The striped arches and painted arcade of Rila Monastery below forested mountains in Bulgaria
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Bulgaria by campervan

Bulgaria joined the euro on 1 January 2026, so the lev is gone and half the price advice written about this country is out of date. The sleeping rules split in two. Inland, the road act never mentions sleeping and asks only where your vehicle may stand. On the Black Sea coast a separate act bans vehicles on the beach and the dunes outright, with fines to match. Everything else before the border: the e-vignette that a motorhome pays whatever it weighs, fuel well under the EU average, and the mountain rescue number that changed in August 2026.

Published 18 September 2026Last checked 19 September 2026

Basics

Basics

Bulgaria uses the euro, drives on the right, and has been in Schengen for land travel since 1 January 2025. Control at the internal land borders with and between Bulgaria and Romania was lifted from that date. A van arriving from Romania or Greece crosses without a check. The borders with Turkey, Serbia and North Macedonia are external Schengen borders and are checked as such, so those crossings still take time.

The green and pale domes of the Alexander Nevsky cathedral against a clear blue sky
Sofia. Roman ruins under the metro stations and a mountain at the end of the street

Power, water and getting online

  • 230V, 50Hz, type F sockets. A German Schuko plug and a standard European two-pin plug both fit. UK and Irish plugs need an adapter.
  • Mains water in towns and cities is treated to drinking standard, and plenty of Bulgarians still buy bottled. Take the lead from where you are.

Reading Cyrillic in an afternoon

  • Many letters already look right. А Е К М О Т and others read the way you expect.
  • Six are false friends. В is v, Н is n, Р is r, С is s, У is u, Х is h. These are the ones that cost you a turning.

Bulgarian public holidays do move. Under the labour code, when an official holiday other than Easter falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, the first working day after it, or the first two, become non-working instead. In 2026 that catches 24 May, 6 September and 26 December, so Monday 25 May, Monday 7 September and Monday 28 December are all days off that the date alone does not show. Orthodox Easter follows the Julian paschalion and lands on Sunday 12 April 2026, a week after the western one.

Common questions about Bulgaria by campervan

Does Bulgaria use the euro in 2026?

Yes. Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026. The EU abrogated Bulgaria's derogation with effect from that date and fixed the irrevocable conversion rate at 1 euro to 1.95583 leva. Lev notes and coins stopped being legal tender a month after adoption, and dual price display in both currencies ended on 8 August 2026. The Bulgarian National Bank still exchanges lev notes and coins for euro free, in unlimited quantity and with no deadline.

Can you sleep in a campervan in Bulgaria?

Inland, yes. Закон за движението по пътищата does not regulate sleeping in a vehicle at all and never uses the word. It regulates where a vehicle may stand, and the rule that binds forbids parking on the carriageway outside a built-up area, so you have to stop off the road. The Black Sea coast is different. Закон за устройството на Черноморското крайбрежие bans driving, parking and standing a vehicle on the beach and on the dunes outright, with a fine of €511.29 to €1,533.88.

Is wild camping legal in Bulgaria?

It depends entirely on where you are. Bivouacking and lighting a fire outside places designated for it are banned in all three national parks and in all eleven nature parks by Закон за защитените територии, the protected territories act, with a fine of €255.65 to €2,556.46. Lighting a fire in forest territory is banned by Закон за горите, the forest act. On the Black Sea coast the beach and the dunes are banned to vehicles outright. Outside those areas no national statute bans it, but all land has an owner whose consent you need and municipalities can restrict it locally.

What does a Bulgarian vignette cost in 2026, and does a motorhome need one?

On the tariff in force from 1 August 2026 the e-vignette costs €64.50 for a year, €35.90 for three months, €19.90 for a month, €10 for a week, €6.60 for a weekend and €5.30 for a single day. A motorhome needs one whatever it weighs: Закон за пътищата, the roads act, says a category M1 camping car pays the vignette regardless of its technically permissible maximum mass, so it does not fall into the per kilometre toll scheme that other vehicles over 3.5 tonnes use. Towing a trailer needs a second vignette once the combination exceeds 3.5 tonnes.