Bulgaria has used the euro since January 2026 and has been fully in Schengen since 2025. Its best sights are in the mountains and old towns a couple of hours from the capital, and a car is the easy way to reach them. Collect at Sofia Airport, 10 km east of the centre, for Sofia and Vitosha, Rila Monastery and the Seven Rila Lakes, Plovdiv's old town, and the ski resorts of Borovets and Bansko.
Bulgaria has used the euro since January 2026 and has been fully in Schengen since 2025. Its best sights are in the mountains and old towns a couple of hours from the capital, and a car is the easy way to reach them. Collect at Sofia Airport, 10 km east of the centre, for Sofia and Vitosha, Rila Monastery and the Seven Rila Lakes, Plovdiv's old town, and the ski resorts of Borovets and Bansko.
Debit card, not credit card
You do not need a credit card to rent in Bulgaria. The refundable security deposit is taken on your debit card and released after you return the car; its amount is shown on each car before you book.
Deposit and excess shown up front
Each car lists its insurance options, its excess and the refundable debit-card deposit before you book, so nothing about the cover is a surprise at the desk.
Local rates, not airport markups
Direct prices from Bulgarian partners. What you book is what you pay at the desk, with no counter fee added at the terminal.
Unlimited mileage
The sights are spread out and many are up mountain roads. Nothing we rent charges by the kilometre, so Rila, Plovdiv and a ski week in Bansko fit in the same trip.
Built for a late landing
A delayed flight is the usual way to miss a pick-up. Add your flight number at booking and the desk follows the arrival rather than the clock.
One counter, at Sofia Airport on the eastern edge of the capital. Open its page for the terminals, the road out of the airport, drive times and what is worth the detour nearby.
Each region is measured from Sofia Airport, which sits on the ring road with the Struma motorway heading south and the Trakia motorway heading east.
The capital, 20–30 min from the terminal: the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the Roman streets of Serdika under the city centre and the UNESCO-listed frescoes of Boyana Church, with the Vitosha mountain and Aleko 45–60 min up the road.
The high mountains to the south: Rila Monastery about two hours down the Struma motorway, the Seven Rila Lakes 1h45–2h to the chairlift, Borovets about 1h20 via Samokov, and Bansko under the Pirin peaks about 2h15–2h30.
East on the Trakia motorway: Plovdiv, with its Roman theatre and painted Revival houses, 1h45–2h away, and the Rose Valley and the Thracian tombs at Kazanlak about three hours out.
Koprivshtitsa, a village of 19th-century merchant houses in the Sredna Gora hills, is about 1h45 from the airport. The red sandstone towers of the Belogradchik rocks, near the Danube, are about three hours north-west.
Right-hand traffic like most of Europe, plus a few rules visitors miss: the headlights, the e-vignette and the winter tyres.
Headlights on, day and night
Dipped headlights are compulsory all year round, in daylight as well as after dark, on every road. It is one of the most common fines handed to visitors.
140 on the motorway
Limits are 50 km/h in towns, 90 on other roads and 140 on motorways, unless signs say otherwise. Cameras are common on the Trakia and Struma motorways.
The e-vignette
Every car needs a valid e-vignette to use the national roads outside towns, motorways included. Rental cars normally have one, but check before you leave the airport.
Winter tyres and chains
From 15 November to 1 March cars must have tyres fit for winter. On mountain roads to Borovets, Bansko or Rila, signs can make snow chains compulsory, so ask the partner about chains when you book.
Crossing a border
Taking the car into Greece, Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia or Turkey needs the partner's written permission, arranged when you book. Do not drive across without it.
Minimum age 21
With at least one year of driving experience. Some vehicle categories set a higher minimum, and it is shown on the car while you are still choosing.
Yes. You pay with a debit card. A refundable security deposit is taken on that debit card at pick-up and released after you return the car. The amount is shown on each car before you book, so you know what will be held before you travel.
It depends on the car and the cover you choose, and it is shown on each car before you book. It is held on your debit card at pick-up and released after you return the car; your bank may take a few working days to show it.
At Sofia Airport (SOF), about 10 km east of the city centre. It is our only counter in Bulgaria, and it suits most trips: the ring road outside the airport leads to the Struma motorway for Rila and Bansko and the Trakia motorway for Plovdiv.
Bulgaria's national roads outside towns, motorways included, need a valid e-vignette. Rental cars normally have one already. Check it with the desk at pick-up, especially on a long rental, so you do not have to buy one at a petrol station on the way.
The euro. Bulgaria adopted it on 1 January 2026, replacing the lev at a fixed rate of 1.95583 lev to the euro. Fuel, parking and shops all charge in euros, and since February 2026 shops no longer take lev notes or coins.
Only with the partner's written permission, arranged when you book. The same goes for Serbia, North Macedonia and Turkey. Greece and Romania are in Schengen like Bulgaria, while the other three are outside the EU and have full border checks.
Yes, both are reached on paved roads, Borovets in about 1h20 and Bansko in about 2h15–2h30. From 15 November to 1 March cars must have winter-fit tyres, and signs on the mountain roads can make chains compulsory, so ask about chains when you book.
May to June and September to October, when the mountain roads are open and the lowlands are not too hot. The Seven Rila Lakes chairlift runs in summer, the Rose Valley flowers in late May and June, and December to March belongs to the ski resorts.
Book in minutes, see the deposit on each car before you choose, and collect your car at Sofia Airport when you land.
