When I visited Bulgaria, I did it with my friend Amanda and Anita, an ex-colleague of my dad. Anita’s Bulgarian and loves her country so much that she wanted me to experience it. But not only the country, also the Bulgarian people.
Now, Bulgaria is quite a bit bigger than Belgium and, of course, the eight days I had weren’t nearly enough to see it all, but I did see a lot. We drove from the capital Sofia to Veliko Tarnovo (where the Bulgarian independence was declared in 1908), Bozhentsi, Nessebar, and Plovdiv.
It was the first time I properly visited an ex-communist country and I’m so happy I got to do it with a local. Anita is a former history teacher and she’d actually studied up to be able to tell us as much as she could. I wish I could share everything with you, but I must admit it was impossible to remember it all without constantly taking notes. I actually wish I’d recorded Anita’s stories!
But that doesn’t change the fact that Bulgaria has left a big impression on me. When you walk through the streets, it feels like a European country and yet at the same time so different from the Western European countries I’m used to traveling in. I will tell you more in detail about our road trip later but until then, I’d like to share one thing that intrigued me and still does.
The people of Bulgaria
Why are Bulgarians so unhappy? Or aren't they…
“The people are so nice!” is something you often read when someone had a positive experience in a country. Well, I found it very hard to decide whether the Bulgarian people were nice or not. Not because they were rude, not at all, but because people in Bulgaria don’t often smile in public. And as I don’t speak Bulgarian, I depended on my interpretation of people’s body language and facial expressions until Anita could translate for me.
I remember we sat down for a bulgarian lunch one day and a lady came to take our order. Anita discussed with her what we would have and the lady didn’t smile even once. When she went back inside, I said: “Wow, she didn’t seem friendly at all”. To my surprise, Anita told me she had actually been very friendly but that she just hadn’t smiled and that this is pretty normal in Bulgaria.
I should have known better, as on our first day in the country Anita had explained to us that it’s not common for a Bulgarian person to smile at someone they don’t know in public – just one of those interesting facts about Bulgaria.
In Belgium, it’s considered polite to lift the corners of your mouth when you pass someone on the street and happen to look them in the eye, or when you talk to possible customers. Not so in Bulgaria. People who do walk around with a smile on their face are thought of as being a bit simple, which is probably why I kept getting strange looks.
It seems to depend a bit on the situation, though, as in hotels we were often received with a smile. Also, when we found people who spoke English (Bulgarians had to learn Russian as a second language for a long time), they were always very helpful – but were they smiling? I don’t remember.
If you don't want to be surprised by this different way of socially behaving, it might be best to read up on Bulgarian culture. before your trip.
People from Bulgaria can dance!
You know when everyone was smiling? When they were dancing and singing. We were so lucky to visit Plovdiv while there was a cultural festival on. First, we found people doing the national horo dance in a park. It’s a circle dance focused on leg movement. I love dancing, but I was too shy to jump in until Anita (thank you, Anita!) made me.
It was incredible!
We were 30 people or so who didn’t know each other, holding hands and dancing around. Everyone was smiling and it immediately reminded me how I love moving to music. Now that I travel frequently, I don’t take dance classes as often anymore as I used to and when I then get the opportunity to participate in a traditional dance abroad… wow. Simply amazing.
A bit further from the horo dancing were groups of children giving dance demonstrations. They were clearly all members of a dance school and although the quality of their dancing wasn’t that great, you could tell that nobody cared. Everyone was just watching the kids having fun and wiggling along with them. Again, everyone was smiling.
But I think the biggest smiles I saw that day were on the faces of the semi-professional horo dancers we saw on our way back to the apartment. We had no idea there would be a performance and it turned out to be the highlight of my trip. For over an hour, we stood there and watched the dancers perform horo dances from different Bulgarian regions, dressed in the traditional outfits of that region and being guided by singers and musicians.
The dances they performed weren’t always easy, with a lot of tempo changes and a whole lot of jumping. But the joy on their faces nearly brought me to tears.
