Moving to Bulgaria, part 3: the everyday logistics you only understand once you are there

Most people associate moving to Bulgaria with taxes, company formation and finding a flat. Talking to Tatjana and Jérôme of auswanderung-bulgarien.de, a different set of questions came up — the everyday ones. How well does life work without a car? How do you organise parcels, banking and doctors' appointments? And what do you learn from running an Airbnb in the centre of Sofia? This piece collects those answers, as a companion to the more familiar topics.

Getting around without a car: parks, gyms and fast internet

Sofia is a large city in which a surprising amount gets done on foot, by metro or by taxi. For Tatjana and Jérôme that was the real change: "we don't even need a car." Add large parks, a strong fitness sector and genuinely fast internet, and remote work runs without friction. Appointments, shopping and leisure can all be organised at short notice, especially in the capital.

Supply lines: electronics, parcels, connections

Something almost nobody discusses in advance: the availability of electronics and the reliability of parcel logistics. At their previous base in Cyprus, exactly those things — buying electronics, sending and receiving parcels — plus the thin winter flight schedule were the real brakes on daily life. Moving to Bulgaria released several of them at once, largely thanks to better connections and more shopping options in Sofia. If you are planning a move, check the micro-logistics deliberately: delivery routes, service partners, returns. They decide more often than tax rates whether daily life feels light or heavy.

Banking and accounts: structure it from the start

Opening a bank account is not difficult in itself — the friction is in the detail. Which documents does the bank want? How do you keep company and private accounts cleanly separated? Setting up your accounts and payment routes properly early saves a lot of time later, and it is worth writing down the order in which you intend to do things before you start.

Health care day to day: low barriers, fast appointments

One clearly positive experience: privately, specialist appointments were available very quickly. Access to care in Sofia is straightforward, distances are short, and most concerns can be dealt with without long waits. For people who value predictability, that is an underrated advantage of the location. What it is not is the whole picture — how the statutory system, contributions and coverage work is a separate question, and one worth settling before you rely on it.

Airbnb as a side business: what actually pays off

Alongside their agency work, Tatjana and Jérôme run an Airbnb in central Sofia. The main lesson: location beats everything, and professional processes — check-in, cleaning, communication — translate directly into occupancy and reviews. For people with an entrepreneurial streak, hospitality can be an interesting secondary income stream, provided you think in clear standards and keep the workflows lean.

The seasons test: winter, summer and travel without flying

An often overlooked advantage of Bulgaria is its Balkan position. Short trips to Greece, Serbia or Albania work without a plane — ideal for weekends. If you have previously lived somewhere with thin winter connections, you notice the difference immediately. A practical tip: test Bulgaria in two seasons. Summer pulses; winter shows you how well the infrastructure and your own mobility actually carry you.

Language, used pragmatically

Tatjana speaks Russian, which helps at public offices where older staff often understand it. In everyday Sofia, English gets you a long way; Cyrillic and a handful of Bulgarian phrases help enormously as soon as you deal with authorities, markets or anywhere outside the centre. Allow yourself a mix of languages and solve the hurdles pragmatically instead of waiting for fluency.

If you want to start, we have written about what it changes in Learning Bulgarian for founders, expats and explorers.

Who this is really for

Their experience speaks less to people looking to drop out or to retire, and more to self-employed people, online founders, nomads and families who want to arrive actively. The practical gaps — doctors, the school system in Sofia, bank and housing questions, and the order in which to do things — are exactly the ones that free information online tends to leave open.

---

Here you will find parts 1 and 2, and our other articles.