10 creative gift ideas in Bulgaria

If you study or live in Bulgaria and the birthday of your best friend is coming up soon, you might be already desperate if you have not come up with the best gift ever. However, in the following article you will find our 10 suggestions for cool and creative presents!

1. Shopping mall voucher card

If you do not want to risk buying something that your friend won’t even like, why don’t you simply go for a voucher card? There are several clothing shops like H&M or Zara as well as other types of shops (e.g. Technopolis) that offer voucher cards. How it works is that you just pay a specific amount of money at the store, the staff gives you a lovely card with information about the sum you have paid and the terms and conditions of the voucher card and your friend can later go to the shop with the voucher card and use it to buy whatever they like. If they end up spending even more than what you have paid for the voucher card, they will just have to pay the remaining sum.

Keep in mind that many shopping malls in Bulgaria offer a voucher card that is valid for the whole shopping mall (you simply pay and your friend can choose the store they want to spend the money in) – quite cool, right? Just ask at the information desk at the respective shopping mall if this is something they offer.

2. Dinner or lunch at a fancy restaurant

Things get broken and lost, but memories last – so why don’t you organize a special dinner or lunch for your friend? In Bulgaria there are plenty of restaurants with a breath-taking view or restaurants owned by famous chefs (e.g. Chef's Restaurant in Sofia) where the meals are not only super delicious, but also look so perfect that taking an Instagram photo is the least you can do! At the end you can simply pay the bill or you can contact the restaurant before the celebration and ask if you can pay the bill in advance. 

3. Adventure gift

The best thing about Bulgaria is that it pretty much offers all types of adventure activities you can think of – bungee jumping, paragliding, rafting, etc. If your friend is adventurous and is not afraid to experience new things, you should definitely consider organizing something like this! What you simply need is Internet – google the activity you think your friend will like and contact the company that offers such experience! Of course, there are also plenty of websites that offer adventure voucher cards – just keep in mind that sometimes the offers online might be overpriced.

4. Event tickets

In Bulgaria that are several amazing halls and places (e.g. Arena Armeets in Sofia and the Roman theatre in Plovdiv) where concerts and events are organized on a daily basis! So if you know that your friend’s favorite band is coming to Bulgaria or there is a cool event happening soon (circus, ice skating performance, etc.) – you can buy a ticket for you and your friend. Also, websites like eventim.bg and ticketpro.bg that sell tickets also offer voucher cards (this means you pay and your friend will choose the event) – another convenient option if you are not sure they would be available to go to a certain event.

5. Creative flower ideas

Of course, giving a flower is a great and beautiful gesture. But of course, flowers as a present aren’t always a cliché!

Firstly, there are many flower shops in Bulgaria that offer something special for a reasonable price – a bouquet of candies or a basket full of flowers, chocolate and a bottle of wine. So if your friend is more into food (especially chocolate!), he or she will definitely love the gift!

6. Do-it-yourself gifts

The last idea reminds us of all these cute little shops which give you the freedom to create something on your own – be it a painting, a cup or a jewelry. For instance, Munisto ("Bead" in English) a famous place among girls who are fan of creative jewelry – you can choose beads and ask the staff to create a cool necklace, bracelet or earrings for you!

Slanchogled is also something like a place for do-it-yourself gifts – you can find it in Sofia and Varna. There you can buy empty albums, wooden letters, paints and basically any arts and craft materials that will allow you to create something special for your friend.

Matzalo is also a famous place in Sofia where you can choose a ceramic (a plate, cup, etc.), paint it yourself and take it home. The staff will “bake” it for you so that the paint does not wash off. And even better - why don't you take your friend with you and turn the gift into a whole afternoon experience? Let your imagination run wild! 

7. SPA and beauty treatments

Bulgaria is famous for the mineral springs and the plenty of resorts that offer SPA treatment. If your friend fancies the idea of relaxing over the weekend, you should definitely consider checking out the biggest Bulgarian SPA resorts (e.g. Velingrad or Ognyanovo) where the pools with mineral water and the sauna places will make both of you forget your worries. Don’t forget that many hotels in the biggest Bulgarian cities also offer this service – so you can simply contact them and ask them how much they will charge you if you use their SPA area for a day.

Of course, there are also beauty treatments that your friend will find very cool or useful so you can purchase a voucher for a really nice manicure, haircut or a unique barber experience.

8. A game for two (or more)

Don’t forget that even if your friend is celebrating their 30^th birthday, there is a high chance they are still into playing games (literally). You can look for an interesting board game at a bookshop or a toy store so that you and your friends have fun in your free time.

Also, you can check the playground area of shopping malls – there are often climbing walls and trampoline parks (e.g. in Paradise Center) or cool games so that you spend a wonderful and fun afternoon with your friend.

9. One-day trip (or longer?)

We will never stop recommending travelling around Bulgaria – there are so many caves, waterfalls, sightseeing places, ancient ruins … if you haven’t explored yet, it is high time you pack your bags for at least a day!

This is also the reason why we think that planning a surprise trip for your friend is something you should definitely consider! Don’t tell them the destination and take advantage of our ideas for cool one-day trips close to Sofia and Plovdiv or take a look at the must-visit places in Bulgaria!

10. Why not simply ask?

A lot of people spend too much time thinking about the perfect present or trying to come up with something so original that at the end they either don’t have enough time to actually create or find it. So our last but probably most important suggestion is: ask your friend. You will be surprised how many people are actually open about what they need and want. This way you won’t buy something that your friend doesn’t need or like and you will both be happy: you for not wasting time on choosing presents and your friend for getting what they want.

Hope you found our ideas useful! And don't forget that the most important thing is the gesture itself - so whatever gift you have come up with, we are sure that your best friend will appreciate it!