Bulgaria travel tips

Is Bulgaria safe?

5 guides, each rated 1 to 5 with the reason — and two lists per place, where you are comfortable and where to pay attention. Nowhere is called dangerous; the specific thing is what helps.

4.5 average across 5 guides · Safe
Sofia, BulgariaPlovdiv, BulgariaBansko, BulgariaVeliko Tarnovo, BulgariaVarna, Bulgaria

Bansko Very safe

Very comfortable. The gondola queue in February half-term is the worst thing about the place. In summer the high Pirin is real mountain: weather changes fast, the paths above the lakes are exposed, and the huts are the safety net — tell somebody your route.

Comfortable: the old town · the gondola road

  • the high Pirin above the lakes — fast weather and exposed paths; the huts are the safety net
  • the gondola queue in the school holidays — an hour lost, not a danger

Veliko Tarnovo Very safe

Very comfortable, a university town that is quiet after midnight. The old streets are steep and the gorge edge is unfenced in places — the view terraces are for the view, not the railing. The fortress steps are worn; go in daylight first.

Comfortable: the old town · Gurko street · Varusha

  • the gorge edge and the fortress steps — unfenced in places and worn; daylight first
  • the streets around the west bus station late — unlit rather than unsafe

Plovdiv Safe

Very comfortable. The main street and Kapana are busy late and the old town is quiet and safe. Cobbles in the old town are steep and slippery in rain. The one warning is the taxis outside the station, which quote a flat fare — use Bolt.

Comfortable: Kapana · the old town · the main street (Glavnata)

  • the taxis outside the station — a flat fare quoted; use Bolt
  • the old town cobbles in rain — steep and polished

Sofia Safe

Comfortable, and walking the centre late is normal. Pickpockets on the trams and around the central station are the complaint, and the yellow taxis without a posted rate overcharge — use Bolt or check the window. The street dogs are gone; the potholes are not.

Comfortable: the centre around Vitosha Boulevard · Lozenets · Oborishte · Kapana-style streets around Alabin

  • the trams and the central station — pickpockets at the doors in the crush
  • yellow taxis with no rate on the window — the overcharge; use Bolt or read the door
  • the streets around Lions’ Bridge late — rougher than the centre rather than anything else

Varna Safe

Comfortable. The beach strip in July and August is a party and has the party’s theft and drunkenness; the centre and the Sea Garden are calm. Golden Sands, north, is louder still. Taxis without a rate on the door overcharge.

Comfortable: the centre · the Sea Garden · Greek quarter (Grutska mahala)

  • the beach strip after midnight in summer — the drinking and the theft that works it
  • taxis without a rate on the door — overcharging; use Bolt

The ratings are this site's own, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in; they are not an index. Read the general advice in travel safety tips.

The guides in Bulgaria

The green domes of Alexander Nevsky cathedral in Sofia against a blue skySofiaBulgariaA capital with a mountain at the end of the tram line, Roman ruins under the metro, and the cheapest good coffee in the EUThe Roman theatre in Plovdiv, its marble seats and stage seen from abovePlovdivBulgariaOne of the oldest cities in Europe, a Roman theatre still in use, seven hills, and a bohemian quarter called the TrapBansko in its valley, roofs and the Pirin mountains rising behind the townBanskoBulgariaThe cheapest serious skiing in Europe, a stone-house old town under the Pirin, and a summer of hiking to glacial lakesVeliko Tarnovo’s houses stacked above the Yantra gorge, the cathedral on the ridgeVeliko TarnovoBulgariaThe medieval capital stacked above a river gorge, a fortress lit up at night, and a craft street still workingPeople in the surf on Varna’s city beach, the Sea Garden along the shoreVarnaBulgariaThe Black Sea capital: a Roman bath the size of a block, a sea garden that runs for miles, and the oldest worked gold on earth