First topic message reminder :

Hi Everyone living in Bulgaria

Me and the OH are pretty much frazzled after a weekend of Googling :Searching:and thought now is the time to ask a few questions. They will be posted on separate topics to avoid generalisation so please bear with us.

As discussed we want to look into moving out to Bulgaria, pretty much as early retirement and looking into trying to go as self sufficient as possible in a rural area. Understandably a country the size of Bulgaria is very diverse in what it can offer. We want to look at buying in a rural location with a few Brits around, but not in a totally expat community. Part of the reason for considering moving is to obtain a slower and quieter pace of life which Bulgaria seems to offer and being avid naturalists Bulgaria still has many unspoilt areas which we can explore and enjoy.

We are hoping to come out in September and are still checking out areas, but maybe you guys could give us some background upon the area where you live and what made you buy property in that area.

Don't worry we will not be knocking on your door, but what with Bulgaria being over 42,000sq miles in size it is all a little mind boggling.
PM if you prefer.


Many thanks

Equinus

It's worthwhile taking into account whether you will expect to use your own transport, permenantly, or if there is going to be a time, now or later, when you would like to use public transport? In that case you might look into bus and rail connections and frequency, to see if you will be able to get where you wish to go easily when you go out. Being close to but not right on a main trunk route will probably mean there will be buses for you even when some less used services have had to close.

The same general principle applies to what you will want to see? Among the wildlife, are birds or animals you favoured interest? There are areas of Bulgaria with many migrant birds visiting and rare birds, again if you want to see more than those in your own locality you might consider the ease (or difficulty) of travelling from there to other good birding spots.

If animals are your thing, remember quite a few will like to eat what you grow, so the more wildlife around the more impregnable you need your garden to be! Also worth checking for any reports on bear related incidents, there have been injuries and occasional deaths from mauling. Some areas have hunting and some don't allow it, so that's worth checking out too if you don't like the wildlife in your area being shot.

I'm in the same boat as you really, have only spent two weeks in Bulgaria so far and only in VT area, there's so much more to see that I've still no idea where we will eventually settle! Good luck with your explorations, and let us know anything interesting you find out.

I'm going to push Plovdiv again..not the city, but the district. Most of the surrounding villages and towns have a very good rail and bus service to get you around [our little village has 5 bus services every day, 7 days a week, connecting to a bigger town, 11 kms away which has express rail and numerous buses to the city every day]. We are situated on a couple of very important migration routes for birds and as such, a lot of the surrounding countryside has been classed as a 'protected area' and hunting is not allowed. My wife and I had a very close encounter with a brown bear whilst fishing in a mountain stream about three years ago and I can tell you..it's not an experience I want to repeat. However, such stories come to light very rarely. And it wasn't in the Plovdiv district anyway!

Some of you may remember my earlier post where I said that Plovdiv is half way to any where in Bulgaria..well, I was out of bed this morning at 5.30, left here at 6.00, drove to Sofia and collected the children at the airport at 8.00, delivered them to the resort in Sozopol at 2.15pm and I've been home here in Plovdiv since 5.45pm...try doing that in the UK!!

I've been here around six years or so, and I'm very mobile, but there are still parts of this country I have never seen.

Visiting for two weeks is a bit like someone saying they have an opinion about the UK when they flew into Luton, caught the train to London, stayed in Holborn and then left.

Thank you both, very valid posts.

We have thought of the transport, we both drive and will have a car in Bulgaria, and if a time comes when we can't drive, then we will have to make decisions on whether our life can be run without transport, and how good the public transport is. Hopefully that is a good few years off, and changes will have happened by then anyway. But for now, we rarely actually go into a town but when we do go to Chester we go by bus (once or twice a year.) We are planning to need only staples that we can't eventually grow ourselves, besides hardware, and will be mostly going to pay bills and for a change of scenery (and faces!)

We are great animal and bird lovers, plants too, love to watch them and photograph them, and Mr Eq paints too. Though we are not experts and the only dealings we have had with wild animals is from working in Zoos. From what we have read, there are plenty of carnivores who would love a tasty chicken or ten, and a few who would be a threat to goat and horse, which is presumably why it seems the norm to shut animals in at night, and also why a good amount of the houses you see for sale have walled and well fenced land to keep animals away from stock and growing food. While I would not want to be living in the middle of an area with bears and wolves roamed, (can travel to the more remote areas) we would learn to live with the less dangerous (to us) creatures. And no, I wouldn't want to be in a very active hunting area, don't think the dog could cope, never mind me!

And we haven't forgotten the Plovdiv area bgbazz, and will be doing some searching. As you say, it seems fairly central and we are open to all ideas. So much to do.................

On another transport idea, if we do bring our horse out, he will be put to work in field (or garden!) and road....no passengers here! Better start looking for a harness.

Mrs Eq

Wow! Bears and wolves..where the heck do you find those over here? The post I made about the bear was in an area miles away from anywhere and in around six years here, I've yet to find a Bulgarian who has ever seen a wolf, let alone had a problem with one! You have a greater chance of seeing a fox in your garden in the UK than one here, and as for rabbits..in six years, I've yet to see one! My Rhodesian Ridgeback has more fun chasing cats than anything else. Bulgarian folk keep their animals enclosed at night to stop them wandering and to reduce the chance of them being stolen, not because of the threat of wild animals.

Bit tongue in cheek there!

No intention of hiding away in remote areas and isolated like Grizzly Adams. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Seriously though, there are threats to any chooks I may have. There will be two lots...his and mine. And I will get attached to mine! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

On an even more serious note. Is there a problem with animals going missing? Just asking. I like to know everything I can.