Well, off to break my Bulgarian duck tomorrow. Doing it in a fridge van and know the deal with vignettes in Austria, Hungary and Romania. Just looking for any general do’s and don’ts. I rarely ask for advice because I generally know everything. But just for once…Over to you. GO! 
Can’t tell you much really as it may have all changed since i was last there, last year.
I don’t mind it tbh, roads are abit hit and miss and some of the driving standards are pretty ■■■■ poor 
but you kind of expect it in places like Bulgaria and Romania.
Coppers can be abit hit and miss also, 1 of us, got stopped and nicked for speeding on the Sofia ring road, coppers wanted 100 euro, but the driver got them down to 20 for cash and no receipt I got stopped further along and with a quick passport/paperwork check i was on my way and it didn’t cost me anything.
From memory, tax was a daily vignette with those annoying stickers you have to put in your screen. We were all in artics and think at the border we payed a couple of extra taxes, a weight tax, a wheel wash tax and another daft one was some sort of parking tax i think whilst doing all the paperwork on the border, hth.
I’ve done Romania, but this is a new one. I’ll give it a bash. 
LOL … Yea they have a weight tax Vern , made up on the spot if they decide your heavy . I know your in a van but they might take YOUR weight into consideration so take plenty of shilling !!! 
shade:
LOL … Yea they have a weight tax Vern , made up on the spot if they decide your heavy . I know your in a van but they might take YOUR weight into consideration so take plenty of shilling !!!
■■■■■■■■ Slim!
Look out for truckyboy he has gone native down that way
bigvern1:
I’ve done Romania, but this is a new one. I’ll give it a bash.
If you’ve done Rumo mate, you should be OK with Bulgy. Just keep your eyes and wits about you and you’ll be fine. If your’e reloading there just check that the route / border nominated on your paperwork agrees with the route you actually intend to take home. This may not apply nowadays but it used to, so check! Good luck! Robert 
as others have said vern if you done Romania shouldn’t have any problem with Bulgaria, just get your tax on the border, my personal view is the roads are better in Bulgaria than Romania the driver standard is not as bad as people make out, driven there loads of times never come close to having a problem, but do watch your speed that is one thing the police like to get you for, apart for, that have fun 
Cheers folks.
Get your road tax for Bulgaria it’s an Austria style sticker affair, no real borders anymore.
I saw in the motorway services in Bulgaria, that a large pile of china coffee mugs and cups behind the cashiers till on the counter and an expensive coffee machine.
This is all false, you end up with a paper cup served from a cheap vending machine.
The roads are modern and full of modern cars.
New motorway from Sofia to Bourgas but there is the old scenic route near the mountains.
Id love to book 2 weeks off and jump into someones cab and have a drive down to bulgaria just to see what its all about I havent driven past austria. 
Not been there for ages but doubt it has changed greatly. Road signs are generally in the Cyrillic alphabet (i.e. Russian or very similar) and it’s probably worth printing off a transliteration list.
Only park in safe parking areas, only change money at official money exchanges, avoid driving at night if possible.
It’s probably changed since they joined the eu but they used to make you drive through a wheel wash and vehicle spray at the border, officially to combat foot-and-mouth disease, but really just to insult their neighbours. Generally, I quite liked the place, food was good and very, very cheap.
Harry Monk:
Not been there for ages but doubt it has changed greatly. Road signs are generally in the Cyrillic alphabet (i.e. Russian or very similar) and it’s probably worth printing off a transliteration list.
Only park in safe parking areas, only change money at official money exchanges, avoid driving at night if possible.
It’s probably changed since they joined the eu but they used to make you drive through a wheel wash and vehicle spray at the border, officially to combat foot-and-mouth disease, but really just to insult their neighbours. Generally, I quite liked the place, food was good and very, very cheap.
Good post!
Harry Monk:
Not been there for ages but doubt it has changed greatly. Road signs are generally in the Cyrillic alphabet (i.e. Russian or very similar)
roadsigns bilingual mostly
I just got home. I think the place is a cack hole. Just for the record.
come on now, some details then haven’t been there in five years so would like some updates, eg is the spare airfield north of sofia still covered in tents and used as a three-mile long brothel?
I think the roads in general are the worst I’ve driven on so far. The road manners were pretty good to be fair.
I self cater so can’t comment on the food etc… I arrived at around 10 pm, so the place was dark and fog bound, and I left my delivery point whilst fogbound too. So I never had a chance to see Sofia. The bits I did see were very run down and covered in crap and graffiti. It didn’t look the most friendly of places either. Although the staff I met were very nice and helpful, and they spoke English too which was nice.
It wasn’t too dis-similar to Romania actually, so as expected I think.