Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially known as the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in the Balkan region of Europe, west of the Black Sea and south of the Danube river. Wikivoyage
Cities
Cities with a full Wikivoyage guide, largest first.
Can I go? Entry and visas
From GOV.UK, for United Kingdom passports, updated 11 August 2026:
You can travel without a visa to the Schengen area, which includes Bulgaria, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. This applies if you travel:
as a tourist
to visit family or friends
to attend business meetings, cultural or sports events
for short-term studies or training
Passport validity
Bulgaria follows Schengen area rules. Your passport must have:
have a ‘date of issue’ less than 10 years before the date you arrive – if you renewed your passport before 1 October 2018, it might have a date of issue that is more than 10 years ago, making it invalid for entry to the Schengen area
an ‘expiry date’ at least 3 months after the date you plan to leave the Schengen area (the expiry date does not need to be within 10 years of the date of issue)
Check with your travel provider that your passport and other travel documents meet requirements. Renew your passport if you need to.
You will be denied entry if you do not have a valid travel document or try to use a passport that has been reported lost or stolen.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Your embassy in Bulgaria
Finding embassies…
For a lost passport, an arrest or an emergency.
Bulgaria's embassy in United Kingdom
Finding embassies…
For a visa before you go.
Entry rules change, sometimes overnight. Always confirm with the official source before you book or travel. This is a pointer, not legal advice.
Good to know
Emergency numbers in Bulgaria
- Currency
- Euro (EUR)
- Time
- UTC+3
- Tue 17:02 there now
- Plugs and power
- Types C, F · 230 V
- Driving
- On the right
- Calling code
- +359
- Languages
- Bulgarian
- English spoken by about 25%
- Capital
- Sofia
From Wikidata, Unicode CLDR (currency, languages) and the IANA time zone database; checked 10 October 2026.