The following guide to car rental in Bulgaria offers information on six large rental firms. It’s worth bearing in mind that:

• Bulgarian provision for visitors is growing rapidly, and there are many local car hire firms

• The data included here refers to winter 2005-6, and seasonal variations are inevitable

• Though Bulgaria uses the cyrillic alphabet (it’s like Russian lettering), street signs in the major cities are also printed in Roman letters (ie, using our alphabet)

This guide gives a brief overview of the big international hire franchises, and introduces one or two of the smaller operators. It will be a matter of personal choice for you: staying with the big boys is probably safer and more reliable – you know what you’re getting. On the other hand, the smaller outfits are generally cheaper, and can provide many more service points – certainly inland.

WHERE TO PICK UP YOUR HIRE CAR

1. Airports

Bulgaria has three sizeable international airports, SOFIA, the capital city, VARNA and BOURGAS, which both serve the Black Sea Coast. All three are obvious and convenient pick-up points. Hertz and Europcar have rental desks at all three airports, Avis does not offer Bourgas. Moto Roads and Sixt have pick up/drop off facilities at Sofia and Bourgas.
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