Studena, Haskovo

@JosieCrew

we have lived in studena for nearly four years, and had our house for six years before that   

its a lovely village, very welcoming and friendly.  we are one of three foreign, english soeaking households that live here permanently.

The population is  mainly over 40's, but at weekends and holidays, families descend to be with their parents - and children spend summer here.

Everything you need is available in the seven shops/bars with a cafe included.  its as safe as anywhere, but you always need to secure your home when you are away, visible security is a deterrent to transients who may pass through the village, and it is possible to engage a security company. though we didn't.

Drop me an email if you need anymore   ***

All About Studena

The village consists of about 300 people now.  Mainly over 40/50.

Nestled in the shadow of Dervishka Mogila and in sight of Edirne in Turkey.

On the main square There is one cafe / shop that serves a variety of food and has all of what you need on a daily basis, open from 7:30 until the last person leaves - not unusual to be 4 in the morning.

Next door is another smaller shop / bar. Open 7:30-2. 5-9/10/11 depending on time of year and who's in.

Next door again is the restaurant/bar, they do serve basic food but only open in the morning until about 2.  On the other side of the square three other small shop/bars open from about 7:30 to 7pm.

On the road to Sladun you'll find Vangela's shop - she has a good stock and also a bar. Open 7:30 to 9pm daily. 

There are Post and municipality offices in the square too along with the Mayor's office, along with a community and cultural centre and Hunter's club.

There's a shop selling produce from the buffalo farm, and another little shop that sells all sorts, like a mini army surplus.  Also private homes that sell homemade cheese and supply eggs.

There are market stalls several mornings a week where you can buy anything from a live chicken, through veg plants to slippers.   

There's a bus service three times a week to svilengrad. 

It's a very friendly village, but very little English is spoken so you'll soon pick up the basics.   

There are currently three properties permanently occupied by foreigners, and at least another nine holiday homes, many of which are in varying stages of renovation, and quite a few where the owners haven't been for a while.

Current nationalities with property in the village are:-

Turkish; Swiss; Dutch; Zimbabwean / Dutch; Zimbabwean / Irish; Welsh / English; English; English / Irish; English / Portuguese.

Svilengrad has three supermarkets where you can get absolutely everything and three or four decent electrical shops.   Also several builders merchants/diy type shops, and plenty of repair garages and tyre businesses.

There are a good selection of restaurants and fast food outlets, plus a variety of clothing shops and shops selling fabric and sewing supplies, framing services, watch repair and battery replacement.  Several banks with cash machines.  (Including one in Janet supermarket)

Svilengrad has many small shops littered around the town selling general goods/vegetables, meat etc.

The nearest petrol station is at  Pastrogor and he's often cheaper than the ones in town, though he prefers cash, but will take electronic payment at a surcharge.  Plenty of choices in Svilengrad. 

Thanks, thats all really helpful. I'm sure I'll have more questions shortly

Another couple of questions, is the Internet good enough to work from home full time, 5 days a week?

Is it easy to cross into Turkey or Greece for a visit?

Are there any rules around keeping big dogs? In some places you have to have insurance and take a test and keep the dog muzzled etc.

Are there gyms and pools or anything like that nearby?

Thank you.

We have fibre broadband and we stream prime,  Netflix etc.

turkey and greece are easy peasy, though we avoid turkey during the summer because of the volume of traffic

no issues with dogs 

there are pools and gyms in svilengrad 

Thank you 😁

@JosieCrew

This is a village down in the south of Bulgaria very close to the Turkish (and Greek) border. This is one of the areas where there are still some cheaper houses around, and the proximity to Turkey might appeal (Edirne is very nice, and it has a spectacular mosque). It's not my region, but I've passed nearby when driving to Turkey... and there is some pretty countryside and some low hills and some Thracian relics. While I haven't been to this particular village, I have a friend who went house-hunting down here and liked it a lot.

If you're looking at an Ebay property in this location, you should note that they typically sell pretty quickly, so you don't have lots of time to conduct extensive research. :-)

While the area's pretty, I think it's relatively sparsely populated (even more so than the rest of Bulgaria). So this is definitely more like traditional country living. If you want a big supermarket and civilization the bigger towns are Elhovo, Topolovgrad, Svilengrad, Harmanli, Haskovo. The closest is, say, the Billa in Svilengrad at about 30km. That would be too far for me, especially if I wanted to use public transport... but that's because I like popping into my big town for a coffee and some fresh veggies most days. If you're happy doing a big weekly shop, and getting your fresh veggies in the village, it would work just fine.

If you want gyms and swimming pools you might struggle down here. But walks/bike rides in the woods/hills with your dogs/family should be feasible most days, and totally free.

Good luck!

Thank you. Country living with a town 20-30 mins away is perfect.

Do not a lot of people have cars? I've seen a few people on here saying they get public transport. I'd assume being rural, you'd need a car.

The gyms etc is because I currently go to a gym with classes for the social side as I'm a remote worker.

Is the weather definitely good most of the time/when you'd expect? Google says is it but quite a lot of the pics of houses online and even street view show it being a bit overcast/it looks wet.

for social you'll be welcomed in the shops and bars, learning bulgarian is imperative, as no english is spoken. socialising in the village is ideal.  our neighbours (seasonal workers in ski resorts and black sea beaches ) take a walk daily when they are here, and they would happily have you join them, Dana understands a little english.

its sunny most of the time 

most people have cars, but there is public transport, used to be three times a day, but now its only three days a week i think.

@JosieCrew

if you add ***

Thank you.