By Plane -- Bulgaria has three international airports: Sofia, Varna, and Burgas, but most visitors arrive at Sofia, currently served by 17 airlines from 47 European and Middle Eastern cities, with a brand-new airport terminal that opened in 2006. At present travelers from North America cannot fly direct into Bulgaria; the most frequent connections are usually through London or Frankfurt. Tip: Hurrah for the entry of low-cost carrier Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), which now offers cheap flights from most destinations across Europe into Bulgaria, usually via Budapest. There are also usually cheap charter flights into Varna and Bourgas during the peak summer season; others fly into Plovdiv to coincide with the skiing season.
By Train -- Rail travel is very time-consuming (traveling from Budapest via Serbia takes 17-24 hr.; via Romania closer to 60) and trains and infrastructure in Bulgaria are not well maintained. There is also the wearing potential of a trip ruined by thieves or hustlers. Should you still favor the romance of rail, you will at least (assuming you're a citizen of the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or the U.K.) not need a transit visa through Serbia or Romania; for information on a Eurail Selectpass, which allows travel between three to five East European countries, check out www.eurail.net; though note that these passes seldom end up being real value for the money. Popular routes are the Trans-Balkan, which connects Budapest with Thessalonniki, stopping in Sofia (there's also a stop near Veliko Tarnovo); the Bulgaria Express which connects Sofia with Moscow; and the daily Sofia-Belgrade line. In summer you can travel from Bucharest, Budapest, Bratislava, and Prague to Varna and Burgas.
By Bus -- Buses are generally newer and cleaner than trains, and most major cities in Germany, as well as Budapest, Prague, and Vienna, have regular bus service to Sofia. However, due to distances and poor roads (and occasionally tedious and lengthy delays at border crossings), this can be a time-consuming way to get here. Most of the bus journeys from western Europe pass through Serbia; as above, no transit visa is required. For information about bus service from Sofia's relatively slick International Railway Station, call tel. 02/952-5004.
By Car & Ferry -- Visitors traveling from western Europe by car will either take a ferry from Italy to Greece, then head due north, or you will have to pass through Serbia, where you have to pay a special car insurance, or Romania where road conditions are bad, and you will ferry across the Danube from Vidin. Insurance is of course compulsory -- it can either be taken out beforehand or on the Bulgarian border.
