Cost of your holiday in Bulgaria
Bulgaria is a cheap holiday destination, with low-cost accommodation and with cheaper prices of goods and services.
!!!Sunny Beach, Bulgaria tops the worldwide chart for the first time
Strongest purchasing power on arrival. The price of a standard basket of goods inc beers, water and meals, which costs £ 106.45 in Nice (France), compiled recently by the Post Office (using today’s exchange rates), in various countries was:
Book your holiday villa in Bulgaria
Average price comparisment of a basket of holiday goods
Below is comparison of 12 holiday countries in Europe.
What basket of goods costs in…

Source: Post Office (2018)
Holiday basket includes: eight tourist items – comprising dinner for two with wine, a range of drinks, suncream and insect repellent
According to the table above Bulgaria is placed as the cheapest country in Europe (but also in the world (not shown in the table above) ) for holiday makers. What you probably don’t know is that Bulgaria in fact is a Euro country. The exchange rate for the Bulgarian currency called Lev is fixed at 1.95583 Lev for 1 Euro.
1 EURO = 1.95583 BGN (Bulgarian lev)
The EUR per GBP exchange rate
This GBP/EUR Chart lets you see currency rate history for up to 10 years!
It seems the time is bad for a holiday in the euro countries – the cost of holidaying abroad has shot up when spending Pounds. For a certain amount in Pounds, you could have 4 beers in summer of 2015 and 3 beers only in summer of 2016 and 2017. (code: Brexit)
Bulgaria
The strongest tourist attraction of Bulgaria – apart from its beautiful nature – is the cost of the holiday, which is affordable for almost everybody.
People coming from Western Europe the prices will find that the majority of the costs for holidaymaking in Bulgaria – for accommodation, eating out, transport and services are significantly lower than those that they are used to. This fact makes Bulgaria with those looking for an affordable family holiday at a reasonable cost. Why paying EUR 6 for a cocktail in Spain when you could have it in Bulgaria for only the half of it.
Bulgaria is a cheap holiday destination, not only because of the lower cost of the accommodation but because of the over-all cheaper prices. All local products in Bulgaria – like vegetables, meat & milk (and their products), drinks (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) – are at least a third of what you would pay for similar items in the UK, Germany or France. Only imported items carry a significant cost.
Holidaymakers who like to eat out will find that restaurants in Bulgaria serve great food at low cost, especially if you avoid the typical tourist restaurants. How to recognize the tourist’s restaurants – look inside before you enter them and if you see 100% tourists inside, then you can be sure these are for tourists.
All in all Bulgaria is an extremely affordable place for holiday. In the following tables we have tried to give you some average prices of different holiday goods in Bulgaria. Prices are for your information only and we do not guarantee they will be the adequate in all places. Prices are actual and last updated in January 2019.
Average cost of holiday goods in Bulgaria in 2019 |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Supermarket | Local bar (Bryastovets) |
Bourgas Restaurant |
Sunny beach Restaurant |
|
Beer (draft) 0,5 l | – | – | 1,20 EUR | 1,90 EUR |
Beer (bottle) 0,5 l | 0,45 EUR | 0,60 EUR | 1,20 EUR | 1,90 EUR |
Water 1,5l bottle | 0,40 EUR | 0,75 EUR | 1,25 EUR | 2,00 EUR |
Wine bottle 0,7l | 2,50 EUR | 2,50 EUR | 5,00 EUR | 8,00 EUR |
Coca cola 2l bottle | 1,00 EUR | – | – | – |
Coca cola can/bottle 0,5l | 0,45 EUR | 0,50 EUR | 1,00 EUR | 1,50 EUR |
Vodka (Gin) 50ml (5cl) local brand | – | 0,50 EUR | 1,00 EUR | 1,50 EUR |
Vodka (Gin) 50ml (5cl) import | – | 1,50 EUR | 2,30 EUR | 4,00 EUR |
Vodka (Gin) bottle 0,75l local brand | 5,00 EUR | – | – | – |
Vodka (Gin) bottle 0,75l (Smirnoff/Gordans) | 11,00 EUR | – | – | – |
Diner for Family with 2 children | – | 12,00 EUR | 25,00 EUR | 40,00 EUR |
Various things you will need on holiday in Bulgaria:
Petrol 1 litre unleaded | 1,20 EUR |
20 cigarettes (Marlboro) | 2,85 EUR |
20 cigarettes (local) | 2,30 EUR |
Taxi (standard rates) | 0,45 EUR per km /0,50 initial fee/ |
Taxi to Bourgas (return) | 25 EUR (prearranged rate) |
Taxi to Sunny Beach (return) | 35 EUR (prearranged rate) |
Water park | Adults 15 EUR Children 8 EUR (0,90 – 1,30m height) Cildren up to 0,90m free |
Bulgaria Price Guide
Item |
Price in Bulgaria in Leva (BGN)
|
Sliced / unsliced bread 1 loaf |
0,90 BGN
|
White Onions 1 kilo |
0,89 BGN
|
Potatoes 1 kilo |
0,80 BGN
|
Apples 1 kilo |
1,50 BGN
|
Oranges 1 kilo |
1,45 BGN
|
Carrots 1 kilo |
1,20 BGN
|
Cucumber 1 kilo |
1,40 BGN
|
Tomatoes 1 kilo |
1,20 BGN
|
Mushrooms 500 gr. |
1,95 BGN
|
Local brand Jam 360 gr. |
1,80 BGN
|
Local brand Spaghetti 500 gr. |
1,25 BGN
|
Local brand butter 250 rg. |
2,49 BGN
|
Local brand Margarine 500 gr. |
1,80 BGN
|
Eggs half dozen |
1,20 BGN
|
Tinned tuna 300 gr. |
2,09 BGN
|
Dry dog buscuits 10 kilos |
17,95 BGN
|
Sweetcorn 340 gr. |
1,59 BGN
|
Milk 1 liter |
1,65 BGN
|
Vinegar, apple 0,7 litres |
0,95 BGN
|
Bulgarian sausages 400 gr. |
2,95 BGN
|
Washing powder 1,5 kilo |
5,35 BGN
|
Local brand plain yoghurt 400 gr. |
0,79 BGN
|
Minced Beef 500 gr. |
4,00 BGN
|
Local brand fruit yoghurt 290g gr. |
0,89 BGN
|
Chicken 1 kilo |
4,40 BGN
|
Ham 160 gr. / 10 slices |
1,89 BGN
|
Pork chops 700 gr. |
6,76 BGN
|
Flour 1 kilo |
1,25 BGN
|
Sugar 1 kilo |
2,40 BGN
|
Toilet roll 4 pcs. |
1,60 BGN
|
Nescafe 50 gr. |
2,40 BGN
|
Gillette Razor blade |
1,59 BGN
|
Sanitary towels 10 |
2,49 BGN
|
Shampoo 400 ml. |
2,20 BGN
|
Soap 250 ml. |
1,29 BGN
|
Deodorant 150 ml. |
2,59 BGN
|
Last update of prices May 2019
Exchange rate in every bank office in Bulgaria is 1 EUR = 1.95 BGN
Exchange rate of Bulgarian Lev to more currencies on x-rates.com and xe.com (open in new windows)