Getting to Bulgaria

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, if you are lucky.

Recently, several low-cost airlines have also started offering regular flights to Bulgaria. Wizz Air flies directly between Sofia and London, Rome, Milan, Barcelona, Valencia, Brussels and Dortmund. Wizz Air flies directly between London Luton Airport and Burgas, Varna airport - the flies are every week all around the year. germanwings offers flights to several European destinations. EasyJet flies between Sofia and London Gatwick, Manchester, Milan and Madrid. MyAir flies to Sofia from Milan, Bari, Brussels and Bologna.

Charter flights can offer very good prices to the black sea airports from a large variety of European cities in summer (such as: Thomas Cook, Thomsonfly, Balkan Holidays Air, Bulgarian Air Charter, Monarch, Condor, Transaero, Utair and many others).

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 Rousse. 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 takes place in Rousse approximately mid-trip. Check local train stations for updated information.

A cheap way of traveling to or from Bulgaria might be the Balkan Flexipass.

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 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). 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

There are no regular boats to Bulgaria. Occasionally there are cruise ships docking in Varna and Bourgas

 

Source: Wikitravel.org