Читать книгу Walking in Bulgaria's National Parks. Pirin, Rila and Central Balkans National Parks онлайн

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When you are travelling around Bulgaria itself, you will find banks and ATM machines in most major towns. The latter are usually more convenient, as bank opening hours tend to be fairly restricted, normally Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Bulgaria is still a very good-value destination, although accession to the European Union and fairly highly inflation means it is no longer as cheap as it was. To aid you with budgeting, here are some current (2009) average prices:

 bus from Sofia to the mountains (€7–10)

 dormitory bed in mountain hut (€5–10)

 room in family hotel or guesthouse (€15)

 loaf of bread (€0.5)

 salad (€2)

 evening meal (€10)

 bottle of wine (€7.5)

 bottle of beer (€1).

Communications

Mobile phone coverage is surprisingly good over much of Bulgaria, although – not surprisingly – connections are more difficult in the heart of the mountains. Roaming is available for most international mobile phones in Bulgaria, but the cost of calls can be very high.

If you are likely to want to use your phone a lot, it is possible to buy yourself a Bulgarian SIM card (Mtel and Globul are the most popular providers) from newsagents, bookshops and mobile phone outlets. However, you may need your phone to be unlocked to operate with a Bulgarian SIM.