Although there are no direct buses from Britain or Ireland to Bulgaria, it's possible to travel to Sofia via Paris on a weekly coach operated by Eurolines France - though the 39-hour journey from Paris is a big deterrent. The coach leaves from the Gallieni international bus station, 28 Ave du General de Gaulle, every Monday at 8am - so you'll have to spend at least one night in Paris. Tickets (single/return £70/115; for under 26s and over 60s £65/110) can be bought in the bus station or at Eurolines Paris (see below) but not from Eurolines in Britain, which will only sell tickets as far as Paris (£46 for a six-month open return; £33 for a one-month fixed-date return). Given that the bus journey from London to Paris takes 8-9 hours, it would be less tiring and probably cheaper to get a budget flight to Paris instead.
If you fancy travelling all round Europe by bus, however, it's worth considering a Eurolines Pass, valid for fifteen, thirty or sixty days' travel on Eurolines services between 26 countries (including Bulgaria). In Britain the cost varies from high (June to mid-Sept) to low season, and depends on your age, as well as the duration of the pass (from £110 for a low season fifteen-day pass for under 26s, up to £300 for a sixty-day high season pass for over 26s), whereas in France, the price just reflects the duration (15 days £110; one month £150; two months £190) and offers a far better deal for over 26s.
Although several other bus operators run services to Sofia from elsewhere in Europe (all major cities in Germany, plus Vienna, Prague and Budapest), the near impossibility of finding out schedules or reserving seats from Britain means that you could well spend days waiting for a connection. With any of these routes, you should check if you need a transit visa for Slovenia, Croatia, Yugoslavia or Romania.
Approaching from Turkey
By contrast, it's quite simple to reach Bulgaria from Turkey. Several Turkish bus operators run six or seven daily services from Istanbul to Plovdiv, Sofia, Varna, Burgas and elsewhere in Bulgaria. Prices on the Istanbul-Sofia route hover around US each way. Numerous travel agents in the central Sultanahmet district of town can reserve seats; otherwise head for west Istanbul's main bus station at Topkapi, where most of the bus operators have offices. Bear in mind, however, that Bulgarian-Turkish border crossings are usually clogged up with East European bus parties travelling to or from the Bosphorus, and long queues at the frontier (a wait of 5-8 hours is not uncom¬mon) ensure that this option can be long, tedious, and difficult to timetable. Services from other towns in western Turkey such as Edirne, Bursa, Gebze and Yalova run to Plovdiv and Kardzhali.
Bus contacts
Eurolines in UK 0870/514 3219, in Republic of Ireland 01/836 6111, www.eurolines.co.uk. Tickets can also be purchased from any Eurolines or National Express agent (0870/580 8080, www.nationalexpress.co.uk or www.gobycoach.com). As well as ordinary tickets on its scheduled coach services to an extensive list of European cities. Eurolines offers a pass for Europe-wide travel (see above).
Eurolines France Gallieni Agency, 28 Ave du General de Gaulle 08/3669 5252; Eurolines Paris, 55 rue Saint-Jacques 01/4354 1199, infos@eurolines.fr, www.eurolines.fr. Runs a weekly service from Paris to Sofia. Online bookings accepted.
