Weather locations in Bulgaria

Bulgaria occupies a corner of the Balkans between the Danube plain in the north and the Black Sea in the east, with the Rila and Pirin mountains and the Rhodopes filling much of the south. The position gives the country a climate that is at once continental in the interior, semi-arid on the dry Danubian steppe and Mediterranean along the southern Black Sea coast. It is a country of short hot summers and cold, snowy winters.

Main climate types

The Danubian plain in the north is the most continental part: cold winters, hot summers and moderate rain. The Thracian lowland in the south is warmer and drier, and the Black Sea coastal strip, around Burgas and Varna, grades into a semi-Mediterranean type with hot dry summers and wetter winters. Mountain regions below about 1,500 metres run cool and humid, and the highest reaches of Rila and Pirin hold snow well into summer.

Temperatures

Sofia, at 550 metres, sits in a valley and records January means near 0 degrees Celsius and July means near 20, with snow lying for several weeks in winter. Varna on the coast is milder, with January means around 3 degrees and July about 23. Mountain stations such as Bansko fall to about -3 in January but warm to 14 in July, so the difference between the capital and the Black Sea coast in midwinter is roughly five degrees.

Rainfall

Annual rainfall is around 400 to 500 millimetres in the plains and much heavier in the mountains, where the Rila and Pirin ranges take 1,000 to 2,000 millimetres. Bulgaria's rainfall has a distinct seasonal bias: in the north and interior the bulk falls as rain during the warm months, while in the south and along the Black Sea coast it arrives mainly from October to December.

When to go

May, June and September are usually the best months for travelling, when the heat is not yet oppressive and the rains are light. Winter sports at Bansko, Borovets and Pamporovo run from mid-December to early April, and the Black Sea resorts are at their best in July and August.