These were people passionate about what they were doing, enjoying what they were doing and proud to share their art with anyone who wanted to watch. I felt so happy that I’d joined the dance in the park just an hour or two before and briefly participated in such a wonderful tradition. I hope to go back someday, learn the dances and kick ass
Greetings
Regardless of the smiling, there’s something else about Bulgarians who meet each other. It’s something Anita told me about but that I, unfortunately, couldn’t verify for myself as I don’t speak the language. She told me that it’s considered polite to complain a bit when greeting someone.
In Belgium, and in most cultures I’m acquainted with, you’re supposed to say “Good” when someone you don’t know that well asks you how it’s going, and then move on with the conversation. Anita told me that in Bulgaria, it’s a sign of intimacy and letting a person into your life when you complain a little when they ask you that question. Deep sorrows and troubles are still kept for a close circle of friends and family, but when a colleague or acquaintance asks you how you are doing, you best tell them that you’re okay, but that you have a slight headache.
I’d love to do an experiment and see if this is indeed common practice, but until I know Bulgarian, I'll have to settle for some crowdsourcing. So tell me: do you know any Bulgarians who still live there? Do they smile a lot? Or are you Bulgarian and can you tell me whether it’s true about the greeting acquaintances? I’d love to know!
How to travel to Bulgaria
We flew from directly from Brussels Airport to Sophia. If you're planning to visit Bulgaria from abroad, you'll must likely fly to Sophie as well.
Check Skyscanner for a good overview of flight options.
While we were in Bulgaria, we used Anita's car to go on our road trip. If you don't have a local to travel with and want to see a lot of the country, getting a rental car is a good idea.
RentalCars.com compares more than 900 rental companies to make sure you get the best deal possible.
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Find below our best travel guides about Bulgaria.
Tim UrbanDuniya says
Interesting!! I had heard about this smiling thing from Russia, but not so much in Eastern or Balkan Europe. It makes sense though, given the historic cultural ties between Russia and that region.
Sofie says
Yeah indeed. I’d also only heard it about Russia before I went.
Анита says
Tim , I don`t think it`s the Russia influence.The reason for this “custom” is rather oriental than related to Russia. We `ve lived for 500 years under the rule of the Ottomans , and even though we `ve kept our religion , language and national identity, the cultural influence of the Orient can be seen, smelled and tasted all over the Balkans . Our Balkan cultural mix of music, dances, legends, food,customs and beliefs is very little or not related to Russia , but instead very much related to the Orient. Few Balkan people will ever admit this though :)
Tim UrbanDuniya says
Interesting… thank you for this insight!
David Baumgarten says
I’ve been living in Bulgaria for 7 months and I can’t figure these people out. Before this, I lived in Turkey for 3 years and found the people incredibly hospitable, polite and warm, and very receptive to smiles and cordiality. So I totally disagree that being more “oriental” would result in Bulgarians being less friendly or lacking etiquette. I want to think better of them, but I find that Bulgarians have no etiquette, are rude and generally unfriendly. I found something similar when I visited Ukraine and Kazakhstan. So maybe it’s an ex-communist thing. It’s so bizarre to me that my politeness would be so misunderstood and even seen as something “simple-minded” and something not trustworthy. I feel like I’m in the twi-light zone where everything that is up is down and right is left. I guess that makes sense considering Bulgarians nod their heads for “no” and shake it for “yes”. Everything is in reverse here. Ug! ;-)
Maria says
At least they are not fake and don’t express fake politeness. What people did you communicate with by the way?
Sofie says
Mostly people in the service industry: at hotels, restaurants, cultural sites etc
Calum says
Bulgaria certainly is different to the West in interpersonal social etiquette.
However they are not overly rude or insensitive, just very reserved and let’s be honest, rather unsophisticated in western behaviour. Not a bad thing, but very noticeable to tourists.
What is really surprising is the custom of serving hot food cold! I couldn’t get over that, I was truly shocked.
random says
It is so strange, I was looking for some cultural reasoning why a particular group of tourists that I had to spent some time with(just do not want to name them) seemed so rude to me…. I got some info,found out I was not alone, and then decided to see how people find us Bulgarians….. so here I am reading.
