Thinking of relocating to Veliko Tarnovo/varna
 

Hi all, we are a couple in our 50s looking to relocate to Bulgaria. Plenty of savings, so finance isn't an issue and options are pretty flexible.

For us this would be a pretty big deal and it's all quite daunting to be honest. My son and his wife and baby will be moving there in a year or so (he has been based in Moscow for the past 5+ years) and we want to be close.

So i would like to ask a few questions: does anyone here live in VT or Varna? if so, what are your experiences / impressions? any big culture shocks or advice?

I also read something along the lines of it's easy to get scammed'. again, quite scary. any thoughts on this? a bit worried about being scammed, although maybe being irrational

Will be really grateful for any advice

cheers

Re: Thinking of relocating to Veliko Tarnovo/varna
 

Hi

I've not lived in Bulgaria but I've worked a lot in a small town not far from VT and I do live in what might loosely be called "Eastern Europe".

First, have you experienced VT in all seasons? Central Bulgaria has about the widest temperature range in all Europe. I have experienced both my highest and lowest temperatures whilst working there: plus 46 and minus 34 degrees. Neither was a record for the town. You can expect a lot of snow most winters, although the last couple have been quite snow-free.

Second, VT is quite a long an awkward drive from the airport in Sofia. Only about half is on motorway and the road climbs quite high in several places. It can be very difficult in winter.

Lastly, how do you feel about learning a difficult new language in your 50's? I'm a similar age and I'm really struggling to learn Czech, with which Bulgarian shares many complications. However, Bulgarian has one further complication that would kill it for me: it uses the Cyrillic alphabet. It will be difficult to access local services if you can't speak Bulgarian.

Chris

Re: Thinking of relocating to Veliko Tarnovo/varna
 

Veliko is a nice area if you like mountains, very cold in winter, snow and a few hours drive from either Varna or Sofia for airports.

Varna is a bigger city in the north part of the black sea coast. We looked at that area before buying just outside Burgas reason for not buying in Varna didn't get a great fill for it but liked Burgas straight away. Also Varna is slightly colder in winter than Burgas. Not sure if things have changed but Varna airport used to shut down in winter while Burgas is open all year round.

Living in Bulgaria (we lived there 2 years before moving to Italy) is like stepping back in time. My advice never buy in a village more than 20 minutes away from a largish city, in winter it could be a problem getting to it with snow etc.

Like anywhere there are good and bad people, don't trust anyone who behaves like your best friend after having met you for 5 minutes. Some of the people that I know had problems especially with building work was trusting other expats who set themselves up as qualified builders etc and instead they turned out to be real cowboys.

Make a list of essentials requirement any property you look at has to have like landline, if there isn't one already there it will be very hard to get one installed especially in villages

Language yes not the easiest it depends how willing you are to learn it, I didn't particularly find the cyrillic alphabet difficult to learn

Re: Thinking of relocating to Veliko Tarnovo/varna
 

Varna will be difficult to beat for an pleasant but vibrant location in the summer months. It is inexpensive by western standards and English is widely spoken in the main attraction districts.:cool:

Winter is like everywhere else - a bit cold, miserable and overcast.

Varna's airport is open all year round. It may have been shut temporarily because of heavy snow storms.
In fact, Varna now uses a new main airport, which opened last year.

If it was up to me - I would spend may-september in Varna and october to april somewhere else.

Re: Thinking of relocating to Veliko Tarnovo/varna
 

Two completely different places so you really need to decide what you are wanting - touristy, beach side city or more rural place. Fair amount of expats around both areas. Lots live in villages around Veliko. Are you aiming to live actually in the cities as this will be far more expensive than in a house in a surrounding village.