At a glance
Quietest month in Bulgaria: November. Busiest: August, with about 6.2 times as many tourist nights as November. In Sofia, August is warmest (average high 28.3 °C) and June wettest (79 mm of rain).
- January: 3.9%, quieter than average
- February: 4.0%, quieter than average
- March: 3.9%, quieter than average
- April: 3.7%, quieter than average
- May: 5.3%, quieter than average
- June: 13.3%, busier than average
- July: 21.2%, one of the two busiest months
- August: 22.3%, one of the two busiest months
- September: 11.0%, busier than average
- October: 4.1%, quieter than average
- November: 3.6%, quieter than average
- December: 3.8%, quieter than average
quieter than average busier than average two busiest months · each month's share of Bulgaria's 2025 tourist nights; an even spread is 8.3% a month
- Weather
- Coldest: January (average low −3.9 °C). Driest: January (35 mm). Month by month
- Prices
- Restaurants and accommodation in Bulgaria: about 44% below the EU average in 2025. Is Bulgaria expensive?
- Holidays
- 15 national public holidays in 2026. See the dates
- Next
- Plan a trip with your dates
At the Sofia weather station, which we use for Sofia, the warmest month is August (average high 28.3 °C) and the coldest January (average low −3.9 °C), averaged over 1991–2020. The wettest month is June (79 mm of rain). Bulgaria's quietest month for visitors in 2025 was November.
Sofia weather by month
Averages for 1991–2020 at the Sofia weather station, copied from our Bulgaria page, next to each month's share of Bulgaria's tourist nights (Eurostat, 2025). These are long-term averages, not a forecast.
| Month | Average high | Average low | Rain | Rainy days | Daylight on the 15th | Share of 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 3.5 °C | −3.9 °C | 35 mm | 6.0 days | 9 h 25 min | 3.9% |
| February | 6.5 °C | −2.4 °C | 36 mm | 6.0 days | 10 h 35 min | 4.0% |
| March | 11.4 °C | 1.1 °C | 45 mm | 7.0 days | 11 h 55 min | 3.9% |
| April | 16.7 °C | 5.3 °C | 52 mm | 8.0 days | 13 h 25 min | 3.7% |
| May | 21.4 °C | 9.8 °C | 73 mm | 10.0 days | 14 h 40 min | 5.3% |
| June | 25.2 °C | 13.4 °C | 79 mm | 9.0 days | 15 h 20 min | 13.3% |
| July | 27.8 °C | 15.3 °C | 64 mm | 7.0 days | 15 h | 21.2% |
| August | 28.3 °C | 15.0 °C | 55 mm | 6.0 days | 13 h 55 min | 22.3% |
| September | 23.3 °C | 10.9 °C | 53 mm | 6.0 days | 12 h 30 min | 11.0% |
| October | 17.6 °C | 6.3 °C | 54 mm | 6.0 days | 11 h 5 min | 4.1% |
| November | 10.7 °C | 1.9 °C | 38 mm | 6.0 days | 9 h 45 min | 3.6% |
| December | 4.6 °C | −2.4 °C | 40 mm | 7.0 days | 9 h 5 min | 3.8% |
Golden hour
Evening golden hour is our calculation for the 15th of each month of 2026: the time the sun takes to go from 6° above to 4° below the horizon (there is no official definition).
Public holidays by month
National public holidays from the official list on our holiday page, by month, so you can see them next to the weather and how busy each month was. Regional and local holidays are not included.
