Best places to live in Bulgaria

Hi Cathy,

A lot would depend on whether this will be a permanent home or holiday home? If it's to be a permanent home, do you fulfill the criteria for D-visa? A requirement post Brexit for non EU citizens looking to reside on a permanent basis.

Have you visited Bulgaria before?

Plovdiv is a beautiful city as many will testify here, but also very pricey. How far out you need to go, to find more reasonable prices, I'm not sure. I believe Stara Zagora is also a lovely city, although I've only visited the outskirts. Being anywhere close to a city is going to come at a premium, so it also depends largely on your budget, and withered you want a house with land, or are looking at an apartment.

You'll find plenty of people here, happy to share their experiences. Good luck with your search 🍀.

@MeAndHim

Welcome to the expat.com forum and good luck with your Bulgarian property search!

Bulgaria is a lovely country, so there are many great areas to settle in. But the prices can vary rather widely, so I'd expect your budget to be a big factor in where you can go.

The big cities are Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas so it's very popular to live close to these cities, especially from a work perspective. But it's very expensive. The Black Sea coast is also very desirable, especially on/near the sea (but you can get a lot more for your money by being 20-50 km inland). Veliko Tarnovo is a lovely town with a famous fortress and pretty surrounding countryside. It has been popular with Brits for many years, but it's also getting pricey. There are several mountain ranges that have beautiful scenery, including the Rhodopes (south of Plovdiv and Asenovgrad with Pamporovo ski resort), the Balkan Mountains (all the way from Serbia to Sveti Vlas on the coast, including such towns as Karlovo and Kazanlak), and Pirin/Rila (south of Sofia, near Bansko, Bulgaria's biggest ski resort).

South-east Bulgaria, near the Turkish border, has Sakar mountain (quite low, but famous for its archaeological artifacts) near Topolovgrad, and the Stradzha Nature Park nearer the coast. There is some pretty scenery, but it's relatively sparsely populated. This means there are more property bargains there, but you have to be OK with much bigger distances to do your weekly shop at a big supermarket (Lidl, Kaufland) or get building materials at a big DIY centre (Praktiker).

These days, living in a quieter area is very feasible, especially if have a car and can work remotely, or have passive income (rent, pension, etc.). Living costs are very low, and there is excellent internet coverage so it's not a problem for entertainment (TV, Netflix, etc.) and online shopping. I don't think online grocery shopping has taken off here, but there's Praktiker (DIY), Emag (like Amazon, all sorts of stuff), Ikea and Jysk (furniture, bedding, etc.), Technopolis (electronics/electricals including phones, TVs, laptops, and household appliances). All will happily deliver to your village house by courier (Speedy/Econt usually). Bulgaria has a couple of good motorways (usually not terribly busy) so it's also perfectly feasible to drive to Sofia, or the coast, or Turkey.

As @Jules999 says, both Plovdiv and Stara Zagora are very nice cities. Plovdiv is a former European Capital of Culture, with Roman ruins and a Bulgarian Old Town. It has several hills/parks and tree-lined streets so it's very green too. But, yes, it's getting very expensive. I like Stara Zagora too, and we visit quite often as our village house is in Stara Zagora district. It's a very scenic area with the Balkan Mountains to its north (our house is next to the mountain trails, just outside Kazanlak), and the lower Sredna Gora hills to the west.

@MeAndHim

Hi we have found one through Mowlem estate agents based in Ruse.. we wanted a house for holidays but to be a home in a few years.  We've chosen Batak Veliko Tarnovo in the countryside lots of land as we want to grow our own fruit veg herbs fruit trees. We have a barn that will need work 1/2 acre garden.  We plan to have chickens goats once living there..

It's not in a holiday resort for e.g Sunny beach is 4 hrs drive but could book a hotel and have a weekend there.  We are only around 50 mins for Veliko Tarnovo .an hour and a half from Ruse both beautiful cities.. if you Google Mowlem you will see the houses available these are also pay monthly schemes similar to a mortgage.. you can go on YouTube too and find them plus other areas informative vlogs and other English couples mixed ages living in different areas of Bulgaria. Which shows you different ways of how they live in the holiday resorts and the countryside..

