Bulgaria is an amazing country and despite everything, I don’t regret moving there. Sure I made some crappy decisions and there are many things I would do differently if I had to do it all over again but it can offer an incredible place to settle or have a holiday home.
You have beautiful mountains and ski areas, some fantastic beaches and gorgeous lakes all in one country and within an easy drive of each other. You can easily (in none covid times) pop over to Romania, Greece, Turkey, Serbia etc.
For far less than in most other European countries you can get a good size property, with a large garden and barn and with a bit of effort be fairly self sufficient if you want to.
You get long hot summers (often well over 35 degrees for several weeks) and proper cold winters, and in some areas quite a bit of snow. Spring and Autumn are lovely.
The vegetable and fruit markets are amazing, the villagers are friendly and helpful and now-a-days in most larger towns and all cities, many people speak English.
The downsides are the language is incredibly difficult to learn and get a grasp of. The animal cruelty and number of stray dogs and cats and how many horses and donkeys are treated is appalling and heartbreaking.
It is not unusual to see old people scavenging in bins and begging. And the ‘Roma’ population are everywhere, but like any group of people, there are good and bad.
Some areas have a lot of expats and foreigners such as around Veliko Turnovo, Yambol and Elhovo where as other areas have very few.
The paperwork to get anything done can take forever. It usually involves several trips to various offices, numerous forms and often staff who do not have a clue and seem to be on their first day of work. It can be incredibly frustrating and time wasting. What should and could take half an hour, can take days.
You need to choose your area carefully and take into account the amenities and what is important to you – distance from airport, good health care and access to good hospitals, access to good veterinary services, close to a large city or town with large supermarkets etc…..
Buying a property is easy and not really any complications, but any contentious legal issues are a nightmare and the system can be very corrupt and simply does not work well at all. It is all who you know and not at all to do with the facts or evidence.
And Bulgaria is nowhere near as cheap as it used to be. Electric and fuel are relatively expensive.
Good internet is possible in most villages and places now. Mobile coverage is good across the country.