ARRIVING IN BULGARIA BY PLANE
Arriving in Sofia
The majority of foreign travellers arrive in Bulgaria at Sofia Airport, just 15-30 minutes drive from the town centre. Its capacity is not sufficient to handle all passengers but the new runway and terminals are scheduled to be ready by the end of this year.
Passport control can be slow and seem quite unfriendly, though better than it used to be.
When you leave customs you will emerge in a crowd of taxi drivers tripping over themselves to offer you a ride into town. If you don’t speak Bulgarian you will be overcharged. Ignore them and instead go to the "O.K. SUPERTRANS" booth in the public area of the Arrivals Hall or get an O.K. SUPERTRANS taxi from the line right in front of the Arrival Hall. The fare from Sofia Airport to the city centre can reach up to 10 leva /5 EUR/.
There is also a regular public bus link from Sofia Airport to the city centre (Bus No. 84 to Sofia University). The bus stop is just outside the Arrivals terminal. The line operates between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m. all year round. A single ticket costs 0.70 leva /0.35 EUR/. You can also buy a ticket from the driver but it will cost you 0.80 lv /0.40 EUR/. In addition to local bus services, there are hotel shuttles and scheduled coach services to the city centre.
Sofia Airport Authority operates the Public Car Park, which is located just in front of the Terminal Buildings and is open round the clock.
For more information about Sofia Airport click here
Arriving in Bourgas
Most tourists going on holiday on the south-east coast of the Black Sea arrive at Bourgas Airport. Only charter flights fly here. Passengers arriving in and departing from Bourgas Airport are transferred mainly via bus by their tour operator. Bus No. 15 goes into the town, as do taxis parked in front of the Departure Terminal.
For more information about Bourgas Airport click here
Arriving in Varna
Besides charter flights there are now scheduled flights from London to Varna in the summer by Bulgaria Air and from Vienna by Austrian Airlines. There are also regular internal flights from Sofia, which take less than an hour compared to the 6-hour car journey. Varna Airport is 7.5 km from the centre of Varna.
For more information about Varna Airport click here
ARRIVING IN BULGARIA BY TRAIN
If you're on an international train you'll go through passport control and customs at the border. The relevant officials get on the train and if it happens to be the middle of the night you will be woken up to show your passport.
As in most former communist countries Bulgaria has a good railway network connecting even very small villages with big cities. You can get almost anywhere by train, though most are old, not very clean and move inexplicably slowly. The toilets in such trains are understandably horrific and to be avoided at all costs. A couple of new trains will now be running the Sofia-Varna line, and the journey has been shortened considerably.
Sofia has one major train station called Central Railway Station (Tzentralna Gara in Bulgarian). It is to the north of the city centre, close to the 4-star Princess Hotel and is well connected to all districts by public transport. It has recently had an overhaul and is now a lot cleaner than it used to be, though honestly speaking you still have to be aware of pickpockets who hang around the station and the underpass. Yellow taxis are readily available outside the station, but beware of the dodgy ones (they have no signs and do not have the price clearly displayed in the front and rear windows) that will overcharge you. As a benchmark you should be looking at paying around 0.39 or 0.45 BGN per kilometre.
The Bourgas, Varna and Plovdiv Central Railway Stations also have public transportation links and taxi services.
ARRIVING IN BULGARIA BY BUS
There are many companies, both international and Bulgarian, that operate regular bus lines between major European cities and Sofia. See www.busbulgaria.com. The trip is usually faster and more comfortable than by train. Most of the buses are equipped with air-conditioning, refrigerator, coffee-machine, TV and video.
At the border the driver usually collects all the passports and goes to show them at the passport booth. Be warned that crossing the border by bus can be quite a lengthy experience and the luggage compartment often has to be thoroughly checked.
Both international and domestic buses arrive at the brand new and rather flashy Central Bus Station in Sofia, next to the Central Railway Station on Maria Luiza Blvd. Built in 2004, it has 57 booking offices, air-conditioning and parking. It is connected to all districts by public transportation. Taxis are available outside the station, the same warning as for the train station applies.
Bourgas, Varna and Plovdiv do not have Central Bus Stations and international buses arrive at different bus stations, served by the lines of the public transport and taxis.