@jules999 @gwynj @Lynnecharnock4

Wow guys, thanks for the replies - I wasn’t expecting so many, so quickly!

we agree about the cities being more expensive but we don’t want city life anyway. For us, cities are places to visit not live. However we don’t want to be too isolated and would like to live somewhere with some amenities. A bakery and/or general store and a petrol station on hand would be really good. Larger supermarket and other shops a short(ish) drive would make it ideal. We are intending to be living in BG permanently in a couple of years time and we definitely need a house with some land for our dog. We have looked at VT and are really open to most places but will prefer no further north than VT and prefer that sort of central - south eastern location.

How have you guys found the Bulgarian people? Are they friendly towards us invaders 🤣 ? I mean in the smaller village communities as sometimes when they’re a small close-knit place here in the UK it can be heard to break down barriers and that’s without such huge language and cultural differences!

My self and my wife prefer the sea to the country..she is originally from Ruse

A beautiful town..has lived in Sofia too

But now live in Pomorie..close to burgas..15 minutes from the airport.nice beaches..nice sea plus amenities..quiet and desolated out of season..june to sept..nice town centre.good restaurants..but like everywhere..inflation is catching up.

My wife is there now..i off there next weekend for 3 months...cant wait.

But it depends where you want to settle..i dont trust villages..but prefer the security of a small residential block

I have 2 front doors..one wooden plus one extra metal door..and s.o.t. security..my only gripe are those that refuse to pay service charges..because of the minimum time they spend there

But are happy to send holidaymakers to share the amenities we pay for..yet reap the rewards.

@wtruckyboy

I agree, Pomorie is very nice. Your neighbours Sveti Vlas, Nessebar, and Sozopol are not bad either. And Sunny Beach has a few fans, I've heard. :-)

I also agree about the delights of flats-in-town. I love our house in the country, but it's a ton of work... and I'm always worrying if it has been broken into, or one of the trees has fallen on the roof. I've spent almost all of this year in Plovdiv, as we've been finishing (from Bulgarian Standard) our new apartment, and it has been delightful. Easy apartment living with no maintenance issues, and all services right on our doorstep, including brand-new private hospitals, excellent cafes and restaurants, beautiful parks and green spaces (including River Maritsa, Youth Hill, Alyosha, and the Regatta lake), a network of official bike/walking paths, and Lidl/Kaufland 200m away.

Hi Cathy,

Welcome to our wonderful Bulgarian expats group!

I moved to VT in August 2020, but I wasn't there long (living in the centre of VT in a quiet street). I met my wife to be in a VT bar (she's Bulgarian). We moved to Varna December 2020, married in Varna in May 2021 and after 16 months of renting, bought two apartments - one we let on Airbnb. 

I agree, you need some infrastructure near you. VT certainly offers villages nearby, that are only a ten to fifteen minutes drive into VT. My wife's brother lives in Stara Zagora;  yes it's a lovely city, with good rail and inter-city bus links, although my wife and I find it quite sleepy. Plovdiv is a lot larger and more expensive.  Personally, if I was going to choose between the two, I'd choose to be nearer Stara Zagora.

My wife's friends and family have embraced me!  If you make the effort to socialise here, Bulgarian people reciprocate, I've always found most to be friendly and hospitable and it's been great for me to learn the culture and traditions. Above all, I don't feel alone and although I do miss my closest friends in the UK, I do have a good social life here.  Obviously, it's what you make it; some prefer to isolate themselves.  From everything I've heard about village life, there's always good support from both Bulgarian and expat neighbours.

Another thing I should mention is that crime is low here and even Varna you can walk the streets late at night, with absolutely no problem. I feel very safe.  The sort of crime you encounter, if at all, is corruption - some of it blatant.  That's why when you buy a property, you absolutely need a solicitor.  My wife's cousin is a freelance estate agent - she knows all the estate agents in Varna and their tricks - she found us our properties and introduced us to an excellent solicitor.  It's not so much what you know here, it's who you know - having Bulgarian connections certainly helps a lot, but it's certainly possible to go it alone if you're careful.

