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Cost of your holiday in Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a cheap holiday destination, with low-cost accommodation and with cheaper prices of goods and services.

Below is comparison of 40 holiday countries in the world.

Average price of a basket of holiday goods*

Strongest purchasing power on arrival. The price of a standard basket of goods inc beers, water and meals, which costs £ 72.14 in the UK (Brighton), compiled recently by the Post Office (using today’s exchange rates), in various countries was:

What basket of goods costs in…
Sri Lanka	£ 27.95
Spain	£ 37.72
Czech Republic	£ 39.57
Bulgaria	£ 39.65
Mexico	£ 44.03
Hungary	£ 45.57
Portugal	£ 45.58
Thailand	£ 46.15
South Africa	£ 47.62
Vietnam	£ 50.71
Malaysia	£ 51.16
Indonesia	£ 51.92
Cyprus	£ 53.19
Argentina	£ 55.96
Croatia	£ 58.39
Dominican Republic	£ 59.90
Turkey	£ 60.20
Dubai	£ 60.51
Malta	£ 66.06
Egypt	£ 68.86
Kenya	£ 69.70
France	£ 69.72
Japan	£ 70.62
Greece	£ 71.73
USA (Orlando)	£ 72.90
Antigua	£ 81.23
Gambia	£ 82.26
Jamaica	£ 82.98
St. Lucia	£ 88.53
Italy	£ 89.03
Mauritius	£ 91.97
Brazil	£ 92.74
USA (Miami)	£ 104.55
China	£ 106.34
Canada	£ 107.02
Costa Rica	£ 108.07
New Zealand	£ 108.29
Singapore	£ 113.03
Barbados	£ 113.18
Australia	£ 115.69
Source: Post Office (2012) and TimesOnline (2008 study for comparison)

Holiday basket includes: Cup of coffee, bottle of Heineken, bottle (or can) Coca-Cola, bottle of mineral water, suncream (factor 15), insect repellent, pack of 20 Marlboro Lights cigarettes, three course evening meal including bottle of house wine in a local restaurant.

According to the table above Bulgaria is placed as the 4th cheapest country in the world 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 5 years!

It seems the time is bad for holiday in the euro countries - the cost of holidaying abroad has shot up when spending Pounds. For a certain ammount in Pounds you could have 4 beers in summer of 2008 and 3 beers only in summer of 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012

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 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 item in UK, Germany or France. Only imported items carry significant cost.

Holiday makers who like to eat out will find that restaurants in Bulgaria server great food at low cost, especially if you avoid the typical tourist restaurants. How to recognize the tourists 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 2013.

Average cost of holiday goods in Bulgaria in 2013
	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	0,25 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	0,35 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	1,35 EUR
20 cigarettes (Marlboro)	2,40 EUR
20 cigarettes (local)	2,30 EUR
Taxi (standard rates)	0,35 EUR per km /0,40 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 January 2013

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)