Dear guests,
We are happy to welcome you to our beautiful country. With this brochure we would like to offer you important information concerning your visit to Bulgaria so it would be as pleasant and problem-free as possible.
Bulgaria will offer you various opportunities to spend your holiday in a diverse manner and take home with you numerous memorable experiences.
Bulgarian nature impresses with a diversity of much-different landscapes and shapes of nature.
The Black-sea coastline offers the best conditions for a relaxing or - depending on your wishes and preferences - pro-active vacation on the beach.
The inland avails a number of opportunities for you to discover. According to one's particular interests tourists may go skiing - with mountain transfers in well-preserved mountain regions organised for them.

Geographic Location: Bulgaria is in South-Eastern Europe. To the North it borders on Romania, to the East - on the Black sea, to the South - on Turkey and Greece, to the West - on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Macedonia.
Surface: 110,912 sq. km.
Population: 8.4 million. /1995 data/
State Structure: Parliamentary Republic
Capital: Sofia /1.2 million strong/
Official Language: Bulgarian, alphabet - Cyrillic
Religion: East Orthodox Christians /85%/, Muslims /8%/, others /7%/
Time Zone: GMT /London/ + 2 hours, Central European Time /CET/, /Paris, Rome/ + 1 hour
Electric power: 220 V, 50 Hz
Entering the country: EU citizens enter Bulgaria with an international passport that needs to be valid for at least three months more. For questions - turn to the Bulgarian Embassies in the respective country.
Custom formalities: Personal belongings may be imported with no custom fees. Applied to consumption goods are the following regulations for persons older than 16:
- cigarettes 200 items or 250 g. tobacco products
- 2 l. wine, 1 l. alcohol drinks
- coffee 500 g.
Currency Unit: Bulgarian Lev /BGN/, BGN 1 = 100 stotinki, presently coins in circulation are of nominal values 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 stotinki, as well as banknotes of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 leva.
Money Exchange: The Lev /BGN/ is pegged to the Deutsche Mark at an exchange rate DEM 1 : BGN 1. You may change cash in banks or in the numerous change bureaus many of which are open on weekends, too. Euro-checks may be cashed in many of the banks.
Credit cards: Many of the bigger hotels accept VISA- or Master Card. American Express is less popular.
Medical services: Foreigners arriving to Bulgaria are not required to have any compulsory immunisations. All medical establishments in this country perform medical checks, tests and treatment of foreigners. Foreigners pay for the medical services in exchange of an invoice in Bulgarian Leva in cash at the cash desk of the medical establishment or else with a bank transfer from abroad.
Insurances: Persons visiting Bulgaria as tourists or guests may be insured. Insurance of foreign citizens is normally included in the tourist packages of the Bulgarian tour-operators. Foreign tourists may also enter Bulgaria with insurances by foreign insurance companies.
Working Hours: Working hours of state institutions: 9.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m.
Foodstuff shops are usually open from 9.00/10.00 a.m. to 7.00/8.00 p.m. Many shops are also open on weekends and holidays from 9.00 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Banks work from 9.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.
Post and Telecommunication: Working hours of post offices are from 8.00 a.m. to 6 p.m.
You can buy stamps and post cards at the post office desks as well as from newspaper kiosks.
Attention: There are 3 different operators and 3 different phone-cards respectively.
Mobile phones: Larger towns and Black-sea resorts the network has a good coverage. Upon request your operator will gladly give you information about phone calling from a mobile phone in Bulgaria.
Auto-transport: Most tourists arrive to Bulgaria by airplane. Flights from Central Europe last between 2 and 2.5 hours. The Varna International airport is at your disposal. By land Bulgaria may be reached by car, bus, or train.
Petrol filling stations with all types of the fuels used are to be found in all towns and along the motorways. Small fees are paid on the border checkpoints for the use of roads. Custom duty is owed for sailing the Danube and crossing the bridges. You can have the updated rates from the Bulgarian tourist offices. To drive in Bulgaria you need a EU driving licence and a valid insurance card.
Rent-a-car: Big towns, resorts and airports have subsidiaries of the big international rent-a-car companies. You can get the respective information at the hotels or from the tourist agencies.
Taxi: In towns and resorts taxicabs are to be found on the respective stands. All taxicabs in Bulgaria are painted yellow, signalled and with a phone service. They operate with daytime and nighttime rates. Additional pay is owed when ordering (by phone) or idling. The average rate is between BGN 0.35 and BGN 0.50 per kilometre.
Public transport: Towns have a public transport network of buses and vans, while Sofia has also streetcars and a subway. Tariffs are favourable, and fares are normally purchased in advance to boarding the vehicle. Between the bigger towns of Bulgaria there are modern bus shuttles and trains.
Relief: Bulgaria has Bulgaria possesses a variety of natural forms, located in the range of 0 and 2,925 m. altitude. The Bulgarian Black-sea coastline is 378 km. long, and 40% of this country's territory is of mountains.
Flora and Fauna: numerous plantation and animal species are to be found in the various regions of Bulgaria. There are a total of 3 national parks, 9 natural parks, and 16 bio-reserves, of which the Pirin national park and the Srebarna biosphere-reserve are on UNESCO's world heritage list.
Climate: Climate in Bulgaria is determined by the clear-cut seasons. Summer is warm, autumn - long and sunny, while winter in the mountains - with thick snow.
History: Bulgaria has rich history rooted back in ancient times. Especially impressing are relics from the time of Thracians /6th through 3rd c.c. BC/, whose tombs and gold treasures are to be found in various places /Kazanlak, Panagyurishte, Vratsa, Lukovit, Letnitsa, Valchetran, Plovdiv, Varna, Isperih/.
The Bulgarian state was founded in 681 AD and it is one of the first states in Europe. In 855 AD the Saint brothers Cyril and Methodius made the Slavonic alphabet, that served as the basis for the Cyrillic letters. In 1396 Bulgaria fell under Ottoman domination that lasted 5 centuries. Still under Ottoman yoke - in 1650, the Bulgarian National Revival Period started, which found expression above all in the development of the arts, culture, and crafts. Оn March 3rd, 1878, as a result of the Russian-Turkish war, a peace treaty was signed that put an end to the Ottoman domination. After 1944 Bulgaria fell under the influence of USSR.
In the course of the changes in the Eastern Bloc countries the first free elections were held in 1990 and the new democratic Constitution of Bulgaria was passed in 1991.
Culture: Bulgaria has great cultural heritage that is pre-conditioned by its rich history.
In Bulgaria there are 36 cultural reserves, 160 monasteries, some 40,000 monuments of culture, 7 of which are on UNESCO's world cultural heritage list. There are numerous monuments from various historical eras: pre-historic finds, Thracian tombs, archaeological sites of the Hellenic era, Roman and Byzantine castles, historical monuments from the First and the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, from the National Revival Period, architectural ensembles in the bigger towns, as well as entire settlements that have preserved their authentic nature.
The oldest gold in Europe was discovered in the necropolis off Varna. World-famed are the Valchetran gold treasure from the Bronze era, the Panagyurishte, the Vratsa, the Lukovit and the Letnitsa gold treasures dating around 4th c. BC, as well as the Rogozen royal silver treasure. In many regions of the country there are towns and museum villages with authentic Bulgarian architecture from the time of the Bulgarian National Revival. The best known of these are the Old Plovdiv, Veliko Tarnovo, Koprivshtitsa, Tryavna, Arbanassi, Bozhentsi, Zheravna, Melnik, Bansko, Kovachevitsa, Nessebar, Sozopol, etc.
Bulgaria is extremely rich in Monasteries and Churches.
The most visited monasteries are the Rila, the Bachkovo, the Rozhenski, the Troyan, the Preobrazhenski (Transfiguration) ones, as well as Aladja monastery. Also arousing big interest are the hundreds of Churches where one may see unique samples of the Bulgarian iconography, wood-carving, Medieval paintings and icons.
In some monasteries (to name some in Northern Bulgaria: the Dobridolski, the Chirpovtsi, the Klissura, the Chekotinski, the Seven Thrones, the Cherepish, the Glozhene, the Trojan, the Batoshevtsi, the Sveta Gora (Holy Mountain) off Veliko Tarnovo, and the Dryanovo one; and some in Southern Bulgaria - the Rila, the Bachkovo, the Arapya, the Kalofer, and the Maglizh one) you may spend the night in common rooms and thus sense especially intensely the atmosphere of these holy places.


