A. MARKET:

In Gabrovo there is an excellent fruit and veg market which as far as I'm aware operates Mon-Sat.  As well as a wide range of seasonal produce, there are also stalls selling herbs and spices, dried beans, honey, and flowers.  Surrounding the market are a range of small shops selling a variety of things such as shoes, bags, household goods and snacks and an excellent place run by a Syrian guy where you can buy all manner of dried fruits, rices, beans, oils, pastes and even some hookah pipes!  

 

B. FRESH FISH

Walk along the pedestrian zone and you will soon see a stall selling hundreds of magazines and puzzle books all laid out on tables on the street.  Walk into the shop area here and you will come to an indoor meat and fish market with about 8 small stalls selling a good variety of fish and meat (take a dictionary).  You can even select live fish from a tank - not sure if they kill it for you before you take it home!

​

SUPERMARKETS (Don't forget your 20 or 50 stotinki coin for the trolley and a bunch of carriers if you don't want to have to buy more.)

C. Billa  

When I first came to Bulgaria Billa seemed very keen that you didn't take bags into the stores and would make you put your things in the little lockers at the entrance.  They don't seem so tight with this rule now though.  There's a full range of goods here and I think the prices are reasonable.  I quite often buy the 'Clever' brand which I think is their own value range.  It always tastes fine to me anyway.  Make sure to buy pork steaks coated in either the green or red spicy sauces. No idea what's in it but they are SO tender and flavoursome.  Try some of the different types of salamis and hams at the deli counter and if you're very lucky they will have samples loaded onto cocktail sticks for you to try.  If you buy fruit and veg remember to weigh it on the scales and print off the price label.  This includes cucumbers which are sold be weight not per unit.  I always forget this! Ask at the check-out for an application for a store loyalty card (Karta na Billa) and you'll get the cheaper price for any goods on special offer. A list of weekly and monthly special offers can be found on the Billa website. Link here.

​

D. Kaufland

The variety of goods sold here is enormous (think Tesco Superstore) and the prices are good.  As well as food there are seasonal goods, household items, clothes and useful knick-knack items.  As with Billa you must weigh the fresh fruit and veg and print off a price tag at the grocery section. If you forget, they have weighing scales just after the check-out too. There are free toilets at the far end of the check-out section. Outside is a kiosk where you can buy snacks e.g. hotdog and chips, or larger cooked food to take home e.g. whole roast chicken. A list of weekly special offers can be found on the Kaufland website. Link here.

​

E. Lidl

Next to the bus station there is a Lidl store.  It's exactly like the Lidls at home and can be good for getting meat on special offer.  There are some other things I like to buy here like the UHT milk, cartons of cream and packs of chunky sliced ham.  The tinned goods tend to be competetively priced too. They have regular theme weeks e.g. Spanish food, English week etc where you can pick up foods which aren't usually available e.g. delicious proper salty butter - perfect slathered on hot crumpets! Check out their weekly special offers here.

​

SEE ALSO

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​