Bulgaria or Romania for three week stay July 2020?

I am maybe a bit strange, but I enjoyed Bulgaria more than Romania. But maybe I didnt give Romania a good enough chance. Now, three weeks? Not to sure about that. Sofia and Budapest are connected with non-stop service as is Budapest with a few towns in Romania. I'll send you a link to some photos in each. Maybe that will help. Also, understand my style the first time in a new place with limited tourist infrastructure .... I hire a guide; and for $200 a day for guide, car, hotel room ... its a bargain especially if its the sort of person you can talk and talk and talk to. By the way, i know that person in Bulgaria. The first trip was a fairly convential 5 day tour of the country. The second trip began in Sofia and we drove from river to stream to town to village fishing all along the way. We ended up in Istanbul in the end. Great road trip. Again, a few hundred a day.

Thank you James! I Ten ended you from two years ago when I went to Budapest for three weeks! You gave me so many recommendations and it was the best trip! That’s what gave me the confidence to expand further to Eastern Europe. You also mentioned liking Kiev so it is in the realm of options. The more I read about Bulgaria the more I am interested. A few years ago I found an air bb in Sofia that looked nice.

Im glad you enjoyed Budapest. One of the interesting things about Budapest is that it is so well connected to the rest of Eastern Europe; the the options can be overwhelming. A problem that I am currently suffering. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/under-100-nonstop-from-or-to-budapest I am pretty much decided on Sarajevo. But I live near a Turkish Air hub so I can go straight to Istanbul then with about a 2 hour lay over reach most of Eastern Europe, then a $75 ticket on Wizzair will get me on to Budapest. Total cost from my home in Texas is about $1K round trip with the Wizzair flight.

I sent you some info on Bulgaria. If you want a guide I can provide that too.

Thank you!