© Lonely Planet Publications lonelyplanet.com DIRECTORY •• Accommodation DIRECTORY DIRECTORY PRACTICALITIES Directory The metric system is used for weights and measures. DIRECTORY DIRECTORY THUMB TAB Bulgaria runs on 220V, 50Hz AC and plugs are the standard round two-pin variety, sometimes Guidebook (17 lv) published by the Bulgarian called the ‘europlug’. CONTENTS Association for Alternative Tourism (%02-980 7685; Videos work on the PAL system. www.baatbg.org), which lists sustainable, family- If you’re visiting Sofia, pick up the English-language Sofia Echo, published on Friday. Other Accommodation 280 run guesthouses all over Bulgaria. You can English-language papers are the Frontier Times, published monthly in Veliko Târnovo (but Activities 284 buy it at Zig Zag Holidays (Map p88 ; %02-980 5102; available sporadically around the country) and the free monthly Sunny Times, available on the Business Hours 284 www.zigzagbg.com; bul Stamboliyski 20-V) in Sofia. coast. Vagabond is a glossy, English-language lifestyle magazine, published monthly. Children 284 It’s also worth picking up the free Authentic Climate Charts 285 Bulgaria (www.authenticbulgaria.org) guidebook, If you get very bored, tune into the government-run TV channel (BNT) or one of two private Courses 285 which has reviews of some of the best ho- ones (Nova Televisiya and BTV). Televisions in most – but certainly not all – hotel rooms can Customs 285 tels and guesthouses in both the cities and pick up a plethora of stations from around the region, so you can enjoy Romanian game Dangers & Annoyances 286 remote villages. shows, Greek movies and Turkish news programmes, as well as CNN, BBC, Euronews, Hall- Disabled Travellers 286 Accommodation in this book has been mark, MTV and German cable channels such as DW. Discount Cards 287 divided into three price categories: budget, In Sofia, tune into BG Radio (91.9FM), Radio Contact (106FM), Jazz FM (104FM), Retro Radio Embassies & Consulates 287 midrange and top end. In the budget cat- (98.3FM) and Classic FM (89.1FM). Darrik Radio, a nationwide network of stations that usu- Food 287 egory, double rooms cost up to 50 lv (or ally plays contemporary pop music, can be heard in Sofia (98.3FM), Varna (90.7FM), Plovdiv Gay & Lesbian Travellers 287 €25); in midrange they cost up to 100 lv (or (94.6FM), Ruse (104FM) and Veliko Târnovo (88.9FM). Several international services can be Holidays 288 €50); anything above that is regarded as top found on the FM band in Sofia, including Voice of America (103.9FM), BBC (91FM), Deutsche Insurance 288 end. However, as accommodation in Sofia is Welle (95.7FM) and Radio France Internationale (103.6FM). If you understand Bulgarian, try Internet Access 288 priced so much higher than anywhere else, the two national stations, Horizont (103FM) and Hristo Botev (92.8FM). Legal Matters 288 double rooms costing up to 200 lv (or €100) Maps 289 are placed in the midrange bracket for the Money 289 capital, and anything over that is top end. in February, you really should phone ahead The cost of setting up a tent at a camp- Photography & Video 291 Budget accommodation is usually very to see what the current situation is. ing ground is about 8 lv to 10 lv per person Post 291 simple, and includes private rooms, hostels Useful websites offering hotel booking facil- per night, but tents are very rarely available Shopping 291 and cheaper guesthouses, normally with shared ities and discounts include www.bgglobe.net, for hire, so bring your own. Most camping Solo Travellers 292 bathroom facilities and no air-conditioning. www.hotelbg.com, www.hotelsbulgaria.com grounds also rent out tiny bungalows for Telephone 293 Midrange options offer a much higher stand- and, for the capital, www.sofiahotels.net. slightly more than the cost of camp sites, but Time 293 ard and will almost always include private these, too, are often far from inviting. Toilets 293 bathrooms and extras such as fridges and Camping Camping in the wild (ie outside a camping Tourist Information 294 TVs. Top-end accommodation is, natu- Once a popular way to see the country on a ground) is technically prohibited but normally Visas 294 rally, the best available, or at least the most tight budget, these days camping has lost its accepted if you’re discreet and, most impor- Volunteering 294 luxurious and dependable. This includes in- allure in Bulgaria. Camping grounds have tantly, do not build wood fires (which attract Women Travellers 295 ternational chains as well as home-grown struggled since losing government support attention and damage the environment). Work 295 establishments, and most of these are very and the industry, which once included over modern, with top-notch facilities; Sofia, in 100 locales nationwide (with half that number Hostels ACCOMMODATION particular, has