The smiling thing, I have to say is true, in many places, and unfortunately even in some tourist destinations. But it is not a cultural thing, it is also not because people want to be rude(some may understand they are , some not). In the last several decades people are becoming increasingly more unhappy with their lives, increasingly more frustrated with everything…..(let’s not discuss the causality, just not the place for that)
Some thoughts:
1) Most of us do not like fake smiles, for some reason or another…..
Imagine a normal visit in a clothes shop, or any other. Normally in the western world you will be greeted with a smile and a ‘hello’. And the smile is expected no-matter how the person behind the counter feels in reality. In BG such a smile could be considered as hypocritical and fake. Lots of people do not like to do that, lots of people do not like to see such a smile. However a greeting is expected and general friendly behavior is expected by both people.
The bad part is that in the recent years even that friendly behavior is missing on both parts(not always but often, so much so, that when I see a friendly shop assistant, I tend to get back there and shop from there). Not a good thing to admit, but a reality, and it makes me sad, not because how foreigners perceive us, but because I find it depressing and rude myself. Having the chance to visit other countries as well and a chance to compare, I have to say that we as Bulgarians do not really know how to “take tourist’s money”(I mean by services, not pick-pocketing). I hate it when I am greeted by an angry shop assistant, and often I leave shops for that….i could only imagine how the tourists feel. So not part of the culture, and sometimes not because of anything but annoyance and frustrations….who knows.
2) We do perceive a too friendly behavior from a stranger a bit suspicious. Often such people try to get advantage of you somehow, and you could end up losing money or having to buy something you do not really want.
3) When we are having fun, we are having fun and it shows from a distance. And if you are close by, you are most of the times welcome to have fun with us too.
4) Regarding complaining at greetings……do not do that….do not complain. Nobody likes people who complain from the start of a conversation. Yes, often people do do that, but has nothing to do with letting someone close to you. Some people complain, some don’t. Some people accept the “ how are you?” as a literal question and answer accordingly…..and because we are a bit pessimistic by nature, we can always find a reason to complain. However the best option is to answer “OK, you?”
5) There is a huge difference between people in different towns and cities in BG. Often in small villages people would great you, and welcome you to stay and eat and drink, and talk….bad thing not a lot of them speak English. Sometimes you may get some strange looks….’who is that, what does he/she want?’ …..you could expect that everywhere in the small villages though
Shallor tent says
I found Bulgarian to be terribly rude to tourists and the men mysogenistic and terribly rude. I’ve been to 50 countries and this country ranks in the two last spots- rubbish people and rubbish mentality.
If you treat people poorly we don’t recommend your country
I had a very scary experience with a taxi driver, a small hotel owner, and rude people every minute there. Uncivilized people with no social skills and the entire country needs anti depression medication
TANYA M. LEARN says
I completely disagree with Anita. She seems to be very confused about her own identity. If she is indeed an educator, woe to the new generation and their own perception of themselves. Bulgarians are warm and friendly Sothern Europeans capable of a wide spectrum of feelings and facial expressions, just like any other ethnos or nation. They often show stoicism and do not smile that much in public, simply because any particular individual may not have a reason to smile at any particular time. An individual may smile if they have a reason to do so. A waitress who is unhappy with her job and life in general will not smile. They still have a lot to learn about hospitality, and smiling through your tears and problems in front of the guests has not been taught to them yet by their managers or owners in the service industry. To make ridiculous extrapolations to Russia and “the Orient” is completely assinine. How can you even generalize a term such as “the Orient” if you do not even know what it means? What is your perception of the “Orient”? This term only means “East.” Do you mean all areas to the east of you on the vast Eurasian expanse all the way to the Far East? And you generalize this whole vast area which you have never seen, read about, heard the various languages spoken, belonging to various language groups and sub-groups, tasted their food, seen people’s interactions? But you lump “the Orient” into one big cloud of dust and say this is why Bulgarians don’t smile?
If our educators in Bulgaria feel “Oriental,” and if this is how they explain their identity to other people of the world, woe to us again. Similarities with other nations on the Eurasian land mass based on genetics, food, customs, music and mores can be explained intelligently, but not by lumping it together as “Oriental influence.”
I am a Bulgarian; I advertise Bulgaria with its own identity to my English-speaking friends and family and they already know Bulgaria has its own identity; so do my Spanish-speaking friends, my Greek-speaking friends, my Russian-Speaking friends, my Turkish-speaking friends, my Portuguese -speaking friends.
