Bulgaria Local Customs

  Rakia
by SoulFisher
 
  • Rakia
      Rakia
    by SoulFisher
  • Garden animals
      Garden animals
    by mirchica
  • Jewelry made of steel
      Jewelry made of steel
    by mirchica
  • The scene just before the opening
      The scene just before the opening
    by mirchica
  • Bulgarian anssambel Trakia
      Bulgarian anssambel Trakia
    by mirchica
 

Most Viewed Local Customs in Bulgaria

76.

shaking head vs nodding   Sofia

shaking head vs nodding, Sofia

 9 Reviews  I bet there are already plenty of tips on this topic, but I find it so important that I have decided to start my Sofia page from it. In Bulgaria, like in Macedonia and Albania (I have read this), the... 

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77.

etiquette   Sofia

etiquette, Sofia

 13 Reviews  One sure way to recognise Bulgarians is by watching how they season their meals. We take the salt shaker, then we tap the bottom of it few times on the table (to shake it well) and then we... 

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78.

hollidays   Sofia

hollidays, Sofia

 8 Reviews  New Year's Eve is a great holiday here. In Sofia, every year there is a free open-air concert in the square in front of the National Gallery. Usually it starts at 10 pm on Dec. 31 and ends in the... 

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79.

drinks   Sofia

drinks, Sofia

 6 Reviews  Ayryan is a typical analcoholic drink made with yoghurt and water, to which you can add as much salt as you wish. I tried it at the O!Shipka restaurant. More information here. When I went to have... 

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80.

friendship   Sofia

friendship, Sofia

 3 Reviews  Pleace click on the picture to receive your little virtual gift from Sofia. I hope you enjoyed the page and if you have questions - I will be happy to help you :0) 

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81.

parking   Sofia

parking, Sofia

 1 Review  Well, actually I saw the car a couple of times around my office and was thinking to take a picture of it but somebody put this idea into life before I did :))) So, I got the picture in my mail. That... 

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82.

bg dinner   Sofia

bg dinner, Sofia

 3 Reviews  we thought that the 'bulgarian dinner' would be another tourist trap, that they would give us some lousy food and we would have to pay extra for the music, or something like that. but, lucky for us,... 

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83.

Kukeri   Sofia

Kukeri, Sofia

 1 Review  The Bulgarian traditional beliefs define the 2 weeks after Xmas as the time of various evile spirits -- vampires, 'talasumi' (ghosts), samodivi (evil women spirits), and other demons. This is the time... 

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84.

strikes   Sofia

strikes, Sofia

 2 Reviews  The demonstration that took place when I was in Sofia was by forest workers and wasn't at all violent, but it was large. The demonstrators started from in front of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and I saw... 

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Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

The Blind Prophetess Vanga

by desert_princess

Vanga - the prophetess from Petrich has become a martyr and legend for Bulgarians. She saw past, present and future at the same time. Politicians and people from all over the world that knew about her gift payed her visits in hard moments and she helped everyone. Among them are told to be Khyas Boris III, our Comminist dictator Todor Jivkov and Adolf Hitler himself.She never took anything for herself , but with the money the grateful gave to her , she build a church in her town of PetrichVanga - in french

European Union

by ChristinaNest

Bulgaria and Romania entered the European Union on 1 January 2007. Due to that there were many special events, with its culmination, the concert on New Year's Eve and the great fireworks (photos of the fireworks on the previous tip).There was a special clock counting down the days left till the EU accession. You can see the clock on the last day, 31 Dec 2006:) You can also see the two stages and the preparations. There's an open air concert in central Sofia every year, you can read about it on my Sofia page. This time, because of the EU accession, it was bigger, and with great fireworks, broadcasts of speaches of the Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov, etc.

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New Year's Eve

by ChristinaNest

New Year's Eve is a big thing in Bulgaria. Partly, it's due to the fact that religion was'forgotten' during the socialist era, and Christmas wasn't officially celebrated. There were decorated trees, but the old red-nesed man who brought presents to children wasn't Father Christmas. He was called Diado Mraz (Father Frost) and brought the presents on New Year's Eve. After 1989 when Christmas was celebrated officially again, most people started exchanging presents then, but some still do that on New Year's. In our family, we exchange presents both on Christmas and New Year's Eve :))Anyway, NY will always reamain a big holiday, because of the symbollic change of the year, and besides, whereas Christmas is a family holiday, New Year's is party time! Usually, there are a lot of events, concerts, etc. and Christmas decoration stays.This time it was even more festive as Bulgaria entered the...

Tip Photo
Yes means no and no means yes

by zlatiq

Yes =we shake heads from left to rightNo= up and downIt can be very confusing sometimes!Check out this short article for a suggestion on why we do so:slweekly

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Food/drink measures on menus

by NoFuture

In many restaurants, alongside prices the mass (g) or volume (ml) is given. This is very useful as a guide as to how much food/drink you will get, thus how much food/what to order is made easier and you can quickly decide whether to share, order more etc.

Customs

by Linse

In Bulgaria they shake their head when they mean YES and nod when they mean NO. Thats the opposite way of anyone else but u dont have to remember this if u spend all your time in the tourist areas because people there knows. If u on the other hand take a trip outside the touristarea and even in the big cities u have to remember this. Also never say Cheers in german (prost) that mean idiot in bulgarian.People in Bulgaria are very friendly and helpful. They love to hear about your country/home and are also pleased to tell u about theirs or answer any questions u have about Bulgaria.

