Money in Bulgaria: The Euro, Cards and Cash in 2026

Bulgaria's currency has been the euro since 1 January 2026, and the lev is gone from shops and cash machines. Here is what that means on the ground: where cards work and where you still need cash, which ATMs to use, how to read old lev prices, what to do with leftover leva, and what everyday things cost in Sofia.

What currency does Bulgaria use?

Bulgaria uses the euro. It joined the euro area on 1 January 2026 as its 21st member and retired the lev after 146 years. The conversion rate was fixed at 1.95583 leva to the euro, the same rate the lev had been pegged to since 1999, and it will never change.

For a visitor, Bulgaria now works like any other eurozone country. Card terminals charge in euros, ATMs dispense euro notes, and a card from another euro country goes through with no currency conversion at all. Bulgaria designs its own national side for the coins, with St Ivan of Rila on the €1 and Paisius of Hilendar on the €2, and they spend the same as euros from France or Spain.

How the switch from the lev went

The handover was short. During January 2026 shops accepted both leva and euros. Since 1 February 2026 the euro has been the only legal tender, and shops no longer take lev cash at the till.

Price tags had to show both currencies from 8 August 2025 to 8 August 2026, converted at the fixed rate. That rule has ended, so most tags and menus now show euros only. If a tag or menu still shows a lev column, dividing it by 1.95583 gives the euro price.

Old lev prices in euros

You will still meet lev prices in older guidebooks, older blog posts and the odd menu. The quick rule is to halve them and add a little: 20 leva is €10.23.

The lev was the national currency, with 100 stotinki to the lev, and its plural is leva. If a price you read online looks oddly high, check whether it is in leva before you budget for it.

What to do with leftover leva

Shops no longer take leva, and the free swap at commercial banks and post offices ran until 30 June 2026. Banks must still exchange leva until 31 December 2026, and they may now charge a fee.

The reliable option is the Bulgarian National Bank. It swaps lev banknotes and coins for euros free of charge with no deadline, at its head office in Sofia and at cash offices in Sofia, Plovdiv, Burgas, Varna and Pleven. Since the rate is fixed, you lose nothing to the exchange.

Cards or cash in Sofia

In Sofia, a card covers almost everything. Restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, chain shops, gas stations and the city's transport machines all take cards, contactless is standard, and Apple Pay and Google Pay are widely accepted. Visa and Mastercard work everywhere that takes cards, and American Express less often.

Once you leave the main streets, cash still matters, so keep a modest amount on you. These are the places I'd expect to need it:

• Markets and produce stalls, where fruit, cheese and honey sellers deal in cash, including at Zhenski Pazar, Sofia's open-air produce market.
• Small taxis flagged in the street, especially independent ones outside the big companies.
• Villages and family guesthouses, once you leave the cities behind on a day trip or a road trip.
• Monasteries, where the entry ticket, the candles, the small museum and the parking lot often want coins. Rila Monastery is the classic example on a day trip from Sofia.
• Public toilets, parking machines and small bakeries, the little everyday purchases.

For a few days in the city, about €50 to €100 in cash between two people covers these. Top up before you head into the mountains or the villages, where cash machines get scarce.

ATMs in Bulgaria

The ATM you pick decides how much each withdrawal costs. Machines from Bulgaria's big banks charge a foreign card little or nothing, while private operators such as Euronet and B-Pay charge far more and push their own currency conversion.

That €17 at a private machine is a fee of about €7 plus about €10 lost when you accept its on-screen conversion. Drawing larger sums less often means paying the fee fewer times.

Always pay in euro

When an ATM or a card terminal asks whether you want to pay in your home currency, say no and pick euro, every time. That prompt is dynamic currency conversion, and its exchange rate costs you about 3 to 5% on the spot. Choosing euro leaves the conversion to your own bank, which is almost always cheaper.

If your bank charges for foreign withdrawals or card payments, a travel card such as Revolut or Wise gives a fairer conversion.

Exchanging money in Sofia

Most visitors have no reason to change money at all. If you come from another euro country, you already have the right cash, and from anywhere else a bank ATM gives you a fair rate in a minute.

The exchange bureaus at the airport run about 3 to 5% worse than the market, and the "0% commission" windows on tourist streets make their money on a poor rate. Street money changers are illegal, and their trick is sleight of hand with the notes, so you walk away with less than you agreed.

What things cost in Sofia

Bulgaria is still one of the cheapest countries in the EU, and these prices are why Sofia on a budget is an easy trip to plan. The figures are 2026 prices in euros.

Most travel eSIM stores still price their fixed-data Bulgaria plans in US dollars, so a SIM card or eSIM for Bulgaria may be the one trip cost you see in another currency.

Did the euro make Bulgaria more expensive?

Barely. The European Central Bank's review of the changeover put the effect at about 0.3 to 0.4 percentage points on January 2026 inflation. On a €10 restaurant bill, that comes to 3 or 4 cents.

Tipping in Bulgaria

Tipping is modest. In restaurants, about 10% is normal for good service, and I'd leave it in cash even when you pay the bill by card.

Tipping in Bulgaria is lightest in taxis, where rounding the fare up is enough, so keep a few coins for the taxis in Sofia you flag in the street, which often want cash anyway.