And all peope of the world smile if they have a reason to do so.
Ma says
Just been in Sofia for 4 days and generally – I am not including everyone- people is not friendly. They seem to be bordered by you if you try to ask them something they give you a look and you feel very unwelcome here.
I have been in another country that was in the communist regime and I had even worst experience. You Bulgarians need to know that smiling is good for your health and hugs are even better. And if you want to open your door to tourism you need to get yourself a bit more up to day with social skills. Saying this I do respect your country and every one is free to be the way they want but don’t say people smile if they have a reason to that is not true. Smile is also a greeting fiven to other people to feel them welcome nothing to do with what is happening inside you that is call social skills
Jake says
What’s that other country, Ma? Czehia?
Nisha says
Interesting facts! Didn’t know smiling is a precious jewel which some people don’t want to part with. :)
We are planning to go to east Europe this summer & Bulgaria is very much on the list.
How much time do you recommend to visit Plovdiv, Sofia and one more city (hoping a recommendation from you) ? :)
We don’t like one city- one day type travels.
Sofie says
Haha I love how you put that:)
I’d recommend three days for Sofia, two or three for Plovdiv for Plovdiv and then another two or three for another city or maybe to choose a base and explore the area a bit. Nine days seems good:) Just my thought!
I hope you have fun!
Nisha says
Thank you very much.
Will let you know once we visit the country.
Sofie says
Super! I hope you have a wonderful time.
James says
Do not waste your time visiting Bulgaria if your expecting European/American hospitality. These people are backward minded, snobby, happy to live complaining and have ZERO respect for anyone who’s not from the area unless your spending. They have no interest to communicate with English speaking countries and are quite frankly happy to live like that which is sad! They are well aware of how they behave to tourist. Very disappointing country and they will never get my respect. Strange enough i found Serbian people are much nicer…
Maria says
Bulgarians are warm and friendly people,especially to foreigners,but they don’t show it outside.It takes time to really get to know them.Most of them don’t speak English and try to avoid uncomfortable situations with people who don’t speak Bulgarian and can’t understand them.I’ve been in many countries where people smile at you and are friendly but they are actually hypocritical with with a sense of superiority over other nations.What is more,most of them think that you are OBLIGED to speak their language,Bulgarians are the opposite.It would be a good idea to read something for the Bulgarian history,culture or even learn some phrases that would be useful :) so Bulgarians are not as bad as they seem to be(oh,and don’t confuse BULGARIANS with gypsies :) )
Sofie says
Thanks for your thoughts!
Maria says
I am amazed by your comments! What people did you communicate with? You shouldn’t denigrate a whole country this way. Ridiculous
Nick says
The first visit to Bulgaria, and I am shocked!! Couple people that I had interacted (at least i thought i was….) were so rude. It’s not about the “smiling issue”. The place i had stayed was very touristic (Bansko) and the personnel of the hotel weren’t aware of this:) They were extremely rude! I have never felt this unsecure and this unsafe in my life of 42 years. I will never spend my dollars to experience a horrifying so called vacation! Hated it!
Sofie says
Hey Nick,
So sorry you had a bad experience in Bulgaria. We didn’t experience anything like that but then again, we were traveling with my Bulgarian friend so she did all the talking for us. Could you give an example of how they were rude? Perhaps it was just a language issue?
Irine Karlsson says
They could been rude to you If you try to it only your American way of thinking and culture or try to make all is for free for you there just because you are Americans or something.
Some Bulgarians can be not very polite but most likely they are from old generation and don’t speak English at all. I see very cold and racist oriented people in North EU too even if they smile to you but bulshits behind your back as well.
Sofie says
I’m not American and I visited with a Bulgarian friend, so all our communication was in Bulgarian, as you could read in the article.
The post merely expresses a difference in cultural perceptions of friendliness, it doesn’t judge.
Pedro says
I am visiting Bulgaria right now and I had to find more on the internet about the people in this country, this is how I ended up this page. To me, Bulgarians are so similar to Checks and Hungarians in the fact that their attitude seems unfriendly and they look so unhappy. Never a polite smile. Perhaps it is my impression, one has to be internationally minded.
