Expat hotspots

Hello all,


I am planning my trip over (in March) and want to explore a few rural areas, Im looking at the VT region, South east, and then up north close to the Danube river. I have seen a lot of people (ex pats) around the VT area, the south east looks glorious and shorter winters, and then up north the properties seem to have more land with properties of a same budget. I could be completely wrong about all of this (and please do let me know) are expats dotted all around the country? or are their hotspots? also any areas I have missed that you would recommend?

The criteria Im looking for  Rural, weather, land, some expats (to help with integration) infrastructure (as in basically roads) Distance from an airport is something to consider but not a deal breaker as with VT looks equal distance from a few airports and all a 3 hour drive.


Many thanks in advance for your replies!

@billythekid007

Hi, I think you'll find that there are Brits scattered about all over Bulgaria, but there are certainly hot spots around VT and Ruse I believe. Just be aware, that can be a mixed blessing. If you're looking for little Britain, then those might be areas that you'd consider. My research suggests that some people have found that it's not always a good thing being amongst too many Brits, but you might feel differently.  From my perspective, it's helpful to have a safety net and someone to chat with from time to time, but I certainly don't want to surround myself with Brits. Having said that I'm a bit of a recluse and prefer the company of my dogs, to most people, so I'm probably not the best person to give advice. 1f609.svg

@grumpyoldbird hit the nail on the head grumpy. Keep away from expat hotspots!


Billy go rubbing elbows with locals. Your gonna go far kid.

@grumpyoldbird

I completely agree for me myself and I :D, a bit of the reverse psychology. If i wanted to bump in to Mark, Sheila and Zoe I'de stay here, but it would be nice to have maybe a hand full that know the area, and know someone that knows someone etc to ease in to the life. I dont want to move to little england put it that way, but someone in the village that could translate if needed would be very handy. besides its not the top priority climate and land amount are mostly the biggies.

@billythekid007

Hi Billy

I live in Byala Varna district and Samokov Sofia district

Byala is a seaside town smack in the middle 2 airports 35 & 45 minutes to airports .. perfect .. mild winters in Byala usually 5 in day and -5 at night. Samokov has bloody freezing ones typically -5 to -15 days and often -10 to -20 at night.. also lots of cold fog in day time ..  Byala has lots expats .. our groups consist of English  . Scottish . Dutch ,Norwegians . Finnish and ,Bulgarians .. however outside of the get togethers during the summer we tend to keep ourselves to ourselves mostly.  Samokov there are quite a few Brits but no expat community as such .. there was at one time but the English guy who owed his own pub there died and so did the community. ..

Byala is pricey .. Samokov getting more pricey but nothing much for sale there .. I just looked because an English couple offered me 100000 euro for my place but as there was nothing to buy i declined the offer.  Land prices 40 to 60000 euro now for a typical 1000 MTR plot

Never fancied Danube / north because as you say long way from airports  and no big ski areas .. it does not matter to much in summer but winter is a different story

@philip Mckay

Thank you for that

@billythekid007

You could have a look at the Yambol area. The surrounding areas areas of Haskovo and Elhovo will definitely have ex pats, but not necessarily as many as some areas. I think the climate around there is fairly temperate, so shouldn't have too many harsh winters, but if you stay away from mountain areas, that should apply to most places. As for land, it really depends on how much you need.  Most houses will have a garden, of anything from 700m2 to 2000m2, but if you need more, it might take a bit longer to find.  Good luck.