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