London to Bulgaria via a green list country

Hi
      I was thinking of driving it through Romania.

I think car travel will be pretty easy, if you are fully vaccinated. If not, I think some of the restrictions might be challenging.

So I reckon if you have proof of vaccination you can do UK ferry to France... then Germany... then Austria... Hungary... Romania. A PCR test might not be strictly necessary, but to pass through many countries it's probably good to have one to be on the safe side - and I've done UK to BG in under 72 hours before.

Those are all OK, based on the UK Government "Foreign Travel Advice" pages.

If you're not vaccinated, then France is an immediate problem as you can only travel for "essential reasons" and you will need to self-isolate for some days.

The above route is the least number of countries (I think), and includes Romania which is EU (no border check) and has reciprocal entry with Bulgaria. However, usually  I'd prefer to go via Belgium/Netherlands between France/Germany and go via Serbia instead of Romania (the Serbia route is much more direct). But I didn't bother to check those other countries.

OK, so I'm here in Romania for 14 days before our flight to Sofia. Came from the UK yesterday.

As long as you are DOUBLE JABBED you won't have a problem. Best to print off your certificates, or better still, get them sent to you in both English and Romanian (  Bulgarian) via the nhs website.

Not a problem getting in to Romania at all.

All being well, Sofia should be a breeze to. I'll let you know in a fortnight !
Rob

Thanks very much you two.
                                                   We thought we’d take a couple of weeks and take in some sights, Strasbourg, Augsburg, Neuschwanstein, Budapest etc. I did notice that Serbia was more direct, but saw Romania as an easier entry. Thanks again Gwynj for your previous response, the advice was very encouraging, puts a spring in a man’s stride

Steven

@denerobt

Great news, thank you. I think there are many here watching to see who makes it via a transit country!

I think the hard part is done, getting out of the UK. :-) Romania/Bulgaria have a reciprocal agreement, rather than red/orange/green zones... so I think your entry to Bulgaria is pretty close to a sure thing.

Now we just need to know whether you're having fun in Bucharest... or kicking back on a beach on the Black Sea coast.

Chillin by the pool.

Trying to keep costs low we booked a self catering flat just by the airport - not that you'd know it was close to an airport, its very quiet here.

Plenty to do in bucharest.

I think after my experience the day after Bulgaria announced no visitors from U.K. more or less at the same time that U.K. announced Bulgaria as Green, the stop at the Greece/Bulgaria border was somewhat stressful. My partner having a residence card and I did not meant  being pulled over, my partner being summoned into office to speak with a senior Border Officer, then coming outside to see me sitting on the pavement and saying it wad difficult as we had travelled a long way with car and caravan and the Bulgarian government had changed the rules only the day before. He asked me if we were family, checked documents to prove this and then said ok you can go with him. Not sure what Bulgaria are saying about anyone coming from U.K. but we had taken more than ten days through France, Switzerland, Italy, ferry to Greece and driven to Bulgarian border. We needed proof of vaccinations, pcr test in Switzerland and we had a stress at Greek border earlier when leaving the ferry as our paper proof of vaccine was somewhere in the caravan and as we were searching the border control said if we did not find it we would have to go back on the ferry to Italy, I was about to show him proof on my mobile but whilst doing so my mobile battery gave up after 36 hours on the ferry without charging (power pack advised to be kept charged). I said we will have to wait whilst my phone recharged and he then said OK go if you have it on your phone but next time no way! An enjoyable stay in Praga in Greece for three days and we eventually arrived at the Bulgarian border one day after the announcement of the border closure to those from the U.K. I was considering buying a flight back from Greece to U.K. but the border guy let me in due to being a family member of a resident. My previous trips during Covid were smooth via aeroplane at border showing my partners photocopy of ID and my passport, proof of vaccines and pcr tests. An expensive and tiresome job paying for U.K. PCR and test to release certificates for and on return. I am returning again to Bulgaria at the end of August. We previously chose travelling via Italy and Greece as Germany had closed the border due to Covid variants of concern! A constant headache with rapid, short notice changes. Still a pleasant adventure.

We are going Croatia way next week. Will keep you updated everyone. Many thanks for the help.

Wow! You really DID have an adventure, Nettie! Glad it ended well.

Just been told the following by our BG solicitor 😱
Yesterday a new rules from the Ministry of health came in power. You will not be let in Bulgaria, if you are coming from red list country even if you enter through a green list one. They will look at your first flight.

Thank you. Wished they d sort out.

Oh dear !!

Hopefully a 14 day quarantine in a friendly country will be ok. Hell, fingers crossed.

I m.tempted but woyld hate to get refused.

Oh, goodness! Hoping no one gets stuck anywhere!

You'd think after 2 weeks in a green zone someone should be considered as safe as anyone can be.

Welll, we’ll let you know for sure next Friday evening when we arrive in Sofia from Romania 😁

We’ve kept all our boarding passes etc as proof so that should be fine.
I think there’s more anxiety online than there is on the ground if entering Romania is anything to go by!

How about if you stay 10 days in the green country first, get a test then enter ?

Steven

Hi there,

We are traveling on the 6th, 3 of us from Ecuador, transit in Madrid, stop over in Istambul (all fully vaccinated with Pfizer, and PCR test before flight) another is doing Ecuador, stop over Madrid, Sofia

After reading one of your posts, it seems that Bulgaria change the conditions to get in and the online alerts are showing changes

Could someone tell me something about this?

