Driving to Bulgaria from UK and the green card insurance for Serbia. Driving from the UK to BG towing a caravan. With the imminent opening of the Makaza Komotini Kavala border crossing, the only way to cross the southern Bulgarian border now is via the Zlatograd Thermes to Xanthi border crossing.
I drove from the UK to Bulgaria via Serbia three years ago, towing a huge caravan. With many English Expats now in Bulgaria there are many caravans already in BG.
The Zlatograd border opened and is again shut for vital road works on the Greek side of the border.
The English living in BG and coming to Bulgaria are mainly choosing to live where there are already other English expats and English families. Howevers English is still not widely spoken.
Bulgarian dentists are very cheap compared to the UK and use top quality products too. In Sofia they perform dental implants. They have the modern technology for dental implants finished on the same day treatment.
The expats forum contains photos from one visit to a Bulgarian dentist in Kirkovo Kardhali (Kardzhali) Bulgaria.
You can have not only dentist treatment but the medical treatment in BG is also of very good quality, with no waiting lists. The dentist I visit always sees me straight away. No huge waiting lists.
Three years ago, when I arrived in Bulgaria, the cost of living was very cheap plus the exchange rate offered 3 leva to one pound, however the exchange rate hovers near the 2 leva to the pound, plus since joining the EU, prices are rising as per EU requirements
The expats forum has the best driving route suggestions and how long it takes to drive from the UK to BG
Tyres are expensive in Bulgaria, especially tyres for jeep 4x4 tyres are usually expensive yet remoulds, to get a complete set of new tyres for your car or jeep is around about double the price in the UK
Cheap prices are almost over in Bulgaria, and soon the cost of living will be higher than any earnings here. Prices are not creeping up, they are doubling! A few weeks back a packet of cigarettes would set you back 2 leva, they have had their cost put up to 4 leva 50 stotinki, that is an indication of the rising cost of living
Up to date cost of living can be found on the expat forum Bulgaria
If you are driving from the UK with your own car, you pay the vignette at the border (Bulgarian road tax) and you can drive on your UK insurance. If you will be keeping the car in Bulgaria, you can easily change to Bulgarian car plates.
However, if you are towing a caravan from the UK, please be aware that it will not be able to be towed around, as all trailers including caravans, require their own documentation, which UK caravans don't have.
There is no car import tax as such when imported your UK car into Bulgaria, however, there are many taxes you will have to pay, such as the eco tax, when switching to Bulgarian plates.
On the expats forum, there are many people posting their average cost of living in Bulgaria, but it is best to consider your own circumstances when reading the forum posts. Some expats experience cost of living as low as 300 leva per month, other expats spend 300 a week on living in BG! Owning a car will hike up your own cost of living, my cost of living is relatively low.
Once your car is Bulgarian registered, you will be able to have a separate green card if you are thinking to drive into Greece or Turkey. This green card is paid for separately from the main car insurance.
Of course I couldn't ignore the animals and wildlife of BG. The Beasts of the Balkans is a site dedicated to them!
Houses, is it still cheap to buy houses in Bulgaria. Land in BG is for two purposes, either agricultural land or building land. Most land available for purchase is agricultural land that cannot be changed to building land.
The lovely town of Kirkovo in the southern Rhodope mountains and the many archaeological digs sites around in very scenic southern BG.
Internet in BG. With a land line you can have good speed internet either from Globul with their 3G modem cards or M-Tel with their latest homebox fast speed internet that includes a home phone number for cheap calls.
Zlatograd-thermes road is temporarily closed again after the beginning of the year opening. Makaza to Komotini and Kavala is still waiting to be built on the Greek side of the border. Please note, you still need to carry your passport with you at all times, and especially if you drive close to the borders, passports will be checked at the borders between Bulgaria and Greece. The Bulgarian Litchna Carta will surfice.
Most old houses and houses for sale in Bulgaria are built of thick stone, most of these old houses are derelect and have not been lived in for many years.
Nights are dark due to the lack of street lights and house lights on at night, making the heavens really heavenly! The night sky in southern Bulgaria, you can see the entire milky way! Bring your telescropes! The expats forum has a board for the night sky and heavenly bodies.
Enter the expats forum for numerous answers to all your questions regarding living in Bulgaria
After getting used to Greek 'timing' and 'organisation', I was astonished at Bulgarian timing and organisation, everything planned and scheduled for me run exactly as organised! I had arranged various visits before I left the UK, no detail of the plans I had made let me down! Everything ran like clockwork, the car i had rented turned up exactly at the right time, the hotel car was ready and waiting for me at Sofia airport, the hotel in Kardjali had my room ready and waiting for me, together with a very welcoming cup of coffee (free I may add!). My overall impression of Bulgaria is that it's a very impressive country, extremely scenic and untouched, the people are friendly with no ulterior motive but to help you enjoy your stay and any dealings you wish to do. I have opened a company in Bulgaria with the help of a good local estate agents. I was informed it would take 20 working days to complete, it was opened much quicker than that! I have tried to do the same in Greece and to this date never succeeded! I have heard many horror stories about Bulgaria, I am wondering if they are meant to put people of going there? Time will tell. Currently I can only rave about my experience there and feel very positive about it all! So positive in fact that not only have I opened a new business in Bulgaria, but I have chosen to buy a house there!
The houses in the countryside of Bulgaria are very basic with spectacular views! Countryside properties with no inside loo or running water, instead they have a well in the rather large garden, which is usually called 'the yard'. The majority of countryside properties are in a very poor condition and certainly need to be renovated, but the prices to buy one of these properties reflect the condition of the house! I will add more about my house purchase once I have indeed managed to do this! As for Bulgaria now being a full EU member, it is worthy to note that all the borders are not fully open to pass into Greece. Check which border is open before embarking on your journey if you intend driving down into northern Greece first! As a passenger in a Bulgarian car, with a Bulgarian driver, I encountered some of the border checks still in place. These checks are performed well within the Bulgarian border, we were stopped numerous times trying to get from one Bulgarian village to another when we were relatively close to the Greek border! The border control police kept us waiting for quite a while, while they checked out our English passports! They stood discussing the passports for ages while glancing back and forth at us! At first I found this quite amusing, after about 20 minutes or so, it became a tad tedious! After all we were still in Bulgaria and had no intention of crossing the actual border into Greece, we just wished to see another village along the way! We were stopped on the way back again, I held up my passport which they didn't wish to see this time. They apparently just wished to ask how we had liked the village!
Later in the same day, I was driving my rent a car and was flagged down by some traffic control police. Embarrased at not speaking one word of Bulgarian, I just said one word 'English'! He looked a tad disappointed, gave me back my driving cards and waved us on rather quickly! We had to pass the same cops on the way back, at first they flagged us down again, then realised we were the same 'English' he had stopped earlier, gave a smile and waved us on before we had a chance to stop the car! Perhaps the moral of this story is, drive a rent a car and don't hitch a lift!
Beautiful Bulgarian mountain ranges offering winter ski holidays - fantastic green untouched countryside, forests of trees still standing! Kardjali damm lakes regions with flowing rivers and full lakes. The areas I intend to visit include Sofia Povdiv and Stara Zagora. I will be travelling mainly south and near to the Rhodopi mountains on this trip to beautiful Bulgaria. Watch this site for some fantastic scenic photos from this historic country brimming full of history and scenic Bulgarian beauty ~ Welcome to Whats on Bulgaria Holidays