Tourism in Bulgaria

Template:Short description Template:Location map+ Tourism in Bulgaria is a significant contributor to the country's economy. Situated at the crossroads of the East and West, Bulgaria has been home to many civilizations: Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Eastern Romans or Byzantines, Slavs, Bulgars, and Ottomans. The country is rich in tourist sights and historical artifacts, scattered through a relatively small and easily accessible territory. Bulgaria is internationally known for its seaside and winter resorts.

Bulgaria attracted over 13 million foreign tourists in 2024, according to the latest data from the National Statistics Institute.<ref name="business review website">Template:Cite web</ref> Tourists from five countries (Romania, Turkey, Greece, Germany and United Kingdom) account for approximately 50% of all visitors.<ref name="NSIVisitorsAbroad">Template:Cite web</ref> The sector contributed to 15% of GDP and supported 150,000 workplaces in 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Statistics

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bar:January from:start till:740 text:
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bar:June from:start till:1470 text:
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bar:August from:start till:2140 text:
bar:September from:start till:1260 text:
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pos:(50,37) textcolor:gray fontsize:M text:Tourist arrivals in 2024 (k)

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Yearly tourist arrivals in millions<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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Arrivals by country

Most visitors arriving in Bulgaria on short-term basis came from the following countries of nationality:<ref name="NSIVisitorsAbroad" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Rank	Country		2024	2023	2019	2018	2017	2016
1	Template:Flagcountry		2,332,357	2,106,097	3,400,340	2,035,606	1,943,436	1,743,697
2	Template:Flagcountry		2,286,711	2,200,341	1,628,231	1,534,809	1,437,276	1,312,895
3	Template:Flagcountry		1,278,753	1,181,911	596,993	487,400	388,645	342,214
4	Template:Flagcountry		1,190,898	1,109,412	1,277,610	1,290,313	1,272,997	1,157,062
5	Template:Flagcountry		920,368	897,480	1,245,400	1,063,502	1,046,219	1,003,030
6	Template:Flagcountry		728,980	643,488	679,336	632,902	541,303	490,668
7	Template:Flagcountry		477,751	467,505	445,316	474,984	424,724	388,833
8	Template:Flagcountry		406,199	425,012	670,450	609,591	583,026	562,365
9	Template:Flagcountry		398,267	399,455	589,342	424,384	352,054	281,777
10	Template:Flagcountry		206,202	198,727	214,550	236,265	209,218	219,349
11	Template:Flagcountry		198,267	183,926	214,179	217,541	216,986	204,489
12	Template:Flagcountry		197,888	200,950	250,014	260,099	231,348	195,571
13	Template:Flagcountry		197,520	185,584	176,122	193,362	183,755	147,882
14	Template:Flagcountry		180,958	181,514	167,658	181,770	177,250	152,078
15	Template:Flagcountry		163,653	206,570	246,404	245,567	209,304	183,846
16	Template:Flagcountry		136,887	128,725	155,367	170,146	152,739	119,429
17	Template:Flagcountry		116,087	86,655	-	-	-	-
18	Template:Flagcountry		98,449	99,704	111,132	102,956	111,405	118,805
19	Template:Flagcountry		85,035	139,799	460,770	522,085	565,754	589,844
20	Template:Flagcountry		82,914	114,593	109,283	101,220	90,963	82,465
Total<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>			13,249,456	12,627,547	14,450,400	11,596,167	10,604,396	9,316,624

Tourist attractions

UNESCO World Heritage Sites and Intangible Cultural Heritage List

There are ten UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Bulgaria. The first four properties were inscribed in the World Heritage List in 1979, and the last in 2017. Bulgaria currently has sixteen additional properties on the Tentative List.<ref name="Tentative-List">Template:Cite web</ref> Nestinarstvo, a ritual fire-dance of Thracian origin,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> is included in the list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

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Ethnic, cultural and historical tourism

The Bulgarian cultural heritage has many faces and manifestations - archaeological reserves and monuments, museums, galleries, rich cultural calendar, preserved folklore and magnificent architectural monuments.

Historical monuments and sites

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Museums

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Thracian treasures

Thracians made beautifully ornate golden and silver objects such as various kinds of vessels, rhytons, facial masks, pectorals, jewelry, weapons, etc. They used to bury rich hoards of precious objects both to hide them in times of enemy invasions and unrest as well as for ritual purposes. To date, more than 80 Thracian treasures have been excavated in Bulgaria which was the cradle of the Thracian civilization. {{#invoke:Gallery|gallery}}

Rural tourism

The Bulgarian town house is an embodiment of the owner's social status, craft and traditions. Many old buildings that demonstrate this type of architecture—e.g. in the villages of Arbanasi, Leshten, Kovachevitsa, Melnik—have been preserved to the present day. {{#invoke:Gallery|gallery}}

City tourism

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Monasteries

During the 13th and especially during the 14th centuries the construction of monasteries thrived. Due to the troubled times many monasteries resembled fortresses. They usually had rectangular shape, the buildings surrounded a yard in which the main church was located. From the outside they had high stone walls reinforced with counterforts, and from the inside there were galleries with several stores which led towards the dwellings of the monks.

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Churches

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Festivals and events

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Resorts and nature tourism

Seaside resorts

The Bulgarian Black Sea Coast is picturesque and diverse. White and golden sandy beaches occupy approximately 130 km of the 378 km long coast. The temperatures during the summer months are very suitable for marine tourism and the water temperature allows sea bathing from May to October. Prior to 1989 the Bulgarian Black Sea coast was internationally known as the Red Riviera. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, however, its nickname has been changed to the Bulgarian Riviera. {{#invoke:Gallery|gallery}}

Hiking and skiing

The country has several ski areas which offer excellent conditions for skiing, snowboarding, ski running and other winter sports. {{#invoke:Gallery|gallery}}

National Parks

Bulgaria has 3 national parks, 11 nature parks and 55 nature reserves.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first nature park in Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula is Vitosha Nature Park, established in 1934. {{#invoke:Gallery|gallery}}

Caves and waterfalls

As of 2002, there are around 4,500 discovered underground formations in Bulgaria.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The earliest written records about the caves in Bulgaria are found in the manuscripts of the 17th century Bulgarian National Revival figure and historian Petar Bogdan. The first Bulgarian speleological society was established in 1929. The caves in the country are inhabited by more than 700 invertebrate species and 32 of the 37 species of bats found in Europe. {{#invoke:Gallery|gallery}}

Nature landforms and formations

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See also

• List of World Heritage Sites in Bulgaria

External links

• new Official Bulgaria tourism website Template:Webarchive
• Evolution of Visit Bulgaria, Official tourism site since Mai 2025, a story going back to the early times of the internet
• Template:Commons category-inline