Before driving in Bulgaria, read this - 

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Sat Nat equipment tends to be vague, and may give you the wrong directions, attempting to take you down cliff edges and trying to get you to come out of fields when in fact you are not actually in a field, it just thinks you are. Take a map, dont rely on Sat Nav, it may take you a long route or the wrong route all together. If you must, remember to update your Sat Nav device before travelling so it has the right roads programmed in, make sure you get the right maps - Its amazing how many people buy and install the wrong map then find when they turn their Sat Nav device on that the map is wrong - Far too late!

Read the road signs, get to learn the cyrillic alphabet, there are many road signs in Bulgaria and many of these are in Cyrillics, learn the alphabet and you will be able to say "No, stupid, its this way" to your Sat Nav device when it tries to take you way off course.

Watch out for animals including foxes, dogs and cats which sit on the roads or run over them when you least expect them to, if something jumps out dont swerve, swerving may endanger the lifes of your passengers or yourself, just brake safely. Drive slowly through villages and at night as animals are out in force during these periods!

Drive slowly through villages, kids run free in villages and so too do domestic and stray animals, better to stay safe and slow down for others using the road.

Police: Although it is now illegal for police to issue spot fines for sometimes seemingly non existent road traffic violations, this is quite common still. Always travel with the car documents, make sure before you set off that you have your driving licence (The plastic part, not just the paper part as the paper part is practically meaningless in BG), that the car has valid road tax and that the car is insured, it is law to carry the insurance documents with you whilst driving in Bulgaria as these will be required if you are stopped. If you are asked to pay a fine, this is your choice, some choose to pay because the fine is usually thought to be low, others refuse to pay especially if no crime was committed, just remember there are usually two police officers and you may only speak English, and it is likely that little English is spoken in the police stations!

Night safety: Make sure all your lights are working and that there are no faults with the car before you depart on your journey, should you break down at any point get out of your car and stay at the side of the road, at no point should you sit in your car unless you are parked safely off the road, this point is very important. Drive safely and get plenty of rest, take breaks regularly.

Overtaking: Only overtake when it is safe and that you can see a clear road far ahead, just because someone else and the person in front of them and the person in front of them overtook the two part HGV on blind bends, does not mean you will also get safely round the HGV and round the bend, remember that deaths on Bulgaria's roads are amongst the highest in Europe, dont be one of the statistics!

Good luck and enjoy Bulgaria! Any questions, ask us at Bulgariadirect

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