Plovdiv

Currency budget Bulgaria

Bulgaria joined the euro on 1 January 2026, so the lev is gone: everything is in euros, and shops still show the old lev price beside it as the law requires for the first year. Nothing to exchange from the eurozone.

ATMs & cards

UniCredit Bulbank, DSK and Postbank machines are free or nearly; the Euronet machines in the tourist streets charge a fee and push conversion — decline it and pay in euros. Cards are taken almost everywhere now.

Bulgaria has used the euro since 1 January 2026, so there is nothing to change from the eurozone. Decline the conversion prompt; the bank machines are free or nearly.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety all of Bulgaria

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.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa Bulgaria visa rules

Health & emergencies all of Bulgaria

Required to enter

No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.

Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

Kapana is the eating district — small plates, craft beer, natural wine — and the old town has the traditional mehanas. Try the kavarma (meat stew in a pot) and the local rakia; the wine from the Thracian valley is cheap and good.

Nightlife

Kapana: a few blocks of bars, wine bars and courtyards that fill every evening of the week.

• Kapana — all of it
• the main street — for the terraces on a summer evening

Closing: Around 02:00.

Getting around

• Walking — the old town, Kapana and the main street are all within twenty minutes
• Bus — cheap; the number 1 links the station to the centre
• Bolt — runs here and is cheap; the taxis are fine with a posted rate
• Train — Sofia in two and a half hours, several a day
• Airport: Sofia (SOF), two hours by car or bus; Plovdiv (PDV) has a few seasonal flights

Internet speedall of Bulgaria

Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Bulgaria, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.

Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026

Must-see

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

Bulgarian

• HelloЗдравейте (Zdraveyte)zdra-VEY-teh
• PleaseМоля (Molya)MO-lya
• Thank youБлагодаря (Blagodarya)bla-go-da-RYA
• Yes / NoДа / Не (Da / Ne)da / neh

Cyrillic, which is where the alphabet was invented, so signs need a moment. English is good in the cities and among the young; Russian is understood by the older generation and not always welcomed. A nod means no and a shake means yes.

Religion

Bulgarian Orthodox, with a Muslim minority

Around three quarters Orthodox and a tenth Muslim, mainly Turkish and Pomak communities in the south and east. The monasteries — Rila, Bachkovo — are working houses as well as monuments: shoulders and knees covered, no photographs during a service, and candles bought at the door and lit below for the living and above for the dead.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Learn that a nod means no and a shake means yes, and that people switch to the foreign way for you, which is worse
• Buy the candle at the monastery door and light it below for the living
• Say nazdrave and look people in the eye when glasses meet
• Round up rather than tip heavily; ten per cent is generous

Don't

• Do not call the country a Balkan backwater to its face; the euro and the EU are recent and hard-won
• Do not wear shorts into a monastery church
• Do not photograph people at prayer
• Do not assume everyone speaks Russian, or that the assumption is welcome