Discover the Inland of the Country

The Bulgarian mountains of Rila, Pirin, the Rhodope, Stara Planina (the Bulgarian name of the Balkan range, meaning 'old mountain'), and Vitosha are bound to astound you with their impressive nature and landscape. Localities like Zheravna, Melnik, Bansko, and Koprivshtitsa, with their old village houses and busy village life provide an insight into provincial Bulgaria. Being a guest you may stay at the cosy little houses, and take delight in the typical dishes for the region and indulge in the contemplative rhythm of living in the Bulgarian mountains. Opportunities for riding, mountain tracking and cycling, as well as the numerous culture events are sure to provide you with days of rich experience.
There are various national parks and protected territories in the mountains. Virgin nature and impressive landscape are a pre-requisite for eco-tourism and track-tours.
And here are also some additional opportunities for vacationing in the Bulgarian mountains: cycling tourism routs; mountain routs for alpinists, numerous caves, rafting in mountain streams, para-gliding, angling in the mountain rivers, hunting tourism.


Official holidays:
January 1- New Year;
March 3 - National Day;
Easter - Two days /Sunday and Monday/ according to the Orthodox calendar /a week after the Catholic Easter/;
May 6 - St. George's Day;
May 24 - Day of the Bulgarian culture and Slav letters;
September 6- National Day on the occasion of Bulgaria's Unification;
September 22- Bulgaria's Independence Day;
November 1 - National Enlighteners Day;
December 25/26 - Christmas


Emergency Phone Numbers:
150 - Emergency
160 - Fire department
166 - Police
1286 - Road aid for Sofia
142 - Road aid outside Sofia


NATIONAL INFORMATION AND ADVERTISING CENTRE WITH THE MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
1000 SOFIA
1, Sveta Sofia Str.
Tel./Fax ++359 2 / 987-9778
Tel. ++359 2 / 987-7617
E-mail: info@bulgariatravel.com
www.bulgariatravel.com