State system of Bulgaria: Parliamentary Republic

Capital: Sofia (1.2 mil. Inhabitants)

Official language: Bulgarian, alphabet – Cyrillic

Religion: Orthodox (85%), Muslim (8%), others (7%)

Time zone: GMT (London) + 2 hours, East-European time (Germany) + 1 hour

Climate: Continental to Mediterranean in the South parts of the country. Average temperatures during January vary from -2 to 2 degrees centigrade in the valleys to – 10 degrees centigrade in the mountains. Average temperatures for June vary from 19-25 degrees centigrade in the valleys to 10 degrees centigrade in the high mountains. Rainfalls are 450-600 mm in the valleys to 1300 mm in the mountains.

Electricity: 220 V, 50 Hz

Entrance in the country: Most of the foreign citizens entering Bulgaria don’t need visa but they must carry their valid international passport. The list of the countries which citizens need visa, when entering Bulgaria, can be found at www.mfe.government.bg

Custom’s formalities and limitations:

Upon crossing the state border of the Republic of Bulgaria passengers may import and export duty free commodities that in type, quantities, and value are not of a commercial nature and personal belongings. Common custom declarations and restrictions are applied for import and export of currency, food, alcohol and goods. There is a special custom regime for antiquarian objects, historic and cultural treasures, medicines, narcotics, weapons, ammunitions.

Money exchange: The Bulgarian Lev is pegged to the Euro. 1 EUR = 1.955 BGN.
You may exchange money in banks and in any of the numerous exchange offices. Some of those offices are opened during the holidays. Euro-checks may be cashed on a lot of banks.

Approximate Exchange Rates for 1 BGN:

1 USD 1.53 LEVA

1 EURO 1.96 LEVA

1 CHF 1.34 LEVA

1 GBP 2.86 LEVA

Credit cards: Most of the hotels work with VISA, Master Card or American Express.

Transportation: Roads - 37.3 thousand km.; railways - 6.5 thousand km. (65 % electrical). Sea ports – Varan and Burgas. Danube ports – Russe, Lom , Vidin, Silistra etc. International airports – Sofia, Plovdiv, Burgas and Varna.

Taxi-cabs: In towns and resorts there are taxi-cabs situated in the respective taxi ranks. People can take a taxi by calling a taxi company or in the street.

Urban transport: In towns there is urban transport: buses and mini-buses. In Sofia there are trams, trolley buses and underground. Tickets are usually bought before getting on the vehicle.

Car rental : You can rent a car from international rent-a-car companies such as AVIS, Hertz, Budget , Eurocar, etc. Many of the hotels in Bulgaria offer this service through a licensed Bulgarian rent a car companies.

Post offices and telecommunication: Working time of post offices is from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Postage stamps and postcards may be bought from the desks in the post office or from pavilions selling newspapers. There are a lot of internet-cafes from which you may talk cheap or send e-mails (most of them work 24 hours).

Local and international telephone services are covered through automatic street telephones operating with tokens and calling cards. Tokens for local calls (0.20 leva) and calling cards are available for purchase from any post office or places where newspapers are sold.

Important phones:

Dialling code for Bulgaria from abroad +359

Fire-brigade 160

First aid 150

Police 166

Road assistance 146

Telephone information 144

Traffic police – car accidents +359 2/ 982 72 823, 866 50 60

Important web pages;

Airports in Bulgaria:

1. Sofia airport www.sofia-airport.bg

2. Varna airport www.varna-airport.bg

3. Bourgas airport www.bourgas-airport.com

4. Plovdiv airport www.plovdivairport.com

Sea and river ports in Bulgaria:

1. Sea port of Varna www.port-varna.bg

2. Sea port of Bourgas www.port-bourgas.com

3. River port of Rousse www.port-rousse.bg

4. River port of Lom www.port.lom.bg

5. River port of Vidin www.port-vd.com

Central railway station in Sofia www.bdz.creato.biz/bg/

Central bus station in Sofia www.centralnaavtogara.bg