Before driving in Bulgaria, read this - 

Sat Nat equipment is USELESS or vague at best, and may give you the wrong directions, attempting to take you down cliff edges and trying to get you to come out of fields when in fact you are not actually in a field, it just thinks you are. Take a map, dont rely on Sat Nav, it may take you a long route or the wrong route all together. If you must, remember to update your Sat Nav device before travelling so it has the right roads programmed in, make sure you get the right maps - Its amazing how many people buy and install the wrong map then find when they turn their Sat Nav device on that the map is wrong - Far too late! We recommend Garmin over Tom Tom anyday for Bulgaria if you must use Sat Nav but it still doesnt beat a good old fashioned map.

Read the road signs (when there are some!), try to learn a little of the cyrillic alphabet, many older road signs in Bulgaria are in Cyrillic, learn the alphabet and you will be able to say "No, stupid, its this way" to your Sat Nav device when it tries to take you way off course.

Watch out for animals including foxes, dogs and cats which sit on the roads or run accross when you least expect them to. Drive slowly through villages and at night as animals are out in force during these periods!

Drive slowly through villages, kids run free in villages and so too do domestic and stray animals, better to stay safe and slow down for others using the road.

Police:  Ensure your lights are on during winter. Always travel with the car documents, make sure before you set off that you have your driving licence (The plastic part, not just the paper part as the paper part is practically meaningless in BG), that the car has valid road tax and that the car is insured, it is law to carry the insurance documents with you whilst driving in Bulgaria as these will be required if you are stopped.

Overtaking: Only overtake when it is safe and that you can see a clear road far ahead, just because someone else and the person in front of them and the person in front of them overtook the two part HGV on blind bends, does not mean you will also get safely round the HGV and round the bend!

Good luck and enjoy Bulgaria! Any questions, ask us at Bulgariadirect!