Europe

Insurance

We strongly recommend that you take out comprehensive travel and medical insurance to cover the full period you will be in the country, and which includes medical repatriation  to the UK if necessary. You should be aware, however, that most insurance companies will not authorise medical repatriation to the UK as a matter of routine, or because local hospitals are not up to UK standards. You should check any exclusions, and that your policy covers you for all the activities you want to undertake. For more general information see travel insurance.

 

If things do go wrong when you are overseas then this is how we can help.

 

Registration

Register with our LOCATE service to tell us when and where you are travelling abroad or where you live abroad so our consular and crisis staff can provide better assistance to you in an emergency.
 

Obtaining a replacement passport

The British Embassy in Sofia does not issue full passports. Before setting off, you should ensure that your passport has sufficient validity and a plentiful supply of unused pages.

Applications for new passports are not accepted in Sofia.  Applicants are required to send completed forms and supporting documents direct to the British Passport Processing Centre in Dusseldorf – further information on the procedure can be obtained from the Embassy website – www.ukinbulgaria.fco.gov.uk.  

In the event of an emergency requiring immediate travel to the UK the British Embassy can issue an Emergency Travel Document to enable you to do so.    You should keep a photocopy of your passport with you at all times as proof of identity.

Customs regulations

Travellers entering the UK from European Union countries do not normally pay any UK tax or duty on excise goods they have bought tax and duty paid in EU countries for own use. But there are special rules for cigarettes and some other tobacco products from some EU countries.

 

The UK is maintaining limits on the amount of cigarettes and some tobacco products that travellers are able to bring in to the UK for own use from nine European Union Member States (including Bulgaria), without paying UK duty.

 

The limits are:

 

Estonia - 200 cigarettes or 250g of smoking tobacco.

 

Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia - 200 cigarettes.

 

Anyone who is carrying more than the limits should pay UK duty on those goods by entering the Customs red channel or by using the red point telephone. If travellers enter the Customs blue channel with more than the limits, then all of their tobacco may be seized.

 

Money

You can buy Leva from banks and foreign exchange offices in the UK.  There are many exchange bureaux in Bulgaria that normally exchange all major currencies.  However, check the rates of exchange before making a transaction and where possible, you should change money in banks, in large hotels, or in  exchange bureaux, do not use sellers on the street.  If you have travellers’ cheques you may need to go to a bank anyway. You should also be aware that Scottish and Northern Irish bank notes/coins may not be exchanged in banks and bureaux de changes.
 
There is now a large network of ATMs that accept standard international credit and debit cards. Check with your UK bank/card provider whether you will be able to use these machines to draw Leva.
 
Bulgaria is still largely a cash economy. Credit cards are not yet very widely accepted, though they may be used in major hotels and, increasingly, in restaurants and retail outlets.