Bulgaria has a good long-distance transport system. There are large bus operators operating modern air-conditioned buses and even long-distance trains have comfortable carriages, mostly with air-conditioning.

Local regional transport to smaller towns and villages also works quite well, but usually with old minibuses or buses with no air conditioning and no way to reliably check timetables on the internet.

By car

The quality of the roads is quite poor and in this respect Bulgaria is among the worst in Europe.

The highways are mostly newly built, straight and very clear. On the other hand, ordinary roads, including the main Class I roads, are often in poor condition with many potholes.

In addition, local drivers are quite aggressive and dangerous and, especially in the countryside, do not bother much with regulations. It is always better to assume the worst and drive rather defensively.

For detailed information about driving in Bulgaria, car rental prices, traffic and roads, see the chapter Car rental.

Compare car rental prices - Booking.com

By train

Especially for longer distances, you can use trains.

Planning a trip by train is considerably easier than with buses, as there is only one railway operator in Bulgaria - Bulgarian State Railways.

Trains on long-distance routes (Sofia - Burgas and Sofia - Varna) are usually air-conditioned and relatively modern. The ride is a bit slower than by bus, but schedules are reliable and long delays are not the rule.

On regional services, very old and unconditioned carriages are still occasionally running.

Where to buy tickets?

Tickets for long-distance and some regional routes can be bought online via the official website bileti.bdz.bg.

To buy you need to register on this website. Online ticket sales always start about 5-7 days before departure. Before that, the vast majority of trains cannot be bought. For some regional trains, tickets cannot be bought online.

Once purchased, your ticket will be emailed to you in pdf format. You don't need to print the ticket, just save it on your mobile, laptop or tablet and show it to the conductor on the train.

Tickets for regional services can be bought at the ticket office at the station and if the station is not equipped with a ticket office, then you can buy the ticket from the conductor on the train.

Attention! If you board at a station with a ticket office, you must buy your ticket in advance and not from the conductor on the train.

You can only ever pay in cash.

Timetables and frequencies

You can find timetables for all railways in Bulgaria very clearly on the website razpisanie.bdz.bg.

The frequency of services is not very high and on the busiest routes from Sofia to the sea (Burgas and Varna) there are usually 5-6 daytime trains and 2 night trains.

By bus

The most commonly used public transport is the bus.

Long-distance connections between the larger towns are very frequent and even small villages are served by buses or minibuses at least once a day.

Long-distance buses

On long journeys (usually more than 1 hour's drive), air-conditioned modern buses are usually used.

For most long-distance services, you can easily buy tickets online and just show them to the driver or conductor when you board.

However, you can also buy tickets on the spot on all routes - at the ticket office at larger bus stations and, if you board at a smaller stop, from the driver and, more often, from the conductor inside the bus.

Where to find connections and buy tickets online?

Reliable connection search engines don't work very well in Bulgaria. For long-distance routes, you can compare multiple carriers relatively reliably via bgrazpisanie.com.

But always check the times directly on the carrier's website and also buy your ticket directly through the website of the specific bus company.

Click on the company name to buy tickets.

• Union-Ivkoni - The largest carrier in Bulgaria connects most major cities in the country
• Arda Tur - major carrier runs mainly between Sofia, Plovdiv and coastal cities such as Burgas and Varna
• Biomet - offers frequent connections between Sofia - Veliko Tarnovo - Varna
• Flixbus - in cooperation with Kaleya, provides fast connections between Sofia, Burgas and Sunny Beach
• Karat-S - a smaller carrier running from Sofia to Vidin or Plovdiv
• Kar-Trans - southbound service from Sofia to Bansko or Blagoevgrad (but Union-Ivkoni runs more frequently on these routes)

Regional buses

Short-distance bus routes are very frequent between larger towns (at least over 10,000 inhabitants) or tourist spots. However, there are often only 1-2 services a day to smaller remote villages.

Finding out exact timetables online is impossible on some routes, and quite unreliable on others, as the data on the websites is not updated very often.

On the popular transport search engine bgrazpisanie.com some regional connections are completely missing.

The most relevant way to find out departure times is the websites of individual bus stations in big cities, but even these are often updated only once every few years. But at least for a rough idea of the frequency on individual lines, the information is sufficient.

Don't have a hotel yet? Book in advance

Bus station websites:

• Sofia Central Bus Station and Serdika (international and most long-distance lines): centralnaavtogara.bg
• Burgas South and West bus stations: burgasbus.info
• Varna Bus Station: autogaravn.com
• Sofia Ovcha Kupel - West (local lines to the south - Blagoevgrad, Dupnitsa and others): avtogarazapad.wixsite.com
• Sofia South (Samokov, Elin Pelin): avtogara-sofiayug.com
• Veliko Tarnovo South (long-distance lines): avtogaratarnovo.eu
• Plovdiv South bus station (long-distance lines): hebrosbus.com
• Plovdiv North bus station (regional services to the north - Kazanlak, Veliko Tarnovo, etc.): hebrosbus.com
• Stara Zagora: avtogara.starazagora.bg
• Ruse South bus station: avtogararuse.org

How to buy tickets?

Tickets on regional and local buses are in most cases bought from the conductor inside the bus. At large bus stations you have to buy your ticket at the ticket office.

If the station does not have a ticket office, get on the bus, take your seat and wait for the conductor to find you.

You can always pay with cash only.

By plane

You can also fly from Sofia to Varna and in the summer season to Burgas.

Ticket prices are quite high, averaging around 51 eur for a one-way ticket on a hand luggage only plan.

If you add the journey to/from the airport, you will save around 2.5 hours compared to taking a bus or train.

The flights are operated by local airline Bulgaria Air, from Sofia to Varna 3 times a day, and to Burgas once a day in summer.