What to Do If Something Goes Wrong in Bulgaria

We checked every number, address and rule in this guide on official sites on 27 October 2026: the EU's Your Europe passenger rights pages, Bulgaria's Ministry of Tourism, the Commission for Consumer Protection and the Mountain Rescue Service. Numbers do change, so check them again in the week you fly and save them in your phone.

Bulgaria emergency numbers and contacts to save before you fly

Lost or stolen passport in Bulgaria: what to do

First, look again: the hotel safe, yesterday's bag, the reception desk. Many "lost" passports are sitting at a front desk. Once a passport is reported lost it is cancelled, and you cannot travel on it even if it turns up later.

1. Report a theft to the police. Go to the nearest police station or call 112, and ask for a written confirmation of your report. Your embassy and your insurer will both want it.
2. Contact your embassy. Most embassies in Sofia see visitors by appointment only, so call or email first and say when your flight home is. Many embassies keep an out of hours line for genuine emergencies, and an urgent travel document for a flight home usually counts.
3. Bring what you can. Any other photo ID, a photo or scan of the lost passport, recent passport photos, the police report and your onward ticket. There is normally a fee: ask how much and how to pay when you book the appointment.
4. Know what you will get. Usually an emergency travel document valid for the trip home, not a new full passport. EU citizens travelling on an ID card follow the same steps with their own embassy.

Two things to do at home: photograph the photo page of every passport in your group and store it in the cloud, and pack a second photo ID. With both, the whole process is much faster.

Doctors and hospitals in Sofia: what to do if someone is ill or injured

In a life threatening situation, call 112 and do not wait for anyone. In every other case, the first call is to your insurer's assistance line. They know which clinics they work with and can often arrange direct payment, so you are not left paying a large bill and waiting for a refund. Calling them only after treatment can make the claim harder.

If you are insured in an EU or EEA country or Switzerland, bring your European Health Insurance Card; UK residents bring the GHIC. These cards cover necessary state provided care on the same terms as locals, not private hospitals and not a flight home, so they do not replace travel insurance.

Two hospitals in Sofia come up most often:

• Pirogov Hospital, 21 Totleben Blvd: the city's main public emergency and trauma hospital, open 24 hours. An ambulance will usually bring you here after a serious accident. English among staff can be limited.
• Acibadem City Clinic Tokuda Hospital, 51B Nikola Vaptsarov Blvd, Lozenets: a large private hospital with a department for international patients that works with international insurers. Ask your assistance line whether it is the right place for your case.

Ski resorts and beach towns have small private clinics. They are convenient, but overcharging of tourists has been reported, so ask for the price before treatment, get an itemised receipt and a medical report in English, and keep everything for your claim.

Car accident in Bulgaria: when to call the police

If anyone is hurt, call 112 at once and do not move the cars. Call the police even without injuries if the drivers disagree about what happened, if alcohol or drugs may be involved, or if one of the drivers may not be entitled to drive.

Only when nobody is hurt, both drivers agree and there is no suspicion of alcohol can you settle it with a joint accident report, called двустранен констативен протокол in Bulgarian: the local version of the European accident statement. Fill in both cars, both registration numbers and the other driver's insurance policy number, sketch what happened, and both drivers sign. Photograph both cars, the plates and the scene from several angles.

In a rental car, the first call after 112 is to the rental company, on the number in your contract. With some companies the insurance only applies with a police report, even for minor damage, so ask them before you leave the scene. What to check in the insurance and contract before you drive is covered in our guide to renting a car in Bulgaria.

Flight delayed or cancelled from Sofia: compensation under EU Regulation 261

EU air passenger rights apply to every flight departing an airport in the EU, whatever the airline, and to flights arriving in the EU when the airline is European. Bulgaria is in the EU, so a flight out of Sofia, Varna or Burgas is covered even on a non EU airline. Compensation depends on the flight distance, measured as a straight line. Some examples from Sofia:

What else you are entitled to, according to the EU's Your Europe site:

• Care while you wait. Meals and refreshments in proportion to the wait, plus two calls or messages: from 2 hours on flights up to 1,500 km, from 3 hours on longer intra EU flights and other flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km. If the new departure is the next day, a hotel and transport to it.
• A full refund. After a delay of 5 hours or more you can give up the flight and get the ticket price back.
• Cancellations. No compensation if you were told more than 14 days ahead. With shorter notice it depends on the replacement flight you were offered.
• When nothing is owed. Extraordinary circumstances: severe weather, air traffic control decisions, security risks, political instability. Most technical faults and strikes by the airline's own staff do not count.

At the airport, ask the airline for written confirmation of the delay or cancellation and its cause, keep your boarding pass and your receipts for food and hotel, and send the claim straight to the airline. You do not need a claims company that takes a cut to get started.

And when your flight into Sofia is the late one: with our Sofia Airport to city centre transfer, the driver tracks your flight number and waits, with no extra charge for an airline delay, as the transfer page states. The same matters when you head straight from the airport to Bansko or Borovets, and all our private transfers are on one page.

Lost, delayed or damaged luggage: report it before you leave the hall

Do not leave the baggage hall without a report. At the airport's lost and found desk, fill in the form for a missing or damaged bag and get a file reference: you use it to trace the bag and to file your claim. Several ground handling companies work at Sofia Airport, so ask at the desk which one handles your flight.

The airport report is not the claim. According to the EU's Your Europe site, send the airline a written claim within 7 days for a damaged or lost bag, and within 21 days of receiving a delayed one. The airline is liable up to 1,519 Special Drawing Rights, the cap raised in December 2024, roughly €1,800 at current rates (the Your Europe page still shows the old figure of about €1,300). While you wait, buy only what you really need, keep every receipt and tell your travel insurer too, since some policies have their own baggage delay cover.

Theft, complaints and problems with a booking

Wallet or phone stolen. Block your cards straight away, report it to the police and ask for written confirmation: without it, your insurer will not pay. How to spot the common tricks before they happen is explained in our guide to scams in Bulgaria.

A hotel, restaurant or tour operator did not deliver. Complain to the business first, in writing, and keep a copy. If that does not help, Bulgaria's Ministry of Tourism refers such complaints to the Commission for Consumer Protection: the national line is 0700 111 22, the email info@kzp.bg, and complaints can also be filed on kzp.bg. Attach receipts, photos and messages.

A booking you made with us. Under our terms of use, if a host cancels, does not turn up or provides something materially different from what was published, you choose between a full refund of what you paid us and a replacement service of equivalent standard where we can arrange one. If the host did not turn up, you paid them nothing, and we refund your deposit in full. Tell us while you are still in the destination, with photos and messages, because that is when we can still fix things. Support hours are Sunday to Friday, 09:00 to 19:00 Bulgarian time; outside those hours an urgent line is available, and anything affecting a service happening now is handled immediately. To complain about a booking, email us or message us on WhatsApp through our contact page.

Emergencies in the mountains: 112, and 1470 no longer exists

The Bulgarian Red Cross Mountain Rescue Service closed its short number 1470 in a notice dated 26 August 2026. Today you call 112 and ask to be connected to Mountain Rescue, or call its 24 hour central post in Sofia on 02 963 2000. All the numbers and what to do on the trail are in our Vihren peak guide.