Serbia Bulgaria
Values are informative and subject to change. Before traveling, check the applicable regulations on the official pages of the customs authorities.
Gradina is the busiest border crossing between Serbia and Bulgaria, on the E80 motorway near Dimitrovgrad, on the route toward Sofia and on to Istanbul. The Bulgarian side of the crossing is Kalotina. It operates 24 hours a day and handles both passenger and freight vehicles, carrying most of the transit traffic between Serbia and southeastern Europe, so truck queues form regularly here, especially at night and on weekdays, while passenger traffic usually moves faster outside the summer peak. Since 1 January 2025, Bulgaria has been fully part of the Schengen Area, including its land borders, which makes Gradina a full external Schengen border — once through the checks here, vehicles can continue through Bulgaria, Greece or Romania without further border checks, since those countries are in Schengen too. For Serbia, which is outside both the EU and Schengen, that doesn't change the procedure at the crossing itself — documents and goods are still checked as usual for everyone leaving the country. Dimitrovgrad, on the Serbian side, is the main town in the area and the usual last stop for drivers coming from Niš before the border.