Bulgarian Alphabet

by Childish

I am going to write a tip about Bulgarian Alphabet (or alphabets) and especially how to use it some day soon.Here I'd like to share how we celebrate the Day of the Bulgarian Alphabet and Culture (or to be tolerant to other Slavonic countries, the Day of the Slavonic Literacy and Cultury). This day is celebrated on the 24th of May and it is a national holiday. This is the day of St.St. Cyrill and MethodiusYou may click the link to hear the song we sing on this day.This song was the first Bulgarian song translated into 21 european languages when the contract for joining of Bulgaria to EU was signed. The traslated song was sang for the first time on 3rd of May 2005 in Russe by the children choir Eurotalant.Here is the original text. It was written by the Bulgarian poet Stoyan Mihajlovski and published for the first time in Russe, 1892.The music was written by the Bulgarian composer Panayot...

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Name Days

by ChristinaNest

Name Days, or patron saint's days, are a very important holidays for Bulgarians. If you have a name the same as or similar to a saint's name, you celebrate your Name Day on that saint's day ( there's the Orthodox calendar which lists the Orthodox holidays, and the dates of all saint's days and name days). For example, May the 6th is Saint George's day (Sveti Gueorgui, in Bulgarian, and the day is called Gueorgyovden) and all the men called Gueorgui (George), plus all derivative names (Guergana...), have a Name Day. Christmas Day is the day of Christ, so all the people with derivative names celebrate their Name Day then. My name, Christina, is included, so I celebrate my Name Day on December 25th and get 2 presents instead of one :) On Palm Sunday, called Tsvetnica here (meaning roughly Flower Day) all people with names of flowers, plants, trees, etc. have a Name Day. Since the most...

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Birthdays

by ChristinaNest

Birthdays are very important in Bulgaria. It is usually the person who has a birthday (or their parents if that’s a kid) who organizes the party and invites the guests. Usually it’s a house party, with a cake, snacks, soft drinks for the kids and usually a lot of booze for the adults. The guests bring gifts separately or some group up to buy something together. If it’s a woman’s birthday, flowers or pot plants could be added. A good bottle of wine is also a possible gift if the receiver fancies it. Normally, you don’t ask the person what they want but decide yourself, but nowadays this can be acceptable in some occasions and with some people. If it’s a child’s birthday you could ask the parents what toys he/she likes or what size of clothes he/she wears.If it’s a student’s party, especially at a dorm, it could be much more basic, booze, booze, and maybe some snacks and soft drinks. On...

Tip Photo
Martenitsas 2

by ChristinaNest

There are huge ones to put on doors or hang at home. There are bracelets with a blue bead added (agains evil eyes). Some have various ornaments added. Some have a lot of Kitsch added! The greatest Kitsch you can see amongst childres's martenitsas: most of them have ugly plastic figurines added, such as Batman and other movie characters, or badges of pop stars! Not to mention that most of these Kitsch martenitsas are made in China! I think this is a beautiful and unique tradition and should be kept as such so I alsways buy martenitsas that are close to the original, made by some granny or an independendent artist, and without plastic parts!

Local traditions and culture in Bulgaria

Top 3 Hotels in Bulgaria

Grand Hotel Sofia  Sofia

 6 Reviews and 104 Opinions  I also stayed here on business and was very happy with the accomodations. The fitness facilities... 

 Hotels in Sofia

Splendid Hotel  Varna

 1 Review and 38 Opinions  The hotel is just across the road from Varna Cathedral, its name is Splendid and that sums it it... 

 Hotels in Varna

Trimontium Princess Hotel  Plovdiv

 6 Reviews and 57 Opinions  this hotel is a part of famous Turkish hotel chain "Dedeman" They have many hotels in Bulgaria... 

 Hotels in Plovdiv

944 Hotels in Bulgaria
 
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Reviews and photos of Bulgaria attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Bulgaria sightseeing.

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Local Customs: Cities in Bulgaria
  1. Sofia Local Customs
  2. Sunny Beach Local Customs
  3. Varna Local Customs
  4. Plovdiv Local Customs
  5. Bansko Local Customs
  6. Nesebar Local Customs
  7. Burgas Local Customs
  8. Borovec Local Customs
  9. Veliko Turnovo Local Customs
  10. Sozopol Local Customs
  11. Ruse Local Customs
  12. Rilski Manastir Local Customs
  13. Golden Sands Local Customs
  14. Vidin Local Customs
  15. Balchik Local Customs
  16. Melnik Local Customs
  17. Trigrad Local Customs
  18. Arbanasi Local Customs
  19. Kazanluk Local Customs
  20. Karlovo Local Customs
  21. Belogradchik Local Customs
  22. Koprivshtitsa Local Customs
  23. Smolyan Local Customs
  24. Velingrad Local Customs
  25. Kurdzhali Local Customs
  26. Rila Local Customs
  27. Asenovgrad Local Customs
  28. Pirin Local Customs

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Popular Regions in Bulgaria

Oblast Grad Sofiya Local Customs  Burgaska Oblast Local Customs  Blagoevgradski Okrug Local Customs  Varnenska Oblast Local Customs  Plovdivska Oblast Local Customs  Loveshka Oblast Local Customs  Pazardzhishki Okrug Local Customs  Khaskovska Oblast Local Customs  Rusenski Okrug Local Customs 

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Questions and Answers

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Q:  Could someone help us ? we are traveling by train from Plovdiv to Sofia, then Sofia to Veliko Tarnovo. How many train are there... 

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A: I haven't yet been to Bulgaria but whilst you are waiting for other VT-ers to reply... The... 

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