Hi everyone, this is my first post, I have browsed around a bit and can't find an answer to my question but if it is already been done could you point me in the right direction.

I am intending coming over to Bulgaria in the Summer (subject to my UK property selling).
I will be putting all my gear, everything from the sofa, fridge, bed, a couple of computers, tools, TV, drinks cabinet, clothes etc, into a horse-trailer.
The one I am looking at is 7.5 tonne and can be driven on a normal licence and has plenty of storage space(normally where the horses stand) and a separate living area, much like a motor-home.

I have travelled most of Europe, but not by road for a few years so I am asking what problems I will encounter at border crossings.

Will I be able to drive straight through like I can do between France and Spain or will I have to declare everything, do I need a list?

Most of the stuff is used but I have a few things still in boxes that have never been opened (microwave and a few power tools)

I won't have an address when I arrive as I am going to look at a few places, and will be staying in the truck, before I lay my hat in any one area.

Will this cause a problem, or have I the freedom to roam at will?

Now that Bulgaria is part of the EU will I be able to keep the vehicle in Bulgaria as long as I like or are there restrictions?

I hope someone can help.

Cheers

Not sure about the driving of a 7.5 tonne truck? I thought you needed an operators license for that now? Anyway it will depend on where you intend to enter Bulgaria so it would be good to know that, you will find that it's different at some boarders to others and you may well be asked to offload your goods for inspection there isn't any standard rules as far as I know. I think you are allowed to keep the truck in Bulgaria for up to 6 months and then you should register it but there are plenty here who don't.

Your vehicle is classed as HGV exempt because it is a mobile home "
with a pet area."
This is how we drove our horse box in the UK and that is how DVLA look at it. I would have thought that carrying an inventory would be handy, especially at the BG border, one in English and one in Bulgaski.

no worry as far as we are concerned. We have done all what you are saying and we came through with out a problem and that was before BG went into the Eu and we have done it since and there was no problem with it. The boarder controls have never given us any problems and we have done the journey many many times i will also pm you

Hi oddjob nice to see you here and I'm sure you will find answers to your questions on this friendly forum. Could you please introduce yourself in the new member introduction section and you will see how nice we all are.

tony

Just settle the formalities, follow tonyb60's suggestion and all will be well.

When I moved over, I had a huge load of stuff in a covered trailer which contained a lot of what you are bringing and when asked (once) I told them that I was moving house to Bulgaria and they just shrugged and waved me through. To be fair though, I wasn't driving a truck at the time and you WILL have to get your vehicle registration changed once you are here. Time period varies depends on where you will be living, but I know the police are paying particular attention to 'out of country' plates right now.

Hope this was useful.

I have read that going through Serbia was a problem for someone where customs either did or wanted to charge a import duty on the goods as they could have been sold in Serbia.
So, just in case, maybe you will want to by-pass the Serbia route.

But also as mentioned earlier, just-in-case, a inventory of all your goods might come in handy.

hiya we drove over with a 7.5tonn horsebox. Although your not a hgv you are classed as a lorry with has a few extra complications. Most ferry companies only book you in on the day. you just have to go along and pay then they put you on the first ferry they have room on. (this might be worth checked as rules change often) As a lorry you and your passengers can go in the drivers lounge and enjoy free tea and coffee and much cheaper food.
you do have to stop and have your documents checked at every border. as your coming up to them you'll see a sign for lorries. Its quicker to get through if you have a list of everything your carrying and reciepts for anything thats new. Check the rules on the roads you plan to go down because germany and austria have some roads that nothing 7.5tonn or over can travel on during the day on a week day. once you get to austria you need to get a go box from the first petrol station over the border. its an electronic machine that automatically charges lorries everytime you pass a toll. the box cost us 5 euros and 80 euros to cross austria. the other thing to check is that your insurance covers carrying household goods as a lot of horsebox insurance doesnt. for the quickest boader crossings try and time getting to them at night or early morning as the que can take hours during the day. good luck.

Thanks everyone, and keep the advice coming. It's nice to know that I am not the only one who does crazy things.

About 10 years ago I took a trailer type horse box over to my house in Czech. I headed for the border that was about 2 miles from my house (I could see it from the border post) and found to my dismay that they only let locals use it and I was told to use an alternative crossing which would have taken me about 4 hours to get to. My wife was Czech and after much coaxing and pleading they let us through as long as we promised to not tell anyone. It might have helped when we mentioned that I was friends with the mayor.