Go, but pay attention.
Bulgaria’s Sketch Score climbed to 82 today, though the US, UK, and Canada maintain their lowest advisory levels. Watch for the global measles notice while you travel.
Governments, one trip
What they're telling their own citizens about Bulgaria
The real score
The breakdown
See it from your perspective
Go, but pay attention.
The general Sketch Score, unweighted for any specific traveler.
Don't fall for it
Scams to know
Taxi and confidence scams
Taxi scams and confidence tricks occur, particularly in crowded areas like train stations and on public transport. Stay alert and keep your belongings secure in these locations.
Don't do this
Laws that jail tourists
Strict DUI enforcement
Driving with blood alcohol levels as low as 0.05% leads to charges. Penalties include fines, imprisonment, or both.
Mandatory seat belt use
Seat belt use is legally mandatory for all drivers and passengers, with the sole exception of pregnant women.
Staying healthy
What to watch out for, health-wise
Active notices
- • Global Measles
Vaccines
Recommended:
From people who've been there
Local know-how
Staying safe
- •Emergency phone numbers: Bulgaria uses the pan-European standard number 112 for all emergency calls. If you can not connect to 112, dial 166 for police, 150 for ambulance and 160 for the fire department.
- •Driving conditions: Driving can be a chaotic, stressful experience.
- •The use of seat belts is mandatory, except for pregnant women, though in practice, these rules are often disregarded.
- •Take extra care when crossing streets, as drivers in this country tend to be impatient and will likely not stop for you.
- •Bulgaria has a rather harsh stance against driving under the influence.
- •Crime: Bulgaria is generally a safe country, and people are quite friendly.
Staying healthy
- •Smoking: Smoking is the national pastime, and evading the fumes of cigarettes is even more difficult than evading exhaust fumes in the streets.
- •Eating and drinking: Most food is quite safe to eat.
- •Tap water varies greatly in quality and taste.
- •Hospitals: Conditions in Bulgarian hospitals vary, from clean with all the latest technological utilities, to the downright drab, dark and cold.
- •Citizens of the European Union are covered by Bulgaria's National Healthcare System as long as they carry a Eurocard (or European Health Insurance Card), obtainable from their own national healthcare authority.
- •Dental procedures in private clinics in Bulgaria are of excellent quality.
Adapted from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA — edited by travelers, not us.
Pack this, know this
The little things that trip people up
Plug & voltage
C / F · 230V
Driving side
right
Emergency
police: 112 or 166 / ambulance: 112 or 150 / fire: 112 or 160
Zoom in
2 Bulgaria cities on SKETCH.WORLD
Real, resident-submitted Numbeo crime data at the city level — the same national picture above, with crime swapped for what people who actually live there report.
Show the receipts (11 sources)
- us-state — observed 2026-07-12
- uk-fcdo — observed 2026-07-12
- ca-gac — observed 2026-07-12
- worldbank-political — observed 2026-07-12
- worldbank-policeTrust — observed 2026-07-12
- cdc-health — observed 2026-07-12
- wikivoyage — observed 2026-07-12
- reddit — observed 2026-07-12
- unodc — observed 2026-07-12
- acled-hdx — observed 2026-07-12
- lgbtq-legal-wikipedia — observed 2026-07-12