Medical Tourism: Why consider Bulgaria?

Choosing Bulgaria as a destination for health tourism is a matter of weighing the pros and cons. Although the country does lag behind the rest of Europe in areas such as transport and other services, this lack of development does not extend to healthcare. Coming here for private treatment means considerable savings on your treatment, and your living expenses will be cheaper too. One good tip is to stick to the better developed resorts aimed at foreign visitors. Here you can enjoy the best of both worlds – high quality facilities at surprisingly low prices.

Alternatively, you can head out into the countryside and discover a proud, patriotic people who offer a warm welcome and strive to make a good impression. This should be done with care however, as very few Bulgarians speak anything other than their native tongue and the national Cyrillic alphabet can be very hard to decipher on road signs. To add to this confusion, locals will shake their heads for yes and nod for no.

A tasty legacy of Bulgaria’s oft conquered past is its food, with elements of Greek, Turkish and Balkan cuisine fusing to create memorable meals of mouth-watering spiced lamb, for little more than a few pounds a head.

One of the biggest attractions that bring medical tourists to Bulgaria is the thousand or more natural spas across the country. These have been attracting visitors since Roman times, with warm, mineral rich waters and muds laying claim to all manner of healing and rejuvenating properties. The most famous of these spas have been fully developed into major tourist centres, with high quality hotels and facilities for the most discerning guests.

Bulgaria’s major claim to fame as a healthcare tourism destination is the proliferation of high quality, low cost private clinics for medical treatments, cosmetic surgery and dentistry. Forced to keep prices low for poorly paid locals and competitive for foreign healthcare tourists in a crowded market, these clinics offer a significant saving compared to the more affluent European member states.

Combine this with the stunning scenery and relaxed pace of life along the Black Sea Coast resorts, or the breathtaking vistas and fresh air of the mountain retreats, and you have a very special package for your overseas healthcare trip.

Source: Treatment abroad