Sofie says
My friend told me it’s just their “outer” way of being. You need to get to know them a bit :)
Karen Poasa says
I met the nicest people in Bulgaria. We’ve been home a week and we miss it very much .We were traveling mostly with people who live there and we stayed 2 weeks in a village called Stanevo in Montana. It was so peaceful and had a great view of the plains all the way to the Danube. We’ll definitely visit again!
Sofie says
Hey Karen,
I’m happy you had such a good time there! I want to go back too. A week was way too short.
Jen says
My husband and I have been travelling through Bulgaria for about two weeks. We are 11 months into one year of travel. We are from Canada, where we have a reputation of being super polite, so the people must think we are uber “simple”. We have had mixed experiences on this issue. We have met younger Bulgarians that are friendly and super keen to tell us about things to do and see in their country which has been great. Many people though (mostly older people) look at us as if we are something not nice stuck to the bottom of their shoe! I have almost been in tears several times trying to buy bus and train tickets. (We do not have the benefit of any Bulgarian travel companions, so anyone who has travelled throughout the country with Bulgarian people has no way of knowing how you would be treated on your own). The (mostly) women behind the desks have been the rudest I have ever encountered while traveling and I have been to many countries including Czech and Hungary. After being shooed away, ignored, and glared at by the women behind other windows, I finally summoned up the courage to go up to the INFORMATION window at the train station in Burgas to ask what platform our train was leaving from. After politely asking, the woman glared at me for a long while as she shrugged her shoulders and started to turn disgustedly away. I had had it! She doesn’t know my life. I have done nothing to her and she is sitting at a desk in an INFORMATION booth!! With tears in my eyes, I slammed my ticket up against the glass and firmly said, “Are you telling me you can’t look at this ticket and tell me what platform I need to wait at!?” Low and behold, her demeanor completely changed and she sheepishly held up three fingers and said, “three”. So she clearly knew what I was saying. It was like she saw her behaviour through my eyes and it kind of snapped her out of it a bit. I don’t know, maybe that’s how to handle it, meet rudeness with rudeness? Not usually my style, but it seemed to work in this case. Later on the train, the older woman conductor was incredibly kind to us. She got a younger woman to help with translating and made sure we got of at the right station for our connection, so it’s like anywhere there are happy people and bitter people. However, their service industry has a long way to go in my opinion if they are interested in more international tourists. My advice, as in any country, is to learn a few words in their language. It goes a long way and can warm people right up!
Sofie says
Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Jen. I appreciate that.
Sorry you’ve been treated so rudely. I hope you still enjoyed your time in Bulgaria.
Maria says
As a Bulgarian myself it’s been interesting reading your post and the comments below. We shouldn’t generalize about people but I must say people in Bulgaria and in the Balkans in general are not the same as the ones you are used to in Western Europe, so you are not supposed to expect to find the same situation there. It’s true that many of the people working at restaurants, public offices etc. still have to learn how to treat their clients well. I hadn’t realised that a lot of foreigners considered us unfriendly and sullen till I started reading travel accounts online. I myself, as my friends and relatives, cannot relate to being impolite and rude, on the contrary! I don’t think that the foreigners understand some of the cultural differences between the East and the West. What’s more, there are a lot of people struggling with poverty in my country, so it’s difficult to smile in this situation. Cheers!
Sofie says
Thanks so much for sharing your perspective, Maria!
I’m truly grateful I got to experience Bulgaria with a Bulgarian so she could explain the cultural differences with me and set my impressions straight.
peter says
just enjoy people
Hristo says
I’m Bulgarian and I can’t stress how annoying these people at the boots can be….they are not annoying only to you foreigners. You know what they say, the fish starts rotting from the head down…incompetent government officials hire incompetent people. Ignore them! There are plenty of people that will make up for that and even more,
good luck!
