site.btaTotal of 558 Bulgarians Aged 18 Will Receive Free Travel Pass from DiscoverEU 2024 Autumn Campaign

A total of 558 Bulgarians aged 18, selected from 1,785 applicants, will receive a free travel pass from the DiscoverEU 2024 autumn campaign, said the European Commission Representation in Bulgaria.

A total of 135,693 young people from the European Union and Erasmus+ countries, including Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Republic of North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Turkiye, born between 1 January and 31 December 2006, applied for the autumn campaign. Some 35,762 people were approved.

Those selected will have the opportunity to plan and carry out a rail trip across Europe for up to 30 days, between March 1, 2025 and and May 31, 2026, and can prepare their own routes or join common programmes focused on physical and mental health, or on architecture, music, visual arts, theater, fashion and design, or visit cities striving to be more accessible for people with disabilities, the EC said.

Selected participants will receive a European Youth Card, providing various discounts on cultural visits, educational activities, sports, local transport, accommodation and food, the programme website says.

DiscoverEU is an initiative under the Erasmus+ programme that gives 18-year-olds the opportunity to travel across Europe by train, learn from other cultures, build new friendships with other Europeans and explore their European identity, the EC representation said. Applications are open twice a year, in spring and autumn. The autumn campaign, which took place in October 2024, was open to young people born between January 1 and December 31, 2006. They also had to answer questions about the EU on the European Youth Portal.

The EC started offering free travel to those turning 18 in 2018, and since then, over 1.5 million young people from across Europe have applied for 355,000 travel cards.