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dangerous Sofia
13 Reviews PLEASE NEVER DEAL WITH ANY MONEY EXCHANGE SHOP WHO WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY OR GIVE U FAKE 2 OR3 PAPERS IN BETWEEN THE MONEY. OR INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE IN THE STREETS WHO WILL KNOW THAT U R A VISITOR & TRY TO...
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Stay AWAKE! Sofia
16 Reviews As an employee of the Italian embassy told me on one of my first days in Sofia, when you walk in Sofia, you should always look downwards to avoid falling in one of the several holes that "decorate"...
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Beggars Sofia
7 Reviews It's still some poverty in Bulgaria, even though the economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. Some beggars complain about the situation in the country, and use inventive methods to...
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everything in bulgarian Sofia
6 Reviews When I enter the trainstation in Sofia and I planned to go Plovdiv, I did not get much help from the people selling tickets at all. First of all I am not used to the letters of Bulgarian alphabeth,...
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Orientation in Sofia when driving Sofia
3 Reviews Yes, Sofia is a big city and has all the advantages and shortcomings of the large towns - it is busy and full of live, noisy and dynamic, crowded and so huge, maybe a little more dirty and still with...
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A road trip through Bulgaria can be quite challenging: first of all, many road signs on secondary roads are in Cyrillic only, so it's necessary to have a bilingual map. The roads are often rough and potholed, and some mountain roads don't deserve to be called roads, like the one between Smoljan and Trigrad in the Rodopi mountains. We were very fortunate to have a jeep, otherwise we would have had real problems.
I've heard a lot of stories about corrupt policemen in Eastern Europe, who stop you arbitrarily trying to get bribes. I don't know whether this is true, but i experienced the complete opposite.I was stopped by the police for speeding. They had a radar control machine, so they could prove that i was driving 83km/h instead of 60. So a cop came to my window and i thought : Damn, now i'm screwed, this is going to be expensive!I opened the window and he talked to me in broken German : "You speeding, this is no good, you show me licence", so i showed him my licence and he went on : "why you went so fast", and i replied :"i'm sorry, i didn't see the sign, i thought i was allowed to drive 80 as usual", the cop just smiled and said : "if you didn't know, then punishment no good, it's alright, have good trip". This story shows that not all Eastern European cops are corrupt, some are really nice!
Although you probably wont need these numbers in any case, for Bulgaria is very innocent as it comes to things like crime or injuries, of course you can break a leg or still have the bad luck of being violently robbed somewhere, somehow. Then the following numbers can be of vital importance. Medical help/Ambulance: 150; Police: 166; Fire Brigade: 160. These numbers are nationally operated. Yet, the bad thing is that, when you have f.e. been robbed in Sofia, and you call the police with 166, you likely are going to get someone on the phone who doesn’t speak English! A real horrorfilm!! Someone is trying to murder you and you call on your mobile to say that you are about to be murdered and the voice on the other side says something you don’t understand: zdrasti? You tell your story and you still hear: zdrasti? There fore, its good to know some vital words when you are really in an...
Be aware of the fact that many taxi drivers are trying to rip you off. The normal price for in average about 0,30 lv per kilometre. But of course smart taxi drivers can have manipulated their meters. So if you have to have a ride of 5 km; you must – before you get into the taxi – arrange a deal on the price: that would then be 1 lv 50. If you are so stupid not to arrange a price before stepping in the cab, you may get a big surprise at the the place of arrival. What I did, when a taxi asked a ridiculous price, was shopping around between other taxies. Then they will be eager to lower their prices. However, not all taxi drivers are of course rip offs. I have had some wonderful taxirides in Bulgaria: f.e. from Karlovo to Koprivshitsa e.g 100 km (I did not want to wait for 3 hours for the train) for 25 lv!!
Three things to remind. First,I was told at the youth hostal in Sofia that travellers should be aware at the airport or trainstations. The reason is that they can be targets of robbery. The thing goes the following way. A person may act very friendly and helpful to you, trying to win your confidence. Then he may invite you for a drink at the airport or trainstation restaurant. This person then mixes your drink with a drug so that you fall asleep; and then when you wake up all your stuff is gone. According to this story, these people really are diehards; they take a lot of time to win your confidence. I don’t know if this tale is an actual reality or just an urban legend; I myself did not had this experience. I did not think it to be fine to have doubs on every Bulgarian simply because they are friendly! Eventually, just don’t accept an offered drink then. Second: if you are coming by car...
What about crime in Bulgaria: is it worse than in any other European country? No. Yet there are some things to notice. There is actually fake police in Bulgaria. I was luckily that I knew about this phenomena so that I didn’t got trapped. How to separate a fake-agent from a real one? First: the real ones have real police cars; the fake ones have civilian cars but they put a blue-light on the roof of the car to simulate a police car. Second: the real police operates during daylight in crowded places; whereas the fake-police operates at night, preffering places where real police-agents cant see them: that is in remoted areas. So, the best way to deal with the problem is this: whenever a police-officers stops you ask yourself: did I possibly do anything ‘criminal’that gives the right to that man to stop you? The answer will be no! the real officer does not want to make his own country...
If you're driving in Bulgaria with your own car and if you want to go backhome with the same car, then be extremly careful. The roads are in pretty bad condition (see the picture), the majority of signs is in cyrillic (so you have to be able to read it pretty fast) and Bulgarians are very agressive drivers.
I stayed in Bulgaria with friends, but in case you travel alone, it is very-very helpful to learn the Cyrillic alphabet and at least some basic Bulgarian expressions. Bulgarian people tend not to speak any foreign languages (this also includes young, well-educated people in Sofia!). If you drive by car, be aware that place names are not written in Latin alphabet, except for the really major cities (Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, etc.), so get used to reading the Cyrillic writing before driving through the country.As already indicated by others, traffic in Sofia is not really meant for foreigners, as there are few road signs and the streets are in a terrible state (same with highways and roads outside Sofia). For pedestrians, it is not at all dangerous though, as cars stop at traffic lights and tend to stick to basic traffic rules. (So it's not Southern Italy. :))Be careful when driving on...
Like most of the tourist we take precautions as regular,No budy tray to make troubles not in the street not in the taxi or buses,not in the bar, only in the casino I have the feeling that the chanses are against to me.
do not buy anything from people selling things on the beach, they sell things for maybe 3 times the price you would buy them in a stall or shop round your resort. they are usually not large things, just small like necklaces and stuff like that, but these are the things tourists go for as they are good for presents. please take my advice say NO!
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...
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...
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...
Reviews and photos of Bulgaria attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Bulgaria sightseeing.
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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...
A: I haven't yet been to Bulgaria but whilst you are waiting for other VT-ers to reply... The...
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