Flights booked :) how is public transport system? Any Cheap B&B?

Hi Terri,

There won't be any direct transport to the village from Sofia- your best bet would be to catch a bus from Sofia to Pleven from the Central Bus station in Sofia (blvd. maria luiza 100), there's a bus every hour on the hour from 9am to 6pm, it should be about 10 leva per person per way. From Pleven you will probably have to negotiate a taxi driver, it's a little over 50 kilometers and he will have to make the return empty so around 50-60 leva per way is a fair price, but they might want a lot more. I know there is a bus from Pleven to Svishtov which might stop in the village, but it's doubtful.
You can use a site like booking.com to find a place to stay in Pleven, I doubt there will be a B & B at the village. I would also recommend emailing and asking the person you bought the house from for additional information, since they should be a local.

If you're planning a day trip only (there and back to Sofia in the same day) I can ask a relative of mine who is a professional driver if he would be free to drive you that day and at what cost, it will be a lot cheaper than a taxi, he speaks some English and he's accompanied tourists before for the same purpose and they've been very pleased.

As previous message states use a Booking.com hotel style to find your digs, the bus that I was on to Sofia did a pick up from Pleven (Union Ivkoni a blue coach) so obviously you'll able to get so far then another route to your house, I think you'd be best spending as much time in and around the village as possible, you need to get a feel for the place, but also with a house in a village you need to have a feel for the pace of life too, it is a real slow down and relax no urgency, not what we have in the UK! The thing is to switch off your UK head, get your hotel, guest house sorted then see from there the best way to visit, they may be able to advise?
Either way you've got yourself an adventure, you will see a lifestyle different to your own, I hope you enjoy the visit and maybe let the forum know how it went?
Best of luck, Steve.

Hi we hired a car for a week when we came across to buy our house.  We stayed at the Rashev Minotel (you can book online) in Veliko Tarnovo which was about £13 per night bed and breakfast for 2.  Big beds, lovely bathroom , fridge, kettle and a tiny weeny flatscreen on the wall.  They barely spoke any English but were really helpful.  We watched the truly epic light show at the Tsarovets Castle which was right across from our window.  We woke rely each day and drove the 40 minute to our village and spent all our days and evenings there orienteering ourselves.  We were lucky to meet an ex pat in the village who then quickly gathered a few more expats who had just moved over to various close by villages.  We met our neighbours and confined via mad gesticulations that we were the new owners of the property.  Re the car rental we arranged it beforehand and picked up in the middle of the night.  The actual rental was about £60 but we did have to pay a 200 euro payment that we got back when we returned the car.  We also opted to hire a sat nav because ours is aged and not up for EU driving.  Terry who has never driven abroad did fabulously well considering we landed up in the pitch black of night and when we first set off there wasn't another car in sight and we couldn't work out which side to drive on!  It soon passed as we got out heads together.  Well `i've just checked out where you've bought your house and it isn't too far from us.  There is a hotel in Levski which is quite close http://bgstay.com/en-o-5042-hotel_arizona.    There is also a train from Sofia to Levski.  The Vrail site is http://www.virail.com/train-sofia-levski   Whilst the information is in English the actual timetable is in Bulgarian - here's an example and a translation - there are 6 trains a day at various times
СОФИЯ(Sofia) 15:30 (departing)    ЛЕВСКИ (Levski) , 18:41 (arriving)    03:11(duration)    7 лв (7 leva cost).
I hope this is helpful