Flights to Bulgaria any ideas on Airlines
 

I need to get a friend to Varna Bulgaria in May. Can anyone help me with airlines? I only know to check on orbitz. He could do a stop over in Vienna but I can't check for fairs like that on Orbitz because it cancels out a US departure. Any ideas for airlines.

Thanks

Call Lufthansa, British Airways, or Lot Airlines. Good luck.

thanks wayne

check out whichbudget.com

I can't figure out how to find american points of departure for Bulgaria wayne. Are you European? thanks for the sight though always good to know new websites for deals

You probably need to call the airlines or find a travel agent. Or book the last leg seperately.

Sarah , call SmartTravel in Boston at 1-888-762-7802. They specialize in travel to Bulgaria - my cousin who is from Bulgaria uses them all the time to get home.

I did a little search. VAR is only served by Hemus Air with one or two flights a day to Sofia with Yak-40s. I doubt any major airlines code share with them, and I doubt any US airlines have agreement to sell tickets all the way to Varna.

Like I said in the earlier post, either buy one ticket to Sofia, and then find out about how to get from Sofia to Varna. Maybe by train instead of flying? I don't know... [Fastest day train takes about 8 hours, and there are couple of night trains too.] Or you'll need a good travel agent to know how to book on Hemus Air.

BTW, Austrian Airlines do seem to have one of the better fares to Sofia, via Vienna, of course.

Looks like Varna is also about 8 hours by train from Bucharest, Romania. That's another option, though I have no idea about visa/passport requirement for Romania.

Although it's true that Bucharest has better connections with major hubs than Sofia (and even some transatlantic flights), and is a lot closer to Varna than Sofia it's a lousy way of getting there.

We've occasionally driven it (and if you do it's essential you take the main road through Giurgiu/Rousse, rather than the apparently more direct minor roads, as we've encountered Europe's most unpleasant and corrupt border officials at these minor border posts), though it takes forever, as border formalities take hours even when you get there before the border opens and traffic is light.

The trains almost all require several changes, and start from Bucharest Nord station, which many other people (though not Mrs F or I) find worryingly crime-ridden.

Get the list of airlines who go to Sofia from the Sofia airport website, and fly to Varna from there. A Bulgarian specialist in your home country should be able to get the domestic ticket for you.

Thanks everyone,
This is for a friend who's husbands brother is very sick. This really helps. Jeese why just a difficult thing to figure out?

I guess I am a little late here, but there are direct flights to Varna from Budapest with Malev and from Vienna with Austrian Airlines. By the way, Hemus Air flies directly from Sofia on Jumbolinos (AvroRJ)!

Thanks Delyan


This friend goes a frequently to visit brother. I will keep your suggestion in mind.

Regards
Sarah