How to prepare for the trip
If you come from the UK, before you drive about 1600 miles and spend 36 hours in your car, and if you want your travel to be easy you should keep in mind a few things.
Despite the fact that you are travelling through Europe, every country has its different set of rules which you should consider. If you want to avoid being fined check that you have all the equipment necessary and required for travelling legally in different European countries.
First make sure each person in the car has their own hi-viz jacket, take two warning triangles, spare bulbs, a fire-extinguisher, first aid kit, two breathalyzer kits. In the end it might turn out that you may not need some of the items listed above, but it always pays off to be well prepared.
Choose the best route
There are three main routes from the UK to Bulgaria. The easiest and quickest one is through France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Serbia. Everyone who has travelled all three ways recommends the one through Serbia. If you are going that way make sure that your insurance covers you in Serbia since the country is not a member of the EU.
Travelling should be relatively easy, because France, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Hungary are in the Schengen borderless zone, but you must arm yourself with patience when you cross both the Serbian and Bulgarian borders.
You should also consider that the closer you get to Bulgaria the more pot holes you will find in the roads and the more unpredictable drivers you will meet.
Some people choose to go through Romania instead because it is part of EU and you have full EU coverage there. If you make this choice you have to be very careful, because you will spend hours there, avoiding millions of pot holes, which can ruin your wheels or rip your tyres. On top of that you might find yourself trapped and waiting many hours for the ferry across the Danube.
Taking into account the distance, you will definitely need to rest and spend at least one night somewhere. The best place to do that is Germany or Austria. Vignettes are required for Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. Austria and Hungary can be bought as 1 Vignette. This costs about 20 EUR and Romania costs about 5 EUR.
When you come back remember that last country where you can buy cheap fuel is Austria.
There is another route via Italy and Greece. It is much longer, but many people find it more pleasant. This route has been often been chosen by people who want to enjoy the scenery, but it is time-consuming and expensive.
How much will it cost?
When you add together the cost of fuel, vignettes, insurance, breakdown cover, ferries etc., the total turns out to be around £400. During your journey try to not use cash (by withdrawing money from an ATM), but rather use your bank card because of the better exchange rate when making purchases with this.
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