I chose city life for a number of reasons...  I'm in my older years (62) and have health problems ,which Varna and Burgas have been a god send for.  My wife lived most of her life in Varna and we both find the city so convenient, especially having a railway terminus and and Airport.  We don't live in the centre of Varna, but in an area just north of the centre, where we have an incredible 75 small shops and businesses, all within 150 metres off our home - something the UK could never achieve and our area has real community spirit!

I wish you well, finding your Bulgarian home! What I can say is, you've made the right choice of country!  I absolutely love it here and I could never see myself returning to Blighty.

Ian

@cyberescue1

I'm with you on this one, Bulgaria is tip-top, innit. :-) Chances of me ever returning to live (or even die) in Dear Ol' Blighty: pretty close to 0%.

@MeandHim I bought an inexpensive house in the north-east, in a small village in a very rural area. We don't live there yet as the house needs a load of work (price of buying cheap!) and we need to wait till retirement age to get a D visa.

My experience has been that the locals are very happy to have newcomers. Most villages are shrinking as  younger people move away, so honest people who make an effort to fit in are likely to be welcomed with open arms. The only time I experienced any animosity was when I accidentally gave a bus driver Euro coins instead of leva.

@cyberescue1 @gwynj

Seems you’re both happy there! Hope we will be as happy too… but that’s a way off. I’ve attached a screenshot to roughly show the areas we are currently looking at. Does anybody have any knowledge of the area? Any recommendations?

@cyberescue1 - when you say Stara Zagora is sleepy - how sleepy? While we don’t want to live in a city, we do like to go for certain things and for nights out occasionally, we may be getting older but we’re still party people at heart!

Seems I didn’t succeed with the photo 🤷‍♀️

So anyway - I said before, Plovdiv-Stara Zagora-Haskovo-Yambol and down towards the Turkish border.  Some houses we will hopefully get to view when we can get out there are located in:

Markovo

Bratya Daskalovi

Granitovo

among others. Does anyone know these villages? Or surrounding areas?

Would love to know a little more before we get out there.

You can't upload photos directly, unfortunately. You need to put them on a photo site then use the link .

@janemulberry

thanks for the tip!

We have  a house in a village about twenty five minutes by village bus from Pomorie.  We've had the house since 2017 just staying there fora couple of months at a time and we've  never had any problems.  I'll be moving there by myself in a couple of months because as a pensioner I cannot afford to live here in the UK. My council tax in BG is cheaper than a months rent on my garage here.

@kaththomas700

Everything is ridiculously expensive here now. Our annual council tax in UK could almost buy one of the cheaper wrecks you see advertised! We want to buy somewhere pretty soon and spend the next couple of years getting it how we want it and up to standard for HS, and then we will be moving permanently. We just want an easy, peaceful life where we can dip in and out of city life as and when we want to. Otherwise just doing things we’ve never had time to do before.

Yes for me as a pensioner the UK is way too expensive for me to live in on a state pension. 

.

@MeAndHim

Hey guys.. we have local village shops with everything in plus only 10/ 15mins down the rd we are in the next town with everything there. Supermarkets banks petrol stations everything.

I have a couple of friends who live in villages not far from VT and they both have trouble with their water supplies which can be turned off for several hours on a daily basis, difficult to shower or even flush the toilet.

Good point, Kath! And it's especially an issue with houses set on higher ground. My neighbour's house is down on the flat. Mine is up the hill a little, maybe 20 or 30 feet higher. Our village has reliable water supplies, but my water pressure is often poor. Last week when there was work being done at the pumping station I had no water at all for half a day, while hers was fine.

I've lost my water supply in the village from time to time but it's very infrequent, thankfully. The electric goes from time to time and when there's a thunderstorm it's just time to give up and go to bed early.

We just have to roll with whatever comes our way.

