Getting to Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Located in the Balkans in the south-eastern part of Europe, Bulgaria is easily accessible by plane thanks to the massive presence of low-cost airlines in the market.

Frequent bus services run to Bulgaria mainly from Turkey and Greece.

International trains run only once a day to Istanbul and once a day to Bucharest.

By air

The most convenient way to get to Bulgaria is by plane.

Flights from Bulgaria are mainly to Europe and also to the United Arab Emirates or Qatar. There are no long-haul flights to Bulgaria, but there are frequent connections to many major European airports.

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There are 4 international airports in Bulgaria. Click on a name to find out practical information about transport or services at that airport.

  • Sofia SOF - the country's largest airport with many flights across Europe, to Qatar or Abu Dhabi, and a large base for low-cost airlines Wizz Air and Ryanair.
  • Burgas BOJ - a major seaside airport with many summer charters throughout Europe. During the winter it has the only regular service to London
  • Varna VAR - a major seaside airport with many summer charters across Europe. Over the winter has several regular Wizz Air services to Western Europe, Austrian Airlines to Vienna and Bulgaria Air to Sofia
  • Plovdiv PDV - the smallest airport with several Ryanair flights to Western and Southern Europe

By bus

All neighbouring countries have direct bus connections to Bulgaria.

The table below gives examples of the most common connections on which tickets can be bought online.

Route Price from Carriers Frequency

Sofia - Plovdiv - Haskovo - Istanbul

60 bgn Flixbus
Metro
Arda Tur
Huntur
Alpar
2x daily
5x daily
6 times a day
1x per day
1x per day
Blagoevgrad - Istanbul 70 bgn Alpar 1x per day
Pazardhik - Istanbul 60 bgn Huntur 1x daily
Varna - Burgas - Istanbul 50 bgn Arda Tur 4x daily
Varna - Sunny Beach - Burgas - Istanbul 50 bgn Metro
Arda Tur
Nisikli
Total up to 15 times a day
Dobrich - Varna - Burgas - Istanbul 70 bgn Arda Tur 1x per day
Ruse - Razgrad - Shumen - Sliven - Istanbul 70 bgn Metro
Huntur
1x daily
2x daily
Veliko Tarnovo - Stara Zagora - Istanbul 80 bgn Huntur 1x daily
Sofia - Blagoevgrad - Sandanski - Thessaloniki 15 bgn Flixbus
Arda Tur
Union-Ivkoni
Tourist
2x daily
3x daily
3x daily
1x per day
Sofia - Blagoevgrad - Bansko - Kavala 70 bgn Flixbus 1x daily
Sofia - Kumanovo - Skopje 50 bgn Flixbus
Matpu
2x daily
2x daily
Sofia - Dimitrovgrad - Niš 34 bgn Flixbus 2x daily
Sofia - Belgrade 72 bgn Karat - S 1x daily
Sofia - Pleven - Ruse - Bucharest 20 bgn Flixbus
Union-Ivkoni
1x daily
1x daily
Burgas - Stara Zagora - Plovdiv - Thessaloniki 100 bgn Union-Ivkoni 1x daily
Sunny Beach - Varna - Shumen - Bucharest 45 bgn Flixbus 1-2x daily
Sofia - Elbasan - Tirana 80 bgn Flixbus 1x daily
Sofia - Zagreb - Ljubljana 50 bgn Flixbus
Union-Ivkoni
2x daily
1x daily
Sofia - Budapest 115 bgn Flixbus
Arda Tur
1x daily
1x daily
Sofia - Vienna 89 bgn Flixbus
Arda Tur
Union-Ivkoni
1x daily
1x daily
1x daily
Sofia - Linz - Salbzurg 74 bgn Flixbus
Union-Ivkoni
2x daily
1x daily
Sofia - Bratislava 100 bgn Flixbus
Union-Ivkoni
1x daily
1x daily
Sofia - Prague 107 bgn Flixbus
Arda Tur
Union-Ivkoni
1x daily
1x daily
1x daily
Sofia - Brno 100 bgn Flixbus
Arda Tur
Union-Ivkoni
1x daily
1x daily
1x daily
Sofia - Berlin 150 bgn Flixbus
Arda Tur
Union-Ivkoni
1x daily
1x daily
1x daily
Sofia - Munich 75 bgn Flixbus
Union-Ivkoni
1x daily
1x daily

By train

International trains from Bulgaria currently run only once a day to Turkey and once a day to Romania.

Train Sofia - Istanbul

There is a daily night train from Sofia to Halkali station in Istanbul with sleeper and couchette carriages only. Seating cars are not available.

The train follows the following route:

  • Sofia - Klisura - Kazanlak - Stara Zagora - Dimitrovgrad - Svilengrad - Kapikule - Edirne - Istanbul

Tickets can only be bought in person at the international ticket office in Sofia. Online sales of train tickets to Istanbul are not possible.

  • Basic fare - 52 bgn
  • Sun lounger - 20 bgn
  • Sleeper - 30 bgn

The train journey time from Sofia is 12.5 hours, almost 4 hours longer than the significantly busier buses.

Detailed information can be found on the official Bulgarian Railways website: bdz.bg/en/a/sofia-istanbul-sofia.

Sofia - Bucharest train

Direct trains currently run daily from Sofia once a day along the following route:

  • Sofia - Pleven - Gorna Oryahovitsa - Ruse - Bucharest

The trains are daily in both directions: from Sofia the train leaves around 7:00 and back from Bucharest around 10:45.

Tickets can only be bought at the international ticket office in Sofia in person. Online ticket sales for the train to Istanbul are not possible.

  • Basic fare - 58 bgn

Travel time is 10 hours, 3 hours more than by bus.

Detailed information can be found on the official website of Bulgarian Railways: bdz.bg/en/a/sofia-bucuresti-sofia.

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