Driving in Bulgaria with a foreign car: vignette, cameras, fines and border checks

Any car on Bulgarian roads outside towns needs an e-vignette, whatever its number plate. It is electronic, tied to the plate and the country of registration, and costs €5.30 a day or €10 a week since 1 August 2026, according to BG TOLL. Cameras read every plate, unpaid fines can be checked at the border and EU cars can get fines at home. Facts as of 27 October 2026; the official checks are gathered on our fines and vignette page.

Do I need a vignette and how do I check it by plate?

Yes. There is no sticker any more: BG TOLL says you do not need to put one on the windscreen or show a receipt at a roadside check. Prices for cars up to 3.5 t and M1 motorhomes, as published by BG TOLL:

Vignette	Price from 1 Aug 2026
Day	€5.30
Weekend	€6.60
Week	€10.00
Month	€19.90
Quarter	€35.90
Year	€64.50

Buy it at web.bgtoll.bg, in the official BGTOLL app, at cash desks at eight border crossings, at self-service terminals or at other points of sale; BG TOLL says the price is the same however you buy. The same site checks validity: choose the country of registration, type the plate and press check. Tip: type the plate exactly as on your registration document and double-check look-alikes such as O and 0; a wrong character means no valid vignette for your car.

Which cameras check foreign cars, and do they fine them?

BG TOLL says 295 fixed cameras and 105 control cars check payment around the clock. Without a vignette, BG TOLL’s control page lists:

Situation (car up to 3.5 t)	Amount
Compensatory charge, paid voluntarily	€46.50
Fine if not paid within 14 days	€153.39
Unreadable or covered plate	€255.65

Traffic police also issue on-the-spot fines for minor offences, says GOV.UK. Since 7 September 2025 cameras have also checked average speed on 12 road sections; in the first month 13,775 of the 33,288 recorded violators had foreign plates, BNR reported on 3 November 2025. Amounts for speeding and other offences are on Varna Daily’s traffic fines page.

Will a fine follow me home?

For EU plates, it can. Your Europe (checked 23 December 2025) says EU countries exchange information on road-safety offences, so a fine may arrive by post. For Turkish, Ukrainian, Moldovan, Serbian or other non-EU plates we found no verified mechanism; do not take that as a free pass.

What happens at the border if I have unpaid fines?

In June 2020 the Interior Ministry began automatically checking drivers and passengers at Kalotina for unpaid Road Traffic Act fines, with POS terminals to pay on the spot, and planned eight more crossings, the Sofia Globe reported. Police said people would not be turned back, but a driver with unpaid fines may not drive. BG TOLL adds that Customs checks toll payment on vehicles leaving Bulgaria. We could not confirm which crossings run the fines check in 2026.

Can I check my fines with a foreign plate?

Only partly: the Interior Ministry’s e-services portal accepts a foreign vehicle number only together with a Bulgarian EGN or LNCH, so without one keep the number of any ticket you receive. The fines page gathers the official checks.

Trucks, vans and campers over 3.5 t

Vehicles over 3.5 t pay a distance-based toll through an on-board unit or a prepaid route pass valid 24 hours, not a vignette. Enforcement cases can be checked by country and plate at tollpass.bg, run by the private company Intelligent Traffic Systems AD; it says the compensatory fee is due within 14 days of receiving the electronic ticket.

What documents should I carry?

GOV.UK lists your driving licence, all original registration and ownership documents and insurance valid in Bulgaria; a rental contract must be in the car. Canada says a Canadian licence is valid for 90 days, after which you need an International Driving Permit. Basic rules (lights on by day, 0.5 g/l alcohol limit, vest, triangle, first-aid kit and extinguisher) are in our tips for first-time visitors. From 15 November, read driving in winter. Routes in: driving to Varna, Istanbul to Varna, Bucharest to Varna; hiring instead: renting a car. Navigation apps: best apps for Bulgaria.