numerous top-end options along the Black Sea coast), is in decline. Even Backpacker hostels are a relatively recent Bulgaria offers pretty much every kind of ac- to try out. Top-end hotels commonly offer privatised camping grounds tend to be run- phenomenon in Bulgaria. Sofia now boasts commodation option you can think of, from discounted weekend prices (Friday to Sunday down, so don’t have high expectations. several excellent private establishments, and spartan mountain huts to the most opulent inclusive) and it may be worth asking for dis- Camping grounds in Bulgaria are rarely open there is a handful of hostels around Varna and five-star hotels. Accommodation is most ex- counts for longer stays, too. Some hostels in between November and April, and some along Plovdiv, but you’ll find very few anywhere else pensive in Sofia and other big cities, notably Sofia may also be willing to offer discounted the Black Sea coast operate only from June to in the country. Plovdiv and Varna, although independent rates for long stays. early September. These tend to be very crowded There are no hostels in Bulgaria affiliated travellers will find prices at Black Sea resorts Note that hotels in seasonal spots, such in July and August: while camp sites will nor- with the Youth Hostels Association (YHA) such as Albena, Sunny Beach (Slânchev Bryag) as the Black Sea coast or skiing resorts, mally be available at this time, security, privacy or Hostelling International (HI), and only and Golden Sands (Zlatni Pyasâtsi) even more frequently close down outside the holiday and tranquillity are rarely guaranteed. In addi- one or two hostels in Sofia will offer small expensive in high season. Elsewhere, prices seasons, or may operate on a much reduced tion, camping grounds tend to be placed closer discounts for holders of HI or International are still relatively cheap by Western European basis, closing up part of the hotel and the to noisy main roads (to attract passing custom- Student Identity Card (ISIC) cards. Other standards. If you’re travelling independently restaurant or cutting back staff to a mini- ers) than to anywhere peaceful or picturesque hostels around the country are more basic around the country, one indispensable publi- mum. So if you’re thinking of staying in, for such as a beach or lake, and are rarely conven- affairs, aimed at school groups, hikers and cation is the annual Bulgaria Bed & Breakfasts example, Pamporovo in October or Nesebâr ient for anyone relying on public transport. the like. DIRECTORY •• Accommodation lonelyplanet.com lonelyplanet.com DIRECTORY •• Accommodation DIRECTORY DIRECTORY necessary, except if you’re determined to BOOK YOUR STAY ONLINE stay at a particular place or are visiting at BUYING PROPERTY IN BULGARIA For more accommodation reviews and rec- peak times (eg Nesebâr in August or Bansko The Bulgarian property market is booming as never before: prices rose by as much as 27% in the ommendations by Lonely Planet authors, at Christmas) or during a major festival. second quarter of 2007 – the second-highest recorded rise anywhere in the world – and they DIRECTORY DIRECTORY check out the online booking service at If you want to stay at one of the Black Sea show no sign of dipping. Prices are being pushed up by foreign investors; Brits especially have www.lonelyplanet.com/hotels. You’ll find coast’s package resorts such as Sunny Beach been flocking to the country in search of holiday homes, lured by low prices and the promise the true, insider lowdown on the best places (Slânchev Bryag) during the summer, it’s ad- of long, hot summers by the sea, snowy winters in the expanding ski resorts and rustic country to stay. Reviews are thorough and independ- visable to book at least a few months ahead. idylls. By Western standards, house prices are often amazingly cheap; it’s still possible, for example, ent. Best of all, you can book online. You’ll probably find it easier and cheaper to to pick up a run-down village house (with, ahem, lots of potential) for under €10,000. If you’re book a package deal in your home country. looking to buy in hotspots such as Bansko or somewhere near the big Black Sea resorts, you can expect to pay from around €60,000-plus for a one-bedroom apartment in a luxury development, Hotels Monasteries though prices vary considerably (and buying off-plan will be much cheaper). Like anywhere else, the hotel scene in Bulgaria About a dozen of the 160 monasteries around This international interest has fuelled a building boom, with vast new holiday-home complexes is varied: basically, you get what you pay for. Bulgaria offer accommodation to anyone, of appearing all along the coast and around the skiing centres in the mountains. Understandably, not While many of the older, formerly state-run either sex, from pilgrims to foreign tourists.