M.R. says
My mother is from Italy and survived WW 2 and her parents endured both world wars in Italy and the former Yugoslavia. She said that life was serious, deadly dangerous and rife with poltical and military bad guys. You didn’t smile there because there wasn’t nothing to smile about AND Smiling people during such treacherous times could spell trouble. So they did not trust smiling strangers nor did they have a lot to smile about. They starved, lost their homes, their land, witnessed the horrors of war upfront and personal. My mother, when she was only 8, saw entire group of teens, including her twin female twin cousins, slaughtered right before her innocent eyes. I know my comments are T.M.I., but those of us who haven’t seen what our European brothern have seen and endured. I say, give the Bulgarians a break!
Ghost In The Machine says
Interesting report, thanks for sharing.
Just to give a perspective, I’m not from NA or EU. Customer service is also HORRID in my country. Maybe the things that I see here will help tracing a pattern to understand why people in certain countries behave like that (understand, not justify it… I’m not trying to justify being a shitty human being LOL )
To keep this short, I have notice these things in common with these countries that have poor customer service or social skills in general:
– huge amounts of government bureaucracy and vast majority of “jobs” being regulated by government
– past history of successive tyrannical governments, which might be the cause for the appearance of point No 1 above…
– being that majority of jobs are through government, it means that you are only able to find decent stable employment through the means of “connections”, nepotism and exploitation
– after all that, through a period of 30-40-50 years, what follows is generation after generation of people that have this idea in their minds “There’s no use in fighting back because they gonna win anyway”… So maybe that component gets ingrained into their DNA and passed on into the following generations.
– lost of hope, living without dreams, a sad life in general, in these countries you see the vast majority with grumpy faces… you don’t want to know how it is to live like that, you wouldn’t be able to even comprehend it.
What I’m trying to say is: the world is huge and there’s plenty of countries to ever know, but in the end there’s only a handful of places in this world where people actually GIVE A SHIT, you know? These are the places where people immigrate to. The motivations behind immigration are not purely financial, in most cases it’s the Human aspect that counts, social aspect.
Another pattern I have been noticing: countries that are cheaper to live in. Okay, it’s cheaper there, but nothing ever goes on, there are no cultural activities, music concerts, festivals, nothing ever goes on. Living without healthy amounts of leisure will drive people mad over long periods, and then what you have is compounding of all these problems mentioned above.
Michael says
This sounds idyllic to me. I’m American and my personality is completely incompatible with the American ideal of etiquette. I really hate when “how are you?” is a shallow greeting and smiles are expected, it’s just a demand to fake emotions to make others feel comfortable. And I’m not an angry person all the time, but why does a stranger demand that I pretend to be happy? I’ve gone from neutral to irritated just because you want me to pretend that you’ve caught me on the happiest day of the week. So since I’m a “rude” American, I guess I’d fit in perfectly in Bulgaria. I don’t understand why foreigners travel expecting to be catered to, anyway. There’s too much of a “customer is always right” attitude in this and it creates a lot of narcissism. Suddenly foreigners think that Bulgarian culture has to be reformed to fit their comfort zone? Pathetic behavior from an adult. And some of the people in the comments believe that Bulgarians have no etiquette. They have etiquette, it is simply rooted in a different mentality and philosophy than the etiquette of your country. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” I’d love to visit Bulgaria someday, and when I’m there I’ll be happy to make the effort to fit in and respect local etiquette. The music of the Bulgarian Women’s Choir really pulled me in, and the landscape and architecture there are so beautiful. I think Bulgarians are perfect exactly the way they are, and their internal issues and matters of their culture should be left for them to manage and free from foreign judgement.
Nataliya Bellony says
I am Bulgarian who is in her 40s and have lived half of my life in US and half in Bulgaria. Unfortunately if you can’t communicate in Bulgarian you will never truly get to know bulgarians. Judging only by the body language would give you the wrong impression. Bulgarian are very hospital and caring people. They have a great companion and love. Yes, the external, overpoliteness is not their thing. You have to judge them by their actions and warm words and not my their smile, kisses and hugs. Most bulgarians act formal around people they don’t know. When I first came to US I was shocked by informality between strangers. Bulgarian language even has a formal version of “you” to address people we don’t know. or people we are not close to yet. Once people are close to you they will be friendly. Being suspicious of people is common among Bulgarians. Once they know they can trust you they will do anything for you. They are people of moral and character and are very wise. and spiritual. This is my experience anyway.