Thanks a lot, Marga

Morning, our immigration lawyer in BG has been keeping an eye out on the rules etc for us as we are supposed to be moving over at the end of September. She looked into going to a green country for a couple of weeks before we entered BG, everything was good to go until the government changed their ruling on Friday, as per message above. I have searched the net but can’t find anything as yet though.
Denerobt are forging their way through hopefully this coming week. I currently have everything crossed they make it into BG! Good luck guys!

Thank you Mel1702, we are emboldened by the Romanian way of operating.

Now, when we flew over, the UK was on Romanias RED list. But.... their entry rules were that if you were fully vaccinated and had your certificate, then come on in. Honestly, it was just a question of showing the lady our nhs certificates which she then stamped and we were good to enter.

They want our tourism, they would love our spending and part of me secretly thinks that a lot of bravado is going on but underneath, there's a government advice department that tells immigration to let people in to keep the economy going.

Today is Sunday though, the only thing to do today is go grab a coffee, get some supplies and await the thunderstorms that are forecast...... Will sit on the balcony and watch 😁

I have recently travelled from U.K. to Spain, a Schengen country to the Netherlands also Schengen since my last visit to Bulgaria (not in the Schengen area of European Union). Full checks and passenger locator form for Spanish Government and inbound stamp into Barcelona, no checks at Amsterdam on arrival. Full checks on departing Holland and outbound stamp in passport. Pcr for U.K., passenger locator form and vaccination certificate checks. An American woman refused boarding at the final checks at the gate having gone through passport control. Pre boarding was PCR evidence within the previous 72 hours. Really vital to get all the evidence for checks for countries not in the Schengen area e.g. Bulgaria when travelling in and out of Europe. Hope it all goes smoothly. 🌱

I've had another good look today at entry requirements etc. So, coming from Romania into Bulgaria looks straightforward still.

We are fully vacci ated, have proof, have all our online tests available via our nhs app and we're entering Bulgaria as 'green' citizens. I can't find anything that contradicts this.... Yet.

Romania I think, was a good choice due to the friendliness that both countries enjoy.

I'll keep looking for sure.

Yes, you have all the evidence and research in place. Enjoy your travels. Great to enjoy different cultures and environments. A few years since I was in Rumania. Just been watching the reports about the brown bears and rewilding, reintroducing species into their forests. Have a fab journey.

Thanks everyone. We hope to travel into Bulgaria via Romania October time, keep the posts coming please xx

Romania!

Successfully in Romania - unvaccinated family crossing to BG ASAP

Best of luck Charlotte !!!! We’re not far behind.

At passport control, make sure you tell them you have bought a house and have to sign the paperwork here in bulgaria.

We're wishing you all the luck xx

Thanks everyone! X

Hi Chartlotte,

Please let me know how you get on as I am an unvaccinated individual from England wanting to gain entry to BG

Good luck,

James.

Good luck

@james Of course I will, I’m trying to gauge whether we can get across sooner as we aren’t loving Romania.

Hi James,

Just to give you my recent experience of traveling from UK to Bulgaria.

I am also an non-injected individual. Luckily I have an Irish passport, which I am sure helped, but anyway, here is how I got on. Took the Euro-star from London to Germany. I purchased a motor-home in Germany and then drove through Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, and then Bulgaria. I also made a slight detour on the way into the Czech Republic. Only stopped at the Croatian, Romanian, and Bulgarian borders. I wasn't asked for proof of V or test at any point. So maybe I was just lucky, but for me it was plain sailing all the way. 

Good luck, and let us know how you get on!

Mark

Hi. I’ve read a few threads on this and also read up on the current situation. I am double vaccinated and work at an airport so am quite savvy regarding border control etc.

If I’m correct, any nationality (including British) can still enter Bulgaria via Romania or Czech Republic regardless of any restrictions regarding their country of origin.

I’ve read posts where people have said that they will be in Romania for 14 days prior to crossing to Bulgaria.

I have a couple of questions that I would love for someone to answer if they could please:
1) Do you have to be in Romania for 14 days prior to travelling on to Bulgaria (I haven’t seen this requirement)

2) Has anyone flown straight from Bucharest to Sofia after UK?

3) Do you need to show anything specific at the Romanian/ Bulgarian land border?

I was in Bulgaria March and April and at that time you could travel for business purposes. I had my PCR checked both ends but absolutely no check regarding my business purpose.

This would be so useful to know for myself as I wish to go out there, but I’m sure that others do too!

Many thanks in advance,
Lou

Hi Lou

I think it’s more just boarder control having that sense of authority and wanting to feel powerful, I’ve seen people fly into Romania to fly directly to Sofia  (think they were double vax) with no issues. They like to cause us trouble at the boarder unsure why but getting in and out of everywhere seems a fight. Perhaps the amount of children we have, who knows, hence why I booked for 14 days, otherwise I would have risked it.

Hope this helps.

Thankyou. Yes as I’m generally travelling alone they don’t seem to bother me x

3) Do you need to show anything specific at the Romanian/ Bulgarian land border?

I was only asked for passport and van documents.

That seems to be what I’ve read too. It’s all fine Romania to Bulgaria even if your own country is on their red

Do you have a resident or long term visa?

Update everyone after being in the country for four days we did a rapid flow test and are now past Bulgarian boarder, unvaccinated.

Woohoooooo