I am thinking of doing a trip around Romania and Bulgaria. I have plenty of ideas from Romanian friends about where to go in Romania, but I know zilch about Bulgaria.
Suggestions?
Sofia is nice for 2 days.Entry+Avgas.Lesnovo GA is nearby.No entry but Yes for Avgas.
Plovdiv is nice for 2 days too.Entry but No Avgas.Maybe Mogas from nearby auto station.
Primorsko GA in the Black sea.No Entry but Yes Avgas.
Rent and drive north up to Nesebar.Nice too.
Thank you, that’s very helpful; I was also hoping for combined tourist/aviation advice…go to this airfield, rent a car, see this town sort of thing…if anyone can help with that too.
Thank you.
Yes I sure can. I know parts of Bulgaria quite well. When do you want to go there?
First: Check out aopa.bg re aopa special prices at several bg airports. Contact Rosen Marinov if you have questions re that. His contact is on the site.
AOE’s are Sofia (Avgas) Plovdiv (no Avgas) Burgas (Avgas) Varna (no Avgas) and Gorna Oryachovitsa (Avgas). Primorsko, Lesnovo and several other GA airports have Avgas but are no oE.
What to see:
Sofia is an interesting city. Plan a day plus maybe one more to see the Rila Monestary sout of it.
Plovdiv: Lovely old Town. Hotel Trimontium is nice as very central. Old town and amphitheater are nice to see. By Car: Batchkovo Monastry (about 20 km south) .
Primorsko is South of Burgas. Black sea coast all the way to Turkish border is lovely. Sozopel has great old town. Near Primorsko there us a great archeological site Beglig Tash. Very nice.
North if Burgas is Nessebar Island.
Gotna Oryachovitsa is close to Veliko Turnovo which is very nice.
Varna is a lovely city too.
I can give you more info and if I am there when you will go there can do some local stuff too. Rught now I am typing on my mobile so can’t say too much.
That’s great, thank you.
I am planning a trip in early August. A total of nine days that includes flights from and to the UK.
The remaining seven days divided between Romania and Bulgaria, though not necessarily equally. I have been given loads of suggestions in Romania which could easily occupy the whole week, but I’d like to see something of Bulgaria too, never having been there (except Sofia airport hotel in 1989, which was pretty grim.)
Avgas is not an issue as we will be in a DA42.
It sounds like you are brimming with ideas – maybe we could chat on the phone with maps in front of me?
Rather quiet on this since your last post, Timothy. I assume the rest transpired via phone 
Did you go? Anything to report beyond what MedFlyer and Mooney_Driver already mentioned?
I’m flying to Plovdiv this weekend but only for short refueling stop.
I’m planning a flight to Burgas (LBBG) in a couple of weeks. The routing will be via Stockerau (LOAU), Traian Vuia (LRTR) and then Burgas. Anybody got any hints / tips for the planning / execution of this flight, anything I should be aware of? In particular with regards handling fees, AVGAS / Mogas availability etc? Thanks.
VFR or IFR? SEP?
Burgas is an international airport and as such isn’t enthusiastic about SEP aircraft. Having said that, if you are a single aircraft it should work fine. My recollection of pricing there is >€100 for landing/handling, but that is becoming normal these days for intl airports. Burgas has Avgas (2018, but no reason to expect that to change). Avgas was a huge problem everywhere in Romania in 2018 due to the primary supplier going bankrupt. I expect that to have been resolved, but check availability there carefully.
The large Bulgarian PoE airports sometimes try to enforce PPR on small GA aircraft and might refuse an FPL without PPR reference. This is garbage and if they cite a regulation then they’ve conveniently overlooked that PPR only applies to commercial operations. Insist that you as private GA you don’t need PPR approval to file your flight plan. You might want to contact AOPA Bulgaria in advance to get current info. Mine is from a visit in 2018 when our large group of aircraft would have been stuck without their intervention on our behalf when our FPL were rejected. As mentioned, if you’re a single aircraft you likely won’t have any issue… and even less so if you’re IFR.
Otherwise, Bulgarian and Romanian ATC are very professional and helpful, with excellent English.
Summer weather should be good, although it was very unstable in 2018. In general, humidity can cause buildups over mountainous areas, as in the Alps.
The flatter central area of Bulgaria, from Burgas/Varna west to Sofia, is covered by a multitude of military areas that make VFR flight challenging during the week from 0900-1600LT. The military has a lazy habit of activating a zone from the ground up to 19’500 when a jet does a ground run-up test. AOPA was trying to improve that situation, but I don’t know current status. If you arrive/leave Burgas from Romania and the north, then that won’t be an issue.
If you have a chance, I strongly recommend a visit down the coast from Burgas to LBPR Primorsko. It is an absolutely lovely GA airfield with paved runway and delightful little terminal building. They have Avgas.
Primorsko Airport
AFAIK, LRTR doesn’t have (and never had) Avgas, so that might not work for you.
Also, conlicting info on the various site on whether you can avoid handling agents. Likely not, these days. And some of them ask for crazy money.
So, if it’s just a stop for you, Arad LRAR might be better. Avgas available and lower fees.
