Spreadsheeting: How Much I Spent in Bulgaria

Bulgaria was definitely not on the original plan, so I didn’t initially budget for it. It was on the list of countries that I was using to replace the three weeks of trekking I’d planning in Nepal, so I was hoping it would be less than $50/day (which was what I’d originally earmarked for Nepal).

In all, in 6 days in Bulgaria, I spent $259.79.

How did that work out?

Airfare: $0
I took the train in from Thessaloniki. I honestly have only a few flights left in the trip – most of the rest of the transport will be trains or busses!

Visa: $0.00
Bulgaria has a free visa on arrival for US citizens.

Accommodations: $80.46
Accommodations were certainly cheaper in Bulgaria! I still stayed in hostels and hostel dorm rooms, so that’s what kept the costs super low. I will say – Bulgaria was where I was least impressed with the hostels so far! Part of it is the people in them. I think Europe in August attracts an entirely different crowd than the other places I’ve been. And by “entirely different” I mean “young, loud, and inconsiderate.”

And I’m officially old.

Activities: $44.58
Bulgaria was, by and large, a place where the entertainment was the cities themselves, so I didn’t spend a lot extra on activities and tours. This spend was for the Seven Rila Lakes excursion and the trip to Balchik Botanical Gardens.

Transportation: $45.16
Shockingly, this includes the train from Greece, the train from Sofia to Plovdiv, the train from Plovdiv to Varna, and a few cab rides. It was definitely a cheap place to get around!

Food: $66.72
I went to the grocery store in Plovdiv to get dinner and ended up getting a whole lot of food – I ate on that for the rest of the time in Bulgaria, while intermittently going to restaurants. All of the hostels I stayed at had a free breakfast, so that also helped.

Miscellaneous: $22.57
I am very tired of a lot of my clothes! So this was a new shirt at Benetton and a new swimsuit at H&M (both on great sales!). I also found contact solution, and then once I had to pay to use the restroom.

Ultimately, it came out to an average of about $43.10 per day. I was happy with this six days being quite an even trade with what I’d planned for Nepal (and was glad I planned Nepal at the higher end of Nepal’s expected costs!).

Bulgaria was absolutely beautiful – it’s not a country you frequently hear about for natural beauty, but in each city I went to, I was just struck by the sheer abundance of nature all around.