Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Hi All

Were planning our first ski holiday to Bulgaria 2 adults 3 kids ( 9,7&5 girls) for a week on 1st week of Febuary 2016 and would appreciate if you could give me some advice.

Ideally we are after a good resort that offers night time activities e.g ice skating, tobogoning etc for kids. We will be going out for meals in the evening but don't really want to be stuck in hotel with bored kids at night obviously depending on how tired they are. Can anyone make any suggestions as I feel like I'm going around in circles and really need to book our holiday asap.

Ski school for our youngest daughter travelling will be 5 when she flies but she will be 6 on 28th feb would they take this into consideration, all I keep seeing is kindergarden . Although I realise the girls will be split at ski school due to age/ability ideally id like us all to go for our morning and afternoon ski sessions and all have lunch together. Can anyone recommend a ski school that would accept my 5 nearly 6 year old?.

Ski school, do beginner's kids & adults do full or half day a friend said just do mornings and practise as a family in afternoon but is that really possible, logically I think full days would be better?.

Practising, Ive read that practising on real snow is best so places like the snow dome centres is this advisable to practise on or do a full days course before we arrive?.

Much appreciated

Rebecca xx

Hi Rebecca

Welcome to the forum.

Firstly, you obv need to choose which resort will suit you best. You will find regulars on here - some of whom love Bansko, some Borovets & some Pamporovo, it really is down to individual preference. There was a previous post a few weeks ago where the question re: which resort was asked - you can find it here...this may give you some more insight.

http://story.bulgariaski.com/Bulgaria-Ski-discussion/first-time-family-skiiers---which-resort-would-be-best_320397/index1.html#rep320397

I can only speak for Borovets but in terms of ski school, your daughter will be fine to be in a ski group in Borovets ( I don't know about the other resorts - sorry). She will be put in a child's group and the cost is less as at the age of 5 they do not need a lift pass. My husband is an instructor out here in Borovets and has often had 4yrs old in his classes (he has one booked for this year who will just be turning 5 at the end of his holiday). You do need to make sure the instructor is good with children but any problems and you can always change her group. There are several I would recommend for Borovets who would be better for this. Also, as she may be one of the youngest, you may want to get her an early Christmas present with a block of lessons - it is not necessary however as she may be one of the youngest, it may just help her so that on arrival she knows how to put on boots, skis etc. You can then also see how easy it is for her to concentrate etc - some children pick it up very early, some don't. If you don't go for lessons, Borosport run Borokids in Borovets - this is not just a typical kindergarten, they do go out on the slopes on a small area that has a little travelator etc and they all learn there BUT they don't actually go on any ski runs.

Lessons (unless private) are normally 2 hours in the morning, lunch and then 2 hours in the afternoon. If your children are young, you may find it is not that easy to practice with them especially if you are beginners as well - there will be plenty of time for that on future holidays and also you want them to learn correctly at a young age. For the youngest one, you may find that the instructor builds in a few extra hot-chocolate breaks but this is simply due to them getting so tired.

In terms of things to do, you can find ice-skating in the nearby Samokov (not in the resort) and then in Borovets - bowling, swimming pools, horse-riding. Most restaurants are child-friendly especially since smoking has been banned and the BG's are great with children - most places have activities / or something for the little ones to do. You can also hire ski-doos and many restaurants have free sledges, bum boards that you can go out onto the slopes with in the evening and play - that's if you have the energy!