Visit Bulgaria

Located on the Balkan Peninsula in southeast Europe, Bulgaria shares a border with Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Macedonia and Romania. Its beautiful Black Sea coastline stretching from Romania to Turkey has endless sandy beaches. Here are some basic facts about this destination:

• Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007, but it is not yet part of the Schengen Zone. The local currency is the Bulgarian lev (code: BGN), though prices are sometimes also displayed in euros. Bulgaria has some of the lowest prices in the EU, making it an accessible destination for a variety of budgets.
• The official language is Bulgarian, which uses the Cyrillic alphabet. Some useful words to know are Моля or ‘moh-lya’ for ‘please’ and Благодаря or ‘blah-goh-da-rya’ for ‘thank you’. About a quarter of the population report that they speak English.

• Bulgarians nod their heads to mean no and shake their heads to mean yes. This is a common source of confusion for new visitors.
• The capital city of Sofia is over 7000 years old and full of history and beauty. Other top places to visit include the Rila Monastery, the Rila Lakes, the beautiful town of Koprivshtitsa, and the pink salt lakes of Burgas.
• The Annual Rose Festival takes place in Kazanlak each June. Most of the world’s rose oil, used in perfumes and soaps, comes from Bulgaria.

Discover more about this destination in the travel articles below.