Bulgaria: hiring a car
The following guide to car rental in Bulgaria offers information
on six large rental firms. It's worth bearing in mind that:
* Bulgarian provision for visitors is growing rapidly, and there
are many local car hire firms
* The data included here refers to winter 2005-6, and seasonal
variations are inevitable
* Though Bulgaria uses the cyrillic alphabet (it's like Russian
lettering), street signs in the major cities are also printed in
Roman letters (ie, using our alphabet)
This guide gives a brief overview of the big international hire
franchises, and introduces one or two of the smaller operators.
It will be a matter of personal choice for you: staying with the
big boys is probably safer and more reliable - you know what
you're getting. On the other hand, the smaller outfits are
generally cheaper, and can provide many more service points -
certainly inland.
WHERE TO PICK UP YOUR HIRE CAR
1. Airports
Bulgaria has three sizeable international airports, SOFIA, the
capital city, VARNA and BOURGAS, which both serve the Black Sea
Coast. All three are obvious and convenient pick-up points.
Hertz and Europcar have rental desks at all three airports, Avis
does not offer Bourgas. Moto Roads and Sixt have pick up/drop
off facilities at Sofia and Bourgas.
2. Downtown or Resort Locations
SOFIA
Hertz offers two collection and drop-off points in downtown
Sofia: the Boulevard Vasil Levski and Rakovski Street. Europcar
has rental desks at the Central Hotel and Kozloduy Street. Avis
does not provide downtown locations.
BOURGAS
Europcar has rental desks at the Mirage Hotel, and at its
"Bourgas Downtown" location
HOLIDAY RESORTS CLOSE TO BOURGAS
Sveti Vlas
Europcar has two pick up/drop off points in the resort village
of Sveti Vlas, near Nessebar. These are the Briz Complex Resort
and the Laguna Hotel.
Sozopol
Hertz offers the Duni Holiday Club as a rental point.
Sunny Beach
The Iberostar Sunny Beach Hotel is the Hertz pick up/drop off
point.
THE MAJOR CAR HIRE OPERATORS
Hertz (http://www.hertz.com/rentacar)
Hertz provides an online booking service for the three smallest
vehicles on its list - the Daewoo Matiz (0.8), the Seat Ibiza
(1.0) and the Seat Cordoba (1.4). Daily hire prices for these
three are (in euros) as of December 2005: 85.40 for the Matiz,
93.40 for the Ibiza and 110.40 for the Cordoba. The six more
expensive models, all with air conditioning, do not have online
prices quoted. Vehicle types include Audi A4 and A6, Seat
Alhambra and Kia Sportage.
Avis (http://www.avis.com)
The Avis fleet is organised into eight categories. Prices quoted
here are for daily hire (in euros), as of December 2005:
A (Opel Corsa 1.0) 93.60 B (Opel Corsa 1.2) 98.40 C (Ford Focus
1.6) 123.60 D (Opel Astra 1.6) price not available E (Toyota
Avensis 1.6) 135.60 F (Opel Vectra 1.8) 147.60 G (Opel Sintra
minibus) 159.60 H Landrover Freelander 166.80
Europcar (http://www.europcar.co.uk)
This huge hire franchise offers nine classes of vehicle, ranging
from "mini" up to "luxury". Readers are recommended to explore
the website for fuller details.
Moto Roads
Contact: (http://www.motoroads.com)
This American-owned firm provides a bewildering choice of car
models - three Opels, three Chevrolets, no less than twelve
Renaults, three Mazdas, as well as Fords, Mercedes and 4X4
jeeps. It has contact points in nine Bulgarian cities, including
Plovdiv, Bansko and Borovets, and provides a free transfer
service from Sofia Airport to the car hire office. Moto Roads
can also offer guided tours and themed vacations. Its per-day
rental prices start at 15 euros!
Sara Tours (http://www.rentacarbulgaria.info)
This new Bulgarian company (launched 2001) provides
accommodation and tours, with car rental as just one of its
services. Sara permits you to drop off at various points in
Sofia free of charge - but prefers you to phone to arrange pick
up.
Hire vehicles (almost exclusively Opels) are divided into six
classes: Class A has a 1.2 engine size, rising to 1.8 in Class
F. Hire periods are also rigidly defined, consisting of 1-3
days, 4-6 days, 7+ days. Weekend and monthly hire.
Prices given here (in euros) are daily hire rates as of December
2005:
A (Corsa) 32 B (Astra) 41 C (Meriva) 43 D (Astra 1.6) 46 E
(Vectra) 50 F (Zafira) 58 Sixt (http://www.e-sixt.com)
Operating out of both major airports and several other cities
such as Duni, Eleni and Plovdiv, Sixt also offers a pick up/drop
off facility at five Sofia hotels (the Gurko, the Rila, the
Kempinski, the Oborishte and the Princess).
Daily hire prices, in euros (as of December 2005):
VW Polo 60 Renault Clio 67 Renault Megane 78 Renault Megane 90
Opel Vectra 96 Ford Mondeo 102 Chrysler Sebring 108 Audi A6 114
Mercedes E 120 Mercedes Vito 126