An independent English guide to Bulgaria
This guide
About Tourism Bulgaria: method and limits
Tourism Bulgaria is a free, English-language guide to Bulgaria, written for visitors from abroad who organise their own travel. It is not a travel company and not an official body. Below: how a page gets written, how much weight each kind of source carries, where the guide stops, and how errors are fixed.
What Tourism Bulgaria is
An editorial site with one subject: Bulgaria as a destination for international visitors. It covers the regions and how they connect, Sofia and Plovdiv, the Black Sea coast, Rila, Pirin and the Rhodopes, the ski resorts, and a set of practical pages on entry, money, trains, buses, driving and seasons. Every page is signed by the Tourism Bulgaria editors.
It is not the national tourism board. Bulgaria's official tourism portal is bulgariatravel.org, run by the state, and we link to it where it is the right source.
Sources: Official tourism portal of Bulgaria · last checked .
How a page gets written
- 01
Define the question
Start from what a visitor must decide: whether to go, when, how to get there, what it costs.
- 02
Collect sources
Read official pages first, then operators, news and reference works; note the date of each.
- 03
Write only what is sourced
Each price, date, distance or rule on the page must appear in our research file.
- 04
Attach a source line
Every section with perishable facts ends with its sources and the day we checked them.
- 05
Re-check when things change
Practical pages are reviewed when a rule, a fee or a season date changes.
The research file for this edition lists each fact with the page it came from and the date we read it. When an official page could not be opened, the file records that too, and the article names the substitute source.
How much weight each source carries
| Level | Kind of source | Examples used in this edition |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | EU institutions, governments, central banks, police and border authorities | European Commission on the euro; Norwegian Police on ETIAS; Banka Slovenije on the lev |
| 2 | Government travel advice | UK Foreign Office pages on Bulgaria, with their own update dates |
| 3 | Operators' own sites | BDZ railways; the Bansko ski area |
| 4 | News reports of official decisions | The Sofia Globe on vignette prices |
| 5 | Reference works, pass sellers, independent guides, blogs | Wikipedia; Interrail; Seat61; a 2026 ski travel article |
A lower-level source is used only when no higher one answers the question, and the source line names it for what it is. Where two sources give different figures, as for the piste length in Pamporovo, both appear.
Reading the check dates
Two kinds of date appear. The page header shows when the page was first published and when it was last reviewed as a whole. Under individual sections, a "last checked" date shows the day an editor compared that section with its sources.
Neither date guarantees the future. Vignette prices rose by 30% on 1 August 2026, three days after the decision; lift hours change from season to season; railway timetables change every December. Treat the check date as the age of the information, and open the source yourself before spending money you cannot get back.
Sources: The Sofia Globe — vignette fees raised 30% from 1 August 2026 (29 July 2026); The Man in Seat 61 — London to Bulgaria by train (independent rail guide, updated 25 October 2026) · last checked .
Independence
- Nothing is for sale here: no tours, tickets, lift passes, vignettes or rooms, and no bookings taken.
- No business pays to be mentioned, linked or described, and none is ranked or rated.
- Hotels, agencies, guides and schools are not named in the text; an operator's website may appear as a source.
- No reader reviews, testimonials or star ratings are published.
- No advice is given on residency, buying property, work permits or tax.
Where the guide stops
The guide is strongest on rules and seasons that affect most visitors and weakest on things that change by the hour or apply only to some travellers. It cannot warn you about a lift closed by wind this morning or a train cancelled today. It does not cover every village, and it does not set out entry rules for each nationality: the entry page explains the general Schengen position and uses UK advice as a worked example.
It is published in English only, and its editors work from published sources rather than on-the-spot inspection, which is why source lines matter so much here.
Advertising
Pages may carry advertising in boxes marked "Advertisement", kept apart from the articles. Advertisers do not see or approve text before publication and cannot buy coverage. An advertisement on a page about a place is not a sign that we endorse the advertiser.
To advertise, write through the contact form with the subject "Advertising enquiry", or email info@tourismbulgaria.com. We turn down advertising made to look like an article, and advertising that depends on prices or rules we cannot confirm.
Corrections
Errors are fixed in the page itself, not in a separate note that readers might miss. When a reader or an editor finds a mistake, we confirm it against a source, correct the text, change the "last checked" date on the section, update the page's review date and, if the change matters to a decision a reader might have made, record it in the log below.
Reports we cannot yet confirm, but which look credible, may be added to a page as a reader report, clearly labelled, until an official source settles the question. To report an error, use the contact form or email info@tourismbulgaria.com with the page, the fact and your evidence.
Corrections log
First edition published on 28 October 2026. No corrections recorded yet.
Common questions
Questions readers ask
Is Tourism Bulgaria the official tourism site of Bulgaria?
No. It is an independent guide. The official tourism portal of Bulgaria is bulgariatravel.org.
Who writes the pages?
The Tourism Bulgaria editors, named as the author on every page.
Can a business pay to appear in an article?
No. Advertising, where it appears, is labelled and kept apart from the text.
Why are some figures shown twice?
Because two sources disagree and neither is clearly more authoritative. We show both and name each source.
Related
Read next
This guide
Contact
Email info@tourismbulgaria.com or use the form to report errors, ask about a page or enquire about advertising.
Read more
Independent guide to Bulgaria
Home
Start here: regions, cities, coast and mountains of Bulgaria, plus entry rules, the euro and transport.
Read more
Practical
Practical
Entry rules, the euro, trains and buses, driving and vignettes, and when to go, with sources and check dates.
Read more
Practical · Borders
Entry rules
Bulgaria in Schengen: the 90/180-day rule, passport validity, the Entry/Exit System, ETIAS status and customs.
Read more
Practical · Money
Money and the euro
The euro in Bulgaria: changeover date, the BGN 1.95583 rate, dual pricing, exchanging old lev, cards and ATMs.
Read moreStart planning
Send a correction or a question
Tell us which page and which fact you are writing about, what you found instead, and where you found it. A link to an official notice helps us check it quickly.