Bulgaria by campervan: driving, tolls and rules
Driving a campervan in Bulgaria: speed limits, tolls, low-emission zones, required equipment and key road rules. What to know before you go.
Published 18 September 2026Last checked 19 September 2026
Currency
Euro
EUR. Adopted 1 January 2026 at the fixed rate of 1.95583 leva
Language
Bulgarian
Written in Cyrillic, which Bulgaria invented
Driving
Right
Motorway 140 km/h, 100 km/h from 3.5 to 7.5 tonnes
Power
230V, type F
The round two-pin Schuko socket
Road toll
E-vignette
€64.50 a year, €10 a week, prices from 1 August 2026
Emergency
112
Mountain rescue through 112. The old 1470 line closed in August 2026
Driving
Driving
The Bulgarian vignette is fully digital and tied to your number plate. There is no sticker, and under the roads act a control officer may not ask you to show proof of payment: cameras read the plate. On the tariff in force from 1 August 2026 a year is €64.50, a month €19.90, a week €10 and a weekend €6.60. Driving a tolled road without one is a €153.39 fine under the road traffic act.
Fuel per litre in the week of 14 September 2026
- Diesel
- €1.856
- Petrol 95
- €1.620
EU average the same week was €2.159
EU average the same week was €2.063
Speed limits by licence category
| Vehicle | Motorway | Expressway | Outside town | In town |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category B, up to 3,500 kg | 140 km/h | 120 km/h | 90 km/h | 50 km/h |
| Category BE, C1, C1E, D, D1 | 100 km/h | 100 km/h | 80 km/h | 50 km/h |
| Category C and CE, over 7,500 kg | 90 km/h | 90 km/h | 80 km/h | 50 km/h |
E-vignette prices in force from 1 August 2026
- 1 year
- €64.50
- 3 months
- €35.90
- 1 month
- €19.90
- 1 week
- €10.00
- Weekend
- €6.60
For vehicles up to 3.5 t and category M1 camping cars
Worth it above about two months of travel
The one most visitors want
Good value for a crossing or a short loop
A period most countries do not offer
The vignette, and what catches foreign vans
- A category M1 motorhome pays the vignette whatever it weighs. The roads act says so in as many words, and it is the rule most often got wrong about Bulgaria.
- Towing needs a second vignette once the combination exceeds 3.5 tonnes, for the same category.
Over 3.5 tonnes and not a motorhome
- A goods vehicle over 3,500 kg is outside the vignette scheme entirely and pays a per kilometre toll instead.
- It needs either declared toll data from an on-board device or a маршрутна карта, a route map bought in advance for the sections it will use.
What the vehicle must carry
- A fire extinguisher became compulsory on 7 February 2026. The road traffic act extends the requirement to M1, M2, M3, N1, N2, N3, O2, O3 and O4 vehicles, and puts a €25.56 fine on not having one or not having it serviced. This is new and most foreign vans have not caught up.
- Warning triangle, first aid kit and hi-vis vest are compulsory too.
Low emission zones
- The clean air act gives every municipal council the power to create a зона с ниски емисии, to restrict which vehicle categories and emission classes may enter, and to enforce it with automated cameras and fines.
- The power is set out in the act and the detail lives in each council's own ordinance, which is where the boundaries, the season and the treatment of foreign plates are written.
The blood alcohol limit is 0.5 per mille under the road traffic act. From 0.5 to 0.8 costs €255.65 and six months of your licence, and from 0.8 to 1.2 costs €511.29 and twelve months. Refusing a breath test costs €1,022.58 and two years. Above 1.2 per mille it stops being an administrative matter and becomes a criminal offence under the penal code. In a country where rakia is poured before the meal rather than after it, this matters most the morning after.