Venue Information
about the city
Deeply informal preliminaries
We are proud to host the 13th ECM in the beautiful city of Blagoevgrad - the administrative and economic centre of south-western Bulgaria with a rich cultural history dating back to Thracian times. It is situated at the foot of the Rila Mountain, 100 km to the south from the capital city of Sofia. It is easily accessible by car, train, and bus.
Blagoevgrad region covers three big mountains of Bulgaria – Rila (2925 m) Pirin (2914 m), Rodopi (2191 m) and several smaller ones. The rivers Struma and Mesta crossing the region serve as corridors for penetration of several Mediterranean species to the north. The city is a good starting point for post-meeting excursions and collecting trips.
General Information
The City of Blagoevgrad is the admistrative and economic center of Southwestern Bulgaria. It lies at the foot of the Rila and Pirin Mountains, 100 km south of Sofia. The border of the Republic of Macedonia is immediately to the west, and the Greek border is 130 km to the south. Blagoevgrad serves as the cultural center for the region with a professional theater, an opera house, a national folk ensemble, numerous art galleries, a historical and natural history museums, cinemas, preserved traditional architecture, and parks.
Location of the Meeting Venue
The Symposium will take place in the main building of the American University in Bulgaria which is situated just in the city center at ten minutes walking distance from the railway and bus stations. All facilities, restaurants, cafe, banks, post, gardens, museums are nearby, at easy walking distance.
Currency
The Lev (lv) (Bulgarian: lev, plural - leva) is the currency of Bulgaria, and it has been used since 1881. Its smaller unit is called stotinka (plural - stotinki), and 100 stotinki are of the same value as one lev.
The exchange rate of the Bulgarian Lev is still fixed to 1.95583 BGN = 1 EUR. Exchange facilities offered to participants at the airport, at the exchange desk of the banks and exchange bureaus at a daily indicated rate. Please note that the exchange rate at the airport is not good, to say at least, so it is adviseable to exchange there only a little amount of money, in case of a need for that. Credit cards as Eurocard, MasterCard, Visa are accepted but not everywhere. ATM machines are available at most banks.
Passport and visas
Citizens of most European countries do not need visa to enter Bulgaria. Please contact the local authorities for visa information/request. If you need any kind of invitation letter, please contact the organisers.
Weather
In August the average day temperature in Blagoevgrad is 26 degrees Celsius (max. 42), night temperatures don't fall below 19 degrees Celsius. Average humidity is 48% and the average rainfall reach 67 mm per square meter. During this month there are on average 14 raindays and 283 hours sunshine. At any rate, the summer in Bulgaria is hot, so do not forget your swimming suits!
Insurance
Insurance regarding accidents, sickness or loss of personal property is responsibility of the participants. You are advised to make necessary arrangements for the short-term health and accidence insurance before leaving your country.
Electricity supply
In Bulgaria, electricity is 230 V, 50 Hz.
Phone services
There are two types of prepaid card phones in Bulgaria:
The phone cards (blue for MOBIKA, orange for BULFON: 25 units 2.90 leva, 50 units 4.90 leva, 100 units 7.50 leva, 200 units 13 leva) are available at most of the kiosks and bookstores. From these phones you can dial all over you like in the world.
Important phone numbers are:
- Ambulance – 150
- Emergency – 112
- Fire brigade – 160
- Police - 166
How to get to Blagoevgrad?
First, you have to reach the Sofia Central Bus Station from where busses travel to Blagoevrad.
If arriving in Sofia by plane
Just at 30—40 m from the entrance of the Arrivals hall you will see the only bus stop in the area (bus No. 84 operates between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m.). A single ticket costs 0.70 leva (EUR 0.38). There are also a set of tickets (for 10 trips) which costs 6.00 leva (EUR 3). Tickets are sold at the kiosk at the bus stop. In the buses if you have luggage that exceed 60x60x40 cm, you must perforate an additional ticket for it. In order to get to the Central Bus Station (Centralna Avtogara) or Central Railway Station (Centralna Gara) you need to get off at Pliska Hotel and take another bus (No 213, 305, 313), or road taxi No 5 (obtaining a 1,50 lev [EUR 0.75] ticket from the driver). After ca. 30 min. driving on a highway you will reach the last stop — the Central Railway Station. At ca. 200 m from the bus stop you will see the Central Bus Terminal as well. Another option from the airport is to take a taxi. Do not worry about this service, only licensed carriers are allowed to pick up visitors from the airport! To reach the Central Bus Station it will cost ca. 10—15 leva (5-7 EURO).
Note: Transport (buses) from the airport to Blagoevgrad will be arranged for Saturday and Sunday (18th and 19th August) when most people will arrive and also on Friday and Saturday (24th and 25th June) when people depart. The cost for this transport will be paid in cash by the participants with money being collected on the buses. Payment will be accepted in BGN, EUR, GBP or USD. The number of buses and departure times from the airport will be finalised when the arrival times of the delegates are known. The same applies to the departure of buses from Blagoevgrad to the airport.
If arriving in Sofia by bus
Normally all buses which come from the European destinations arrive at or close to the Central Bus Station in Sofia.
If arriving in Sofia by train
Central Railway Station is situated close to the Central Bus Station.
Leaving for Blagoevgrad
Depending on the hour of departure there are one up to four buses per hour which go to Blagoevgrad (the first one is at 6:40 AM, the last is at 7.00 PM; in any case please check here). Some buses are just passing by Blagoevgrad and their final destination could be Sandanski, Petrich, Bansko, Gotse Delchev. Buy a ticket (7 leva, EUR 3.5) from the office of any of the companies where Blagoevgrad is indicated on the information plate. You can go directly to the platform indicated and board a bus according to your time preferences. There is a train going to Blagoevgrad (3—4 times a day) but it takes longer and the ticket costs almost the same as the bus. In the area of the station and the bus terminal there are many exchange offices so you can find one with better rates. Watch out the numbers, digits and other info written on the exchange board!
Arriving in Blagoevgrad
After ca. 2 h of driving, the bus from Sofia will stop at or in close proximity of the Railway Station in Blagoevgrad.
Further, please consult the map of Bagoevgrad to get around. As you notice, the American University is not far, but it will be beter to take taxi (approx. 2 leva).
Rent-a-car
You may use the following sites to eventually rent a car in Bulgaria. All sites have also English versions, in most of them online reservation is available.
More general site:
http://www.need.bg/en/?c=23
Rent-a-car companies:
http://www.rentacarbulgaria.info/
http://www.bg-rentacar.com
http://www.autoparkbg.com/English/
http://www.autoeurope.com
http://www.rentomobile.com/rent_a_car_in_Sofia.html
http://www.teamauto.info/Index(uk).html
http://www.boyanarentacar.com
Notice
Please check back these pages for possible updates and additional information!
It is also important not to forget sending your travel details to the organisers as soon as you have them!
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