Bulgaria: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Bulgaria feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 117 written places.
Nodding means no and shaking means yes - the famous reversal is real, if fading.
✓ Considered polite
- Confirm important yes/no answers in words, not gestures
- Greet with Dobar den
- Try the monasteries - Rila is the masterpiece and welcomes visitors
- Eat shopska salad and banitsa where locals queue
✗ Better avoided
- Rely on the head gestures you know - they may mean the opposite
- Expect patchy card acceptance in villages - carry euro cash
- Skip the mountains for the beach - Pirin and Rila are the country's crown
- Drink and drive at all - the limit is effectively zero
Worth knowing
- Tipping is around 10%
- Bulgaria adopted the euro in January 2026 - old lev prices may still appear alongside
- Sofia's free walking tours are a good orientation day one
- Ski and hike prices are among Europe's lowest
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.