia, one about the food specialties to try out  and another one about what to see in Sofia.