The safest option for traveling short or long distances during a pandemic remains using a private car. Foreign citizens arriving to Bulgaria by car should follow the rules and comply with speed limits and road conditions. Many roads are being repaired during the summer and speed is limited, engineer Ivan Dosev – a member of the Management Board of the Road Infrastructure Agency said and called on drivers to be patient.

In order to use the road network in Bulgaria, one must purchase an electronic vignette for their vehicle. The price of the weekend vignette, valid from 12:00 on Friday to 23:59 on Sunday, is 5.11 €, the weekly one costs 7.66 €, and the monthly one – 15.33 €. For three months you will pay € 27.60, and for an annual vignette – € 49.50. An electronic vignette can be purchased online up to 30 days before the start of its validity at the following addresses: https://www.bgtoll.bg/, https://vinetki.bg/, https://tollpass.bg/ and https://www.digitoll.bg/bg/, or through the BGTOLL mobile application. On the site www.bgtoll.bg, in addition to Bulgarian, information is available in English, German, Serbian, Russian, Turkish, Greek and Romanian, while the other sites have bilingual versions – Bulgarian and English.

An electronic vignette can also be purchased through the 500 terminals at the border checkpoints, in large gas stations, in the branches of Bulgarian Posts and in regional road administrations. However, it is important that the vehicle data is filled in correctly, as the system does not allow corrections. Drivers advise checking everything is filled in correctly before making a payment because in case of incorrect data, the vignette is not valid. Control over vignettes is carried out by 105 mobile teams and through 295 stationary cameras. If a vehicle without valid vignette is stopped, the fine is about 35 €.

In order for your trip to Bulgaria to be safe and calm, be vigilant and do not neglect the rules. Violators are subject to fines of different amounts and/or penalty points. For example, for high speed in a populated area, the penalties range from € 10, if you exceed the speed limit by 10 km/h, to € 350 if you drove 50 km/h. above the allowed speed. Fines for speeding outside towns are similar.

Author: Yoan Kolev / based on an interview with Ivan Dosev on Horizont Channel and information provided by Road Infrastructure Agency /

English: Alexander Markov