Bulgaria is not in the eurozone yet

Bulgaria still does not use the euro. Keep that in mind when you are visiting. Our currency ‘lev’ (did you know it meant ‘lion’?) is pegged to the EUR so 1 EUR is officially 1.95583 BGN.

We had a guest from Japan today who was coming from Greece and she didn’t realize that we are not using the EUR. So unfortunately she paid twice as much for a hotdog (1.20 EUR instead of 1.20 BGN) and a taxi ride which is overpriced even in leva (20 EUR instead of 20 BGN). Of course, ignorantia juris non excusat, so be extremely careful. And of course, things like that happen everywhere in the world, especially the touristy places.