About Us Contact Us Site Map

Travel and transport

Sofia airport

Getting to Bulgaria from other European destinations is relatively easy. Most European capitals and many smaller cities now offer routes to Sofia, which is served by almost 30 European airlines including British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa, Aeroflot, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines and Czech Airlines. Sofia Airport lies a short distance outside the city; a new runway was inaugurated in August 2006 while a new terminal, many years in the planning, was officially opened in December of that year. The regularity of flights, particularly during the summer season, means that while Sofia is never likely to be considered an aviation hub, it is nevertheless sufficiently well-served for most Europeans to be able to fly there direct. Travellers from outside Europe will almost certainly be required to change flights at whichever destinations are served by their airline of choice.

Varna airport

The two other leading airports in the country are situated on the Black Sea Coast, at Varna to the north and Burgas to the south. Both have become increasingly ‘hot’ destinations with the rise of Bulgaria’s tourist industry and, in particular, its property market, with flights from the UK packed with holidaymakers and potential home buyers proving to be some of the most popular services into the country. Varna’s airport hosts some ten airlines including Bulgaria Air and Austrian Airlines, plus charter carriers, and can be reached from Gatwick, Bristol, Manchester and Birmingham – as well as from around 20 other European destinations. Flights from London generally take just over three hours; Bulgaria is two hours ahead of GMT in Standard Timezone B.

Burgas airport

Burgas’s airport is served by over a dozen airlines including Bulgaria Air, Lauda Air and Wizz Air, as well as a number of charter carriers, with flights from the UK taking off from Gatwick, Stansted, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester, Luton and Belfast, and from a number of other airports in Europe.

By road and rail

It is also relatively easy to reach Bulgaria by road and rail; regular bus and train services run to the country from Greece, Turkey, and the former Yugoslav republics, with consequent links to the rest of Europe; direct services also run from Prague and Budapest. There are also bus and minibus services from Romania.

Visa issues

As Bulgaria is now an EU member, citizens of fellow member-states do not require visas to enter the country and can stay indefinitely (assuming a valid passport); other nationalities may require visas to enter the country and are subject to limits on the duration of their visits. Consult the Bulgarian embassy in your home country for further information.

Related items

Documents and Reports

	Bulgaria country guide (995Kb)
	Bulgaria property buying guide (687Kb)
	Bulgaria property investment report (426Kb)
Documents and Reports

Other related pages

Bookmark with:	What are these?
DeliciousDiggredditFacebookStumbleUpon