Bulgaria

Traveling

Entry requirements

Passport and visa service

Consular service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Visa HQ

Diplomatic representations

Organizing your trip

Means of transport recommended in town

Maps of urban networks

Maporama
UT Library on line
Mapblast

Means of transport recommended in the rest of the country

Rail companies

Airlines

Traveling by yourself

Recommendation

The network is in bad state, especially at the end of the winter. From November to April, important snowfalls turn the traffic difficult. Drive carefully because of the high number of potholes. In case of accident, wait for the police.
The petrol supply facilities are regular (unleaded 95 is available almost everywhere).
Get a civil liability insurance (cost: 20 USD), in addition to the Green card with the "BG" mention.
The tolerated alcohol level in the blood when driving is: 0.5 g/l. There are some frequent police controls.

Road maps

Find an itinerary

Visiting

Different forms of tourism

Historical

Sea resorts:
-Albena, The Golden Sands, Droujba, the coast of the sun, the South coast.
The mountain resorts:
-Pamporovo, Borovetz, Vitocha, Bansko
Other sites:
- Rila's monastery,
- The valley of the roses,
- Kazanlak's grave,
There are also many other sites,monasteries and typical cities.

Tourism organizations

Bulgarian Tourism Board

Living conditions

Health and safety

For further information on sanitary conditions

For further information on safety conditions

Emergency numbers

Time difference and climate

Time and time difference

It is %T:%M %A in Sofia (GMT+2 in winter, GMT+3 in summer)

Summer time period

Summer time from March to October.

Map of the time zone

Type of climate

For further information

Average annual temperatures and rainfall

Eating

Culinary specialties

The Bulgarian food is very similar to the Turkish and to the Greek one. The same specialities are often found but only cooked in a different way.
The mushrooms soup
The Shopska Salad: typical Bulgarian salad prepared with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, olives and feta cheese .
Banitsa: hot fritters with various Bulgarian cheeses (Feta, Kashkaval) or spinach.
Moussaka
Gyuveche: the gyuveche is a terracotta dish in which are blended numerous ingredients such as vegetables, meat or poultry with a tomato sauce, the whole thing being cooked in the oven.
Ayryan: yoghurt-based drink.

Drinks

Dietary taboos

Paying

Domestic currency

Bulgarian Lev

ISO Code

BGN

To obtain domestic currency

The currency is the Lev (plural Leva), 1 Lev = 100 Stotinki. The ISO code of the currency is BGL. The currency is issued in coins of 1, 2 , 5, 10 , 20 and 50 Stotinki and bills of 1, 2 , 5, 10 , 20 and 50 leva.

Possible means of payment

Speaking

Official language

Bulgarian

Other languages spoken

In general, the young polyglot Bulgarians also have some knowledge of English and French. Adults in Bulgaria prefer learning German and the elderly population is particularly interested in Russian and French. But generally speaking, few Bulgarians speak a foreign language in their daily life.

Business language

Russian, English, German and French. Turkish is also used for business in the South.

Getting some knowledge

Free translation tools

SA Dictionary - Free dictionary English-Bulgarian
Ectaco - Free English-Bulgarian-English dictionary
Systran - Free English-Russian-English translator of texts and web pages

Useful resources

To find an accommodation

To find an apartment

To find a job

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