| Month | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1 Jan: New Year's Day | 1 Jan: New Year's Day |
| March | 3 Mar: Liberation Day (national holiday) | 3 Mar: Liberation Day (national holiday) |
| April | 10 Apr: Good Friday (Orthodox), 11 Apr: Holy Saturday (Orthodox), 12 Apr: Easter Sunday (Orthodox), 13 Apr: Easter Monday (Orthodox) | 30 Apr: Good Friday (Orthodox) |
| May | 1 May: Labour Day, 6 May: St George's Day, Day of Valour and the Bulgarian Army, 24 May: Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarian alphabet, education and culture | 1 May: Holy Saturday (Orthodox), 1 May: Labour Day, 2 May: Easter Sunday (Orthodox), 3 May: Easter Monday (Orthodox), 6 May: St George's Day, Day of Valour and the Bulgarian Army, 24 May: Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarian alphabet, education and culture |
| September | 6 Sep: Unification Day, 22 Sep: Independence Day | 6 Sep: Unification Day, 22 Sep: Independence Day |
| November | 1 Nov: National Awakeners' Day | 1 Nov: National Awakeners' Day |
| December | 24 Dec: Christmas Eve, 25 Dec: Christmas Day, 26 Dec: Second day of Christmas | 24 Dec: Christmas Eve, 25 Dec: Christmas Day, 26 Dec: Second day of Christmas |
The quietest and busiest months
In 2025, November was Bulgaria's quietest month (3.6% of the year's tourist nights): average high 10.7 °C, average low 1.9 °C, 38 mm of rain. August was the busiest (22.3%): average high 28.3 °C, average low 15.0 °C, 55 mm of rain. The figures do not show that the weather makes a month busier or quieter, so we do not say it does.
Similar weather, quieter: ideas for August
August was Bulgaria's busiest month in 2025 (22.3% of its tourist nights). These places had an average high within 2 °C and rainy days within 3 of Sofia's in August, in a different country, and August took a smaller share of its 2025 tourist nights than August did of Bulgaria's:
- Debrecen, Hungary: average high 28.1 °C, 6.0 rainy days; August was 14.7% of Hungary's year.
- Toulouse, France: average high 28.5 °C, 5.9 rainy days; August was 19.3% of France's year.
- Novi Sad, Serbia: average high 29.2 °C, 6.0 rainy days; August was 12.0% of Serbia's year.
- Iași, Romania: average high 28.8 °C, 5.4 rainy days; August was 17.2% of Romania's year.
- Bergamo, Italy: average high 28.9 °C, 6.7 rainy days; August was 17.9% of Italy's year.
Weather: 1991–2020 averages at each city's weather station (World Meteorological Organization normals in Europe, Japan Meteorological Agency in Japan); a rainy day has at least 1 mm of rain. “Quieter” compares a month with the rest of that place's own year. Try another month or place. All quieter alternatives to Bulgaria in August.
What these figures are
One weather station stands for Sofia; places nearby can differ, especially by height or distance from the sea. For the full picture of Bulgaria, including regions and holidays, see our Bulgaria page; for other places, the visual guides and golden hour by place.
Key takeaways
- Warmest month: August (average high 28.3 °C); coldest: January (average low −3.9 °C).
- Wettest month: June (79 mm); driest: January (35 mm).
- In 2025, November was Bulgaria's quietest month for visitors and August the busiest.
Sources
Weather normals and daylight copied from our country or prefecture page; tourism shares from the same page. See how we research.
- Weather: WMO Member Nations (2023). WMO Climatological Standard Normals for 1991-2020 (NCEI Accession 0253808), station Sofia (station ID 00015614), mean daily maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation and number of days with at least 1 mm of precipitation, and total hours of sunshine, normals computed from at least 24 years. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. doi:10.25921/800j-vn07. Accessed 22 September 2026. Released by NOAA under CC0.
- Daylight: our calculation of the time from sunrise to sunset on the 15th of each month of 2026 at the weather station's location, by the method of the NOAA Solar Calculator (NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, “Solar Calculation Details”, based on Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms, allowing 0.833° for refraction and the size of the sun). Read it. Checked 22 September 2026. NOAA notes that calculated times can differ from what is observed.
- Source: Eurostat, Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments – monthly data, doi:10.2908/TOUR_OCC_NIM, accessed 25 September 2026. Dataset last updated by Eurostat on 22 September 2026. Extract: number of nights, NACE codes I55.1–I55.3, all guests and split by guests resident in the country and abroad, January–December 2025.
Modified data: the arrangement, the golden-hour and sea columns and the quietest/busiest comparison are ours, from the cited figures.