I know now to have plenty of water stashed away, and I'll be installing a rainwater tank in the garden as soon as I can, too!

@MeAndHim well, it's not completely asleep lol, but, put it this way, people are certainly in slow motion, especially in the the summer months.

@kaththomas700 we even have erratic water here in Varna - the pipes are old and frequently burst, meaning we  have no water for up to 6 hours.   We buy 10 litres bottles of  water from the supermarket and keep the bottles once they're empty, filling them with tap water and storing them for toilet and washing use, when the mains water's off.

Because the large bottles have big openings, you can flush worth about 2 litres 😁.

We also bought a water dispenser and that has a 20 litre cannons on top, which gives us drinking water, as the water in Varna isn't nice to drink - too much chlorine.

I drink the tap water at my village home near Pomorie,  but husband turns his nose up at it, although our neighbours  daughter who speaks a little English assures me that there's nothing wrong with it.

I'd be careful of drinking the tap water, not only is there chlorine added ( some areas have higher concentrations than others ) but also the condition of the pipes. We were pretty horrified to see the rusty old lead pipe feeding our home! We now use a Big Berkey water filter, it holds around 10 litres and filters out nasty contaminants - it tastes great too! Even our Bulgarian neighbours commented on the smoothness of it. The carbon filters have around 10 years of life before will need replacing. One of the best investments we made.

We now use a Big Berkey water filter, it holds around 10 litres and filters out nasty contaminants - it tastes great too!  One of the best investments we made.
-@Jules999

Where did you purchase this? I drink the tap water and it seems fine, despite the rusty iron pipes. But I had thought about getting a Berkey, anyway in case I need to use rainwater for drinking.

@janemulberry

We've had it a couple of years now, and I had to shop around for the best price with delivery, in the end I bought it direct from the manufacturer as the overall price was better, but this was pre Brexit!  There is an imitation version and the name only differs slightly, Big Berkley I think it is, and I'd be a little wary of that. Yes, they are great, when our mains goes down, we filter the well water through it too.

I'm a tap water guy, I like to think I'm doing my bit to save the earth. :-) I typically drink 3-4 litres per day, which is quite an expensive bottled water habit. So far (after 6 years) no ill effects whether in Plovdiv, Kazanlak, or Bansko. In fact, I'm pretty sure our village water comes straight down the mountain, rather than up from Kazanlak, and it's some of the finest tap water I've ever tasted. :-)

As to low- or no-pressure, this can be a problem in many places, not just Bulgaria. However, you might notice it more here as UK houses often have a cold water tank in the attic, while most Bulgarian cold taps are fed directly by the main (and the hot taps are fed from a tank/boiler). Apartments don't usually have much room for a tank, but this is an easy option if you have a house. The tank gives you a reserve when supplies get cut, and it can be easier to pressurize from this tank. If the supply is fine, but the pressure is low, then a pressure pump (possibly with small tank) usually works well.

@MeAndHim

I've visited this area (Bratya Daskalovi region north of A1 and west of Stara Zagora) a few times. It's more expensive because it's relatively close to Plovdiv and Stara Zagora, and has easy access to the A1 highway (to Sofia and the Black Sea). Down south near Turkey should be cheaper (but more isolated).

It's quite a pretty region as it has the low Sredna Gora mountains (more like hills near the A1, but further north they get higher than Snowdon, I think) and there are some vineyards around (Midalidaire is particularly fancy). So I suppose you might say it's a bit like a Bulgarian Tuscany. Probably others will disagree, and say I'm overegging the pudding. :-) Bratya Daskalovi and Sredno Gradishte are my favourites. Granit, Orizovo, Cherna Gora are flat agricultural areas, so less scenic (but next to A1 and train station).

https://midalidare.bg/en

It's not as close to the two big cities as I would personally prefer, I like to have a big supermarket and a nice cafe 10-15 minutes away, rather than 45 minutes plus. But if you're happy, I'm happy. :-) Our village house is about this distance from Stara Zagora, along very good roads, so this is ideal for a change of scene, and to grab some stuff from Praktiker. And I like the city a lot. But for every day, Kazanlak is only 10 minutes away, and it's got Billa/Lidl/Kaufland. I'd guess the closer option in the region you mention is probably Chirpan, which is not very big (and not especially attractive, IMHO), but does have a supermarket.

@MeAndHim Not to be silly-almost anywhere in Bulgaria is unique and enjoyable.    Initially I overlooked small villages and have now visited a number of enchanting locations. Most people land someplace and that’s it.  I suggest renting and exploring s much of the country as possible.   There is someplace for everyone from sea to ski, from cosmopolitan to living off the grid.  Your heart and pocketbook will lead you to the best solution for you. 

How tough is the language barrier?  I have seen some cool translation tech for the new flippable tablet phones, where you hold it up and when you speak someone would see Bulgarian and when they reply the other side of the screen shows English.  This seems a really good way to get through discussions in a pinch.

@kaththomas700

Hi cath..i live in pomorie..central..as you know its in 2 parts.

I have many friends who live in new town..and also in kamanar..but theyre only holiday makers....the water here is drinkable..but we use a filter jug as well...when they are here they come to pomorie because no life where they live..but transport is a problem..only 3 buses a day..we do however go to the boot fair in kableshcovo..on a thursday when we also meet up.

@beakernz

My wife is bulgarian..in uk atm..she was an english teacher most of her life.

Cambridge educated..but i found learning bg was difficult so gave up.

I have enough for my needs most times

I found ..bg 4 brits invaluable..very informative..and a cd comes with it.

I recommend this book to everyone.

There are also on line courses too.

@beakernz

Getting off topic - maybe a subject for a new thread?

Bulgarian isn't easy! I have absolutely zero language ability, but am slowly picking it up. We don't live there full time yet (don't qualify for the D visa till I retire) so I'm travelling over for a week at a time as often as I can. I doubt I will ever get fluent but I do want to learn at least enough to have simple conversations.

I learned to read Cyrillic first and basic things like days of the week and numbers, so I could read signs, timetables, etc. Google Lens is helpful for reading - aim your phone camera at text and it shows a translation on the screen!

I use Google Translate a lot with my Bulgarian neighbour. Sometimes it gives weird results, most of the time we manage fine. Every time I go, I learn a few more words and can understand a little more of what people are saying. I find I learn much better from real life than from courses, though there are some good courses and online language sites.

@wtruckyboy yes there's only tree buses to Pomorie  from the village ilive in but with three  other  buses to Burgas ido get down to Kableshkovo  on Thursdays  there used to be a cafe selling English  Breakfasts on market day.

@beakernz The language is very hard to learn.   Yet not impossible.   Spend time learning the alphabet.  Once you do that you can easily figure out what the signs say. 

Speaking  is a challenge but once you have the alphabet it is much easier.   Fortunately  many Bulgers speak English.  That is good and not so good as they want to practice English and you need to learn Bg.   It will come- so arrive and enjoy

I find that I can understand more but am unable to reply, but I'm getting there slowly slowly , I understand some of the destinations  on buses.

Mind you since children and young people started to learn English at school I find trying to engage them in conversations in Bulgarian they'd rather practise their English on me.

We know another expat couple in Plovdiv, and they are currently having a weekly (private) lesson with a local language tutor. They do their homework, and practice in their own time, so they are making an effort. They are enjoying the lessons and In just a few weeks they seem to be able to read/write Cyrillic and have learned many useful greetings and phrases.

I don't really make much effort on my Bulgarian, but I've tried to learn a few greetings and some numbers. Like many others, I find Google Translate very useful. I am also a fan of language apps on my phone. My favourite is Duolingo, which I've used for several years just to stop myself entirely forgetting my previous languages (French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Welsh). It doesn't have Bulgarian, unfortunately, but it does have Russian which is a very similar Cyrillic language. I don't like Mondly as much, but it does have Bulgarian, and I've learned quite a few words/phrases using this.