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Bulgaria eSIM
8 data plans · from £4.10 · instant QR code by email
Choose your plan
Travelling as a group? Buy everyone an eSIM in one checkout and the discount is applied automatically — no code needed. See group pricing
8 data plans · from £4.10 · instant QR code by email
Travelling as a group? Buy everyone an eSIM in one checkout and the discount is applied automatically — no code needed. See group pricing
Buy →
Connects automatically to the strongest signal across A1, Vivacom, Telenor.
Setup
It takes about a minute. Tap the install link we email you, leave the line switched off, then switch it on when you land — and you're online.
On iPhone (iOS)
On Android
Bulgaria: 10 plans, from 3 to 50 GB. Validity runs from 1 day to 180 days. 10 of them run on 5G where the local network has it.
7 plans can be topped up without installing a second eSIM. Plans run on A1, Vivacom, Telenor.
Counted from our live catalogue, not a marketing figure — the plan list above this section is the same data.
No regional bundle includes Bulgaria cover — a single-country plan is the only option here, and it is usually the cheaper one anyway.
A Bulgaria travel eSIM is a digital SIM that downloads straight to your phone — no plastic card, no queuing at an airport counter. You buy online, tap the install link we email you (the QR code is in there too), and your phone adds a second line alongside your normal SIM. It stays dormant until your trip begins, then connects automatically to A1, Vivacom, Telenor on 5G where available, LTE everywhere else. Your normal number carries on working for calls and texts while the eSIM handles the data.
Maps, messaging and taxi apps use very little data — roughly 300–500 MB a day. If you add photos, social media and the occasional video, expect to use closer to 1 GB a day. For a one-week trip, a 5 GB plan is usually plenty; for two weeks, tethering, or heavy use, opt for 10 GB or more, or choose a top-up plan you can reload as you go. Bulgaria plans start at £4.10 across 8 sizes, with the per-GB price clearly shown so you can easily spot the best value.
Yes. A Bulgaria travel eSIM is a local data plan rather than international roaming — you pay the price you saw online, and there are no per-megabyte charges from your home network provider. Set the eSIM as your mobile data line, switch data roaming off on your normal SIM, and nothing unexpected turns up on your next bill. Full refund at any time before installation, so buying ahead costs you nothing.
Shopska salata
Tomato, cucumber, pepper and onion under a heap of grated white brine cheese. The national salad, and the standard start to a meal with rakia.
Every restaurant in the country.
Banitsa
Filo pastry layered with white cheese and egg, baked in a coil. Breakfast food, sold from bakeries and eaten with ayran.
Bakeries everywhere, best in the morning.
Kavarma
A slow-cooked meat and vegetable stew served in an individual clay pot, sometimes with an egg cracked on top.
Traditional mehanas.
Tarator
Cold cucumber and yoghurt soup with garlic, dill and walnuts. Summer food and genuinely refreshing in Bulgarian heat.
Everywhere in summer.
Lyutenitsa
A relish of roasted red pepper, tomato and aubergine, spread on bread. Made at home in autumn in enormous quantities.
Supermarkets and markets; homemade is better.
Kebapche and kyufte
Grilled minced meat, one shaped as a roll and the other as a patty, with chips and white cheese. Pub food and ubiquitous.
Any grill or mehana.
Sirene po shopski
White cheese baked in a clay pot with tomato, pepper and an egg.
Traditional restaurants.
Rakia
Fruit brandy, usually grape or plum, drunk with salad at the start of a meal rather than after it. Homemade versions are common and strong.
Everywhere; ask what the house one is made from.
Bulgarian yoghurt
The bacterium is named after the country. Thicker and sharper than most, eaten plain, in tarator, or as ayran.
Any shop.
Bulgarian wine
A long winemaking tradition with indigenous grapes — Mavrud, Melnik, Rubin — that are hard to find outside the country.
Wine bars in Sofia and Plovdiv; Melnik itself for the wine of that name.
Rila MonasteryRila
A UNESCO-listed monastery in a mountain valley, with striped arcades and vivid exterior frescoes. The single most visited site in the country.
a day from Sofia
Plovdiv Old TownPlovdiv
One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe, with a Roman theatre still in use and streets of painted National Revival houses.
two days
Sofia's churchesSofia
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the fourth-century Rotunda of St George standing in a hotel courtyard, and the Boyana Church frescoes on the city edge.
a day
Veliko TarnovoVeliko Tarnovo
The medieval capital, built up a gorge with the Tsarevets fortress on a rock spur above the river.
two days
Rhodope MountainsRhodopes
Forested ranges in the south with villages, gorges, the Devil's Throat cave and a distinct musical tradition.
several days
NessebarNessebar
A UNESCO-listed old town on a Black Sea peninsula, dense with medieval churches. Extremely busy in August.
half a day
Seven Rila LakesRila
A chain of glacial lakes at altitude, reached by chairlift and then a walk. Best from late spring once the snow has gone.
a day
BuzludzhaCentral Balkan
An abandoned Communist Party monument like a concrete flying saucer on a ridge. The interior is closed, but the exterior and the setting are extraordinary.
half a day
BanskoBansko
The main ski resort, in the Pirin mountains, with a preserved old quarter and a long season by Balkan standards.
several days · book ahead
Belogradchik RocksBelogradchik
Red sandstone formations in the far northwest with a fortress built between them, far off the usual route and correspondingly quiet.
a day
Intercity bus
The main way between cities, more frequent and faster than the train on most routes. Several operators run from central bus stations.
low
Train
BDZ runs a slow but very cheap network. Scenic on some routes, notably the narrow-gauge Septemvri to Dobrinishte line through the Rhodopes.
very low
Sofia metro
A modern multi-line metro including a direct link from the airport into the centre. Paid by contactless card or ticket.
very low
Car hire
Useful for the mountains and the more remote sites like Belogradchik and Buzludzha. A motorway vignette is required and is sold digitally.
moderate
Marshrutka
Shared minibuses filling gaps between the bus and rail networks, especially in mountain areas.
very low
Ride-hailing
Bolt, TaxiMe
Bolt and the local TaxiMe both operate in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas. They are cheap and remove the fare disputes that metered taxis at tourist spots can involve.
Paying for things
Basics
| Liberation Day | 3 March | National holiday with ceremonies at Shipka Pass; roads there are busy. |
| Orthodox Easter | moves each year, often later than western Easter | The major religious holiday, observed from Good Friday to Easter Monday. Domestic travel is heavy. |
| Labour Day | 1 May | Public holiday; often combined with 6 May into a long weekend. |
| St George's Day | 6 May | Army day and a widely celebrated name day; a very common holiday period. |
| Bulgarian Education and Culture Day | 24 May | Celebrates the Cyrillic alphabet; processions in the cities. |
| Unification Day | 6 September | National holiday at the end of the beach season. |
| Independence Day | 22 September | National holiday, often creating a long weekend. |
| Christmas | 24 to 26 December | Three days of holiday; ski resorts fill and city businesses close. |
Recurring dates — the day these fall on moves year to year.