Sofia LEZ 2026: Two Rings, Winter Only, From EUR 26
Low Emission Zone — Small Ring (ecological groups I and II excluded) and Big Ring (group I excluded) · Bulgaria · Active since 2024
Source: official source · Verified: 2026-09-19
Sofia restricts traffic only from 1 December to 28 February. The Small Ring bars eco groups I and II, the Big Ring only group I. A first offence starts at BGN 50, about EUR 26.
Locally the zone is called Low Emission Zone Sofia (Bulgaria) — that is the wording on the boundary signs, on the official portal and on any penalty notice, so it is the phrase to search for once you are there.
Next
- Check your own car against Sofia — enter your fuel and Euro class, get a yes or no in one step.
- Sofia has a zone too — the nearest one to Sofia, and the rules are not identical.
Practical answers for Sofia
- When is the Sofia zone active?
- Winter season only: 1 December to 28 February, every day and all day, with no hour bands and no weekend or holiday exception.
- How much does it cost to drive into Sofia?
- N/A · None — the ecological group is read from the roadworthiness database Get it wrong and the penalty is From BGN 50 (EUR 25.56) for individuals and from BGN 200 (EUR 102.26) for legal entities, under the Clean Air Act (arts 41a-41b).
- Do I need to register or buy anything first?
- None — the ecological group is read from the roadworthiness database
- Who is exempt in Sofia?
- Euro 5+ vehicles and Emergency vehicles. Exemptions are usually not automatic — most require registering your number plate in advance.
Sofia Low Emission Zone — Small Ring (ecological groups I and II excluded) and Big Ring (group I excluded) Map
Shaded: Нискоемисионна зона "Малък ринг", Нискоемисионна зона "Голям ринг" — the parts of the zone mapped in OpenStreetMap so far (other sectors may exist but are not drawn) — zoom in to see which streets fall inside, and confirm the signs at the edge on arrival.
Requirements
Who pays in a hire car, whether insurance covers it, and how to appeal.
Can My Vehicle Enter Sofia?
Select your fuel type and Euro emission class to check instantly.
Exemptions
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Sofia’s low-emission zone is a winter measure: it ran from 1 December 2025 to 28 February 2026 and does nothing for the other nine months. Inside that window it applies every day, with no hour bands. There are now two rings with two different rules: the inner Small Ring keeps out ecological groups I and II, while the wider Big Ring, added on 1 December 2025, keeps out group I only (Столична община). A first offence starts at BGN 50 for a private driver — about EUR 26.
Your case: this zone only matters for a December-to-February trip. If that is your route, check the rest of it in the emission zone checker.
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Zone type | LEZ (two rings) |
| City | Sofia |
| Country | Bulgaria |
| Season | 1 December – 28 February only |
| Hours in season | Every day, all day |
| Small Ring | Ecological groups I and II excluded |
| Big Ring | Ecological group I excluded; group II from 1 December 2027 |
| Entry criterion | Ecological group from the roadworthiness test |
| Fine | From BGN 50 (about EUR 26) for individuals; from BGN 200 (about EUR 102) for companies |
| Enforcement | 90 cameras at the ring entry points |
Can your car enter Sofia lez?
Enter your vehicle's fuel + Euro class → instant verdict for Sofia lez (LEZ). Fine if wrong: From BGN 50 (EUR 25.56) for individuals and from BGN 200 (EUR 102.26) for legal entities, under the Clean Air Act (arts 41a-41b).
Where the two rings run
The Small Ring is bounded by bul. Vasil Levski, bul. Patriarh Evtimiy, bul. Gen. M. D. Skobelev, ul. Opalchenska and bul. Slivnitsa. The Big Ring follows bul. Slivnitsa, bul. Danail Nikolaev, bul. Sitnyakovo, bul. Mihai Eminescu, bul. Peyo Yavorov, bul. Nikola Vaptsarov, ul. Atanas Dukov, ul. Lyuba Velichkova, ul. Srebarna, ul. Henrik Ibsen, bul. P. Y. Todorov, bul. Ivan Ev. Geshov and bul. K. Velichkov. In both cases the boundary roads themselves stay open to everyone.
How your category is decided
There is no windscreen sticker to buy and no registration to complete. A vehicle’s ecological group is set at its annual roadworthiness test, and Sofia’s system reads it straight from the Automobile Administration’s records when a camera catches the plate — so the sticker being missing from the glass changes nothing either way.
Who is exempt
Owners and tenants with a permanent address inside either ring and a valid local paid-parking permit are exempt automatically. Those with an address inside the ring but no parking permit apply to the city’s traffic centre, as do holders of a disabled parking card, whether issued in Sofia or by another Bulgarian municipality. Company cars get no special treatment: the ban covers private and business vehicles alike.
If you get a notice
Penalties fall under the Clean Air Act and are sent by post by the Sofia Inspectorate, including to addresses outside the capital. The municipality issues the notice through official channels rather than stopping drivers at the roadside.
Outside the winter window the rings stop mattering and the everyday questions take over — which metro buffer car park to use, the road vignette and the drive out to Vitosha — and the Sofia city driving guide works through them.
Recent changes to this page
- Checked against Stolichna obshtina. The zone is now two rings with different rules, the Big Ring added on 1 December 2025; the penalty line is corrected to a starting figure of BGN 50 for an individual and BGN 200 for a company; the Euro 3 and Euro 4 thresholds are gone, because the city defines the rule by ecological group rather than by Euro class.
- AIO hook pass: first paragraph rewritten as a direct numeric answer to the page's own top query, one page-specific reader callout added, title/description/quick answer reset to this page's data.
- Title, description and introduction rewritten from this page's own data (no shared template wording).
- Converted the Bulgarian figures from leva to euro at the fixed statutory rate (1.95583). Bulgaria has been on the euro since 1 January 2026; the page still quoted BGN.
- Page created — LEZ active since 2024, fine EUR 25.56-255.65 (varies).
Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026. Leva figures above are converted at the fixed statutory rate of 1.95583 leva to the euro.
Part of the TyreMap Emission-Zone Dataset — 596 verified European emission zones, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Frequently Asked Questions
From 1 December to 28 February, and at no other time of year. Within that window it applies every single day — the city states the restriction holds "for every day from 1 December 2025 to 28 February 2026, without exceptions", including weekends and public holidays.
The Small Ring, the inner area, excludes vehicles in ecological groups I and II. The Big Ring, added on 1 December 2025 and covering a much wider part of the city, currently excludes only group I. Group II joins the Big Ring restriction on 1 December 2027.
Yes. The city is explicit that the boundary boulevards and streets are not part of the zone, and all vehicles may use them without restriction. The limit applies once you turn off them into the ring.
Then it is not treated as an offender. Sofia's system queries the Automobile Administration database, which is fed by roadworthiness testing, and vehicles with no recorded category — including new cars not yet due a test, and fresh imports — fall outside the check.
It starts at BGN 50 for an individual, about EUR 26 at the fixed conversion rate, and at BGN 200 for a company, about EUR 102. Penalties are issued under the Clean Air Act and the notice is posted to the driver by the Sofia Inspectorate, including to addresses outside the capital.