How do I plan a Morocco trip from Bulgaria?

From Sofia there's no nonstop to Morocco, so every trip I plan for Bulgarian travellers runs through a connecting hub. The most natural is Istanbul with Turkish Airlines — one stop, frequent, and well priced from Sofia — but Vienna, Frankfurt, Paris and Madrid all work too, with the Western European hubs giving you more choice of onward flights into Marrakech and Casablanca. I'd set aside a full travel day in each direction and keep arrival day light; coming off two flights, you'll want a riad courtyard and a mint tea, not a packed schedule.

On the paperwork front, Bulgarian citizens enjoy visa-free tourist entry to Morocco for up to 90 days, so there's no application to deal with ahead of time — just make sure your passport has comfortable validity beyond your return. The standard caveat applies, and I never skip it: airline routes and entry requirements can change, so check the current rules with an official source shortly before you travel. A quick verification is always worth it.

Once you arrive, I usually recommend Bulgarians start in Marrakech for the connections and the immediate immersion, then commit to one good circuit rather than darting around. The first-trip classic — and the one I most often book — is Marrakech, across the High Atlas to the Sahara near Merzouga for a night in the dunes, then north through the gorges and valleys to Fez, with its labyrinthine medina. Our 7-day itinerary is essentially this route, paced so you actually enjoy each stop instead of just photographing it from the car.

Why come all this way from the Black Sea coast? Because Morocco offers a contrast that's genuinely thrilling: in one trip you go from desert dunes to mountain Berber villages to imperial cities older than almost anything in Europe, all wrapped in a famously generous hospitality. If you have ten days, add Chefchaouen and the Atlantic at Essaouira and the trip really opens up. My practical tip for Bulgarian travellers: try to ticket the Sofia–hub and hub–Morocco legs together, so a delay into Istanbul or Vienna doesn't leave you scrambling for a new onward flight.