How much does it cost to rest in Bulgaria?

Because of the rise of prices of vacations abroad, the price of rest for many tourists comes out on top. Looking through different countries and choosing the most advantageous tour in terms of price and quality, we paid attention to the price of excursions, self-tourism, food and souvenirs.

One of the great advantages of holidaying in Bulgaria was the low cost of both food and hotels. So we could afford two weeks of of vacation instead of one.

How much did it cost us to travel to Bulgaria – the price of a holiday with all the expenses

It takes to be frugal and resourceful. So except for excursions and travel, we managed to save everything.

For 14 days of rest in Bulgaria we traveled almost all the coast of the country, visited many cities several times, saw many sights and tried out a dozen different beaches.

We ate mainly food from the supermarket. We did not eat at even a single restaurant and stayed lived at the cheapest hotel possible. If you do not want to deny yourself in taking pleasures and like to travel a lot, that would have multiplied your costs by 2 or 3 times.

We lived in Nessebar which is one of the most famous and expensive resorts in Bulgaria. If you want to save money, we advise you to take a closer look at the Pomorie resort – we will go there next time.

For those who do not like to read – a short cost estimate

Let’s very briefly calculate how much money you will need. In the calculations we did not take into account the cost of hotel and car rental, because they are fixed.

The cost of the tour was not taken into account. You can read about the differences in prices in different cities of Bulgaria in the article about the resorts.

For a week in Bulgaria you need to take with you:

$50-$100 if you planning to live modestly and almost do not travel;
$100-$150 per person, if you live rather modestly, but travel around the country;
From $200, if you plan to eat 7 days in restaurants, but almost do not go anywhere;
From $400, if you want to spend in anything you like.

In our case, we stayed at cheap hotels and ate food from the supermarket. But we were able to go to different places by relying on cheap public transport. As a result, we visited nine cities filled with sight-seeing but we managed to spend only $200 for two during our 14 days there.

We didn’t buy any souvenirs and we didn’t go to nightclubs and any other places for entertainment.

Cost of tour to Bulgaria

Prices for trips to Bulgaria are very different, depending on the location and the mode of transport For example, we mostly went by bus. The cheapest package would have cost us $450 for 14 days.

Going by plane, of course, is an entirely different manner. It is usually several times more expensive; you will consider yourself lucky if you catch the cheapest flights possible. For details, it is better to check it out at your local tourist operator or search on Travelata.ru.

Search for cheap tours to Bulgaria

If departure is not from your city, I advise you to add also the costs of transport to and from the airport.

Prices of excursions and independent travel around the country

The average price for is $50-$75 . In most cases, almost all of the tourist spocan be visited 2-3 times cheaper by public transport.

Buses in Bulgaria are very comfortable, with air conditioning. To travel by them is really a pleasure – you can relax at the same time and look on the beautiful scenery from the window, or take a nap to save your energy for walks later.

You should also check out another interesting article: What is better: self-tourism or excursions in Bulgaria? Also, you may also want to read another article that lists the actual prices for excursions in Bulgaria.

Our personal recommendations on places to visit in Bulgaria:

The Botanical Garden in Balchik – a place of amazing beauty.
The ancient city of Nessebar – a very beautiful and romantic ancient city.
Pomorie lake and a wild beach nearby – you can see swans, herons, pelicans and cormorants in wild conditions and swim on a surprisingly beautiful beach where there are absolutely no people.
The cities of Varna and Burgas – each of which is suitable not only for sightseeing, but also for a some shopping.

What can you visit if you can travel deep into the country (for example, on a rented car):

Veliko Tarnovo and Arbanassi are one of the most beautiful places in Bulgaria.
The Valley of Roses – come here only from mid-May to the first half of June, when the roses massively blossom. You can also catch the Bulgarian rose festival there during this season.
Sofia – we recommend you to come here separately, he capital of Bulgaria is very far away tfrom the coast.

For most tourists it will be interesting to visit Istanbul. You can do both shopping and sightseeing for 1-2 days.

Also on the Internet there are two pretty interesting sites offering individual excursions by car:

Inexpensive, but quality excursions, which in our opinion are better than the same itinerary with tour operators.
Expensive exclusive and original excursions, which you can avail of if you can afford them.

Souvenirs and purchases in Bulgaria – how much they cost and what to buy?

In our opinion at least, there isn’t much variety when it comes to souvenirs in Bulgaria. Here you can buy slightly cheaper silver and jewelry, cosmetics and beauty made of Bulgarian rose, knitted tablecloths and handkerchiefs.

We even found Greek fur coats — not that they were anything unusual, but they were sold even in the height of the summer heat. You can also find all kinds of magnets, cups, seashells and even Chinese handicrafts.

What we bought (we recommend reading a detailed article about souvenirs from Bulgaria, where there are a lot of photos and tips):

Several sets of Bulgarian rose cosmetics (cost 7.50 levs in Pomorie) – for gifts to relatives and friends.
Jams of figs (costing 3 levs in the supermarket of Nessebar) – they are delicious and naturally made.
Useful jam from cones (worth 4.5 levs in the supermarket of Nessebar) – in case you get cold in winter.
A simple bracelet made of silver ( 9 levs per gram in Old Nessebar) – just for keepsake.

In general, we also could buy a knitted tablecloth, rakiya and manov honey (which is rare and therefore quite expensive) from the exhibition of honey in Old Nessebar, but we decided to save money.

We would have wanted to buy some clothes, but the choices in early September were quite modest – we did not find anything interesting and of good quality.

How much did we spend for 2 weeks in Bulgaria – the total cost of our holiday and all expenses

Let’s try to calculate how much we spent for a holiday in Bulgaria. We stayed for 14 days in at a cheap hotel named Vanini in the town of Nessebar and traveled around the country by bus. These figures are only approximate, so we did not set out to calculate everything to a penny.

The trip to Bulgaria – $700 for two for 14 days, complete with decent breakfasts.
Expenses for food: about $75 for two for two weeks.
Expenses for souvenirs: about $25 for everything.
Excursions, visiting sights, tickets to museums: approximately $100 for all the attractions described on our website. In the cities we liked, we were there 2-3 times.

To summarize, it was two fun-filled weeks in Bulgaria that cost us only $1000.

How much does it cost about a week in Bulgaria?

- - For $50-$100, you can rent a budget hotel and still manage to visit several attractions. You can choose not to eat at restaurants and would prefer instead to buy food from the supermarkets, which is significantly cheaper.
  - For $100-150 per person, you can afford a few dinners in a restaurant, some shopping and go to a couple of the most interesting Bulgarian resorts;
- From $200 for a week, the amount is enough to spend in anything you wish (if you have a travel experience and you will not choose the most expensive restaurants and excursions);

From $400 (and up) per person for 7 days — you should not even think about money at all.

There are some things that you can do without — riding a water bike, going to nightclubs in Sunny Beach, dining at fancy restaurants and going to and from your destination by taxi — all of these things are going to cost you a lot. But it depends on your budget. In our case, we managed to have a great holiday and relaxation in Bulgaria almost literally “for a penny.”

How to calculate the cost of holiday in Bulgaria?

Choose a tour and simply add to it:

$100-$200 per person per week, if you want and know how to save and prefer a budget vacation.
$200-$400, if you like to spend a little on anything you like, but you are prudent enough not to literally throw away money.
$400-$600 per person for 7 days, if you want to spend on almost everything you fancy and not mind about the money.