Discover Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a country of 110,994 square kilometres and 6.4 million people on the eastern Balkans, south of the Danube and west of the Black Sea, bordering Romania across the river, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south. It is the tenth-largest country in the European Union, which it joined on 1 January 2007, and the newest member of both Schengen, on 1 January 2025, and the euro area, on 1 January 2026, when the lev that had been pegged at 1.95583 to the euro was retired after a month of dual circulation. The capital is Sofia, a city of 1.28 million at the foot of Vitosha; Plovdiv, 144 kilometres to the south-east, has been inhabited since around 6000 BC and is counted the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe; Varna is the third city and the Black Sea's largest resort.

The state dates its founding to 681, when Byzantium recognised the First Bulgarian Empire by treaty; it converted to Orthodox Christianity in 864, developed the Cyrillic alphabet at Preslav, won its own patriarchate in 927, fell to Byzantium by 1018, rose again in 1185, fell to the Ottomans in 1396 and stayed under them for nearly five centuries until the treaty of San Stefano on 3 March 1878. Independence came on 5 October 1908, three wars between 1912 and 1918, the Soviet bloc from 1946, and the end of one-party rule on 10 November 1989. Two-thirds of Bulgarians are Orthodox and about a tenth are Muslim; the language is Bulgarian and the script is Cyrillic, which the country gave to the Slavic world.

For the traveller it is a country of ten World Heritage Sites, the first four inscribed in 1979 and the last in 2017: Rila Monastery 117 kilometres south of Sofia, the Thracian tomb at Kazanlak, the Madara Rider carved into a cliff in the early 8th century, Nesebar on its peninsula, Boyana's frescoes of 1259, the Pirin mountains and the Srebarna pelican marsh; of Musala at 2,925 metres, the highest summit in the Balkans; of 378 kilometres of coast; and of a biodiversity counted among Europe's richest, with 434 bird species and 93 of the continent's 233 mammals. Over 13 million foreign visitors came in 2024, most from Romania, Turkey, Greece, Germany and Britain, and most of them to the beaches and the ski slopes. The Sofia Metro costs 80 cents, Rila's museums 12 euros for the lot, and the emergency number is 112.

Is Bulgaria in the euro and Schengen?

Both: Schengen since 1 January 2025 and the euro since 1 January 2026, when the lev was retired. Prices are in euros and old leva are no longer accepted.

Do I need a visa?

Schengen rules: 90 days in any 180 for eligible passports, a passport issued within ten years and valid three months beyond departure, and biometric registration under the EU's Entry/Exit System on a first visit.

How much is the Sofia Metro?

80 cents a ride, 2 euros for a day card, 3 euros for 24 hours including night buses, 7.60 euros for 72 hours; bank cards work at the barriers.

How do I visit Rila Monastery?

It is 117 kilometres south of Sofia; the museums open daily from 8:30, to 16:30 in winter and 19:30 from June to September, and a combined ticket is 12 euros. Cover shoulders and knees and put the camera away inside.

What are the emergency numbers?

112 for everything.

Is it safe to drive?

Legal with a vignette, headlights on and winter tyres in season, but the advisories call the driving aggressive and the roads variable; the blood-alcohol limit is 0.05 per cent and the police fine on the spot.