Bulgaria is served by several airlines, including the national carriers such as British Airways and Bulgaria Air. Also serving Bulgaria are low-cost airlines including Easyjet and WizzAir. The increasing number of flights and routes into Bulgaria reflect the massive popularity of the country. The main international year-round airport serving Stara Zagora is in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. The airport is situated 15km to the East of Sofia, very close to the direct motorway to Stara Zagora, the drive takes just over 2 hours. WizzAir also operates from London to Burgas in the summer months. There is an international airport at Plovdiv, the second largest city in Bulgaria, but the flights there generally only operate in the ski season. Flight times from the UK to Sofia are around 3 hours.
Stara Zagora is located in central Bulgaria and has excellent road transport links. Massive EU investment in Bulgaria has benefited Stara Zagora greatly and two brand new pan - European highways pass through the Stara Zagora region. Driving is certainly the most flexible way to see the region of Stara Zagora, though a map showing both English and Cyrillic place names is essential. Most of the busy routes show both languages, there are few English signs in the more remote areas, although you quickly get used to translating the signs. The city of Stara Zagora is quite easy to navigate as it is based on parallel streets arranged in a grid. The cost of hiring a car is amongst the cheapest in Europe and the petrol prices are significantly lower than in the UK.
The hub of Bulgarian national railways is at Stara Zagora. Trains are punctual, comfortable and very cheap. As an example, the frequent service to the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, costs around £9 return (early 2008 prices). English is spoken by few of the counter staff but there is often someone nearby who will be only too happy to step in and assist. The trains do travel rather slowly but this could also be viewed as advantageous - the scenery is wonderful. The city of Stara Zagora is compact so hiring a car is not essential. Travelling from the UK to Stara Zagora by rail offers an enviromentally friendly and very interesting alternative to flying.
Stara Zagora has an extensive public transport network of diesel buses and electric trolley-buses. Another way to travel around the city is by taxi. The official ones are bright yellow, plentiful and cost a fraction of the equivalent jouney in the UK. It is a good idea to have small denomination Bulgarian Lev currency for the taxis and to have the Bulgarian word for your destination; pointing on a map will be fine if you do not speak Bulgarian. Many taxi drivers understand a little English but it makes life easier (and cheaper!) if you give the driver all the help you can. If you intend having a city break in Stara Zagora with maybe one or two trips out into the region, a train trip and a few taxi rides is a fun and very economical way of travelling around.
Coach travel in Bulgaria is popular and, in contrast to the UK, quicker and slightly more expensive than travelling by rail. Stara Zagora bus station is located very close to the railway station, on the south side of the city. The ticket office is just behind the manned information point that is located by the platforms. It could be useful to know the Bulgarian word for the place you are going or to be able to point to it on a map. Also, if you do not speak Bulgarian, it is a good idea to write down your travel times for the benefit of the ticketing agent. There is no need to worry though; our experience at the bus station, as elsewhere in Stara Zagora, is that the locals are only too keen to assist you in any way they can and there is usually one or two people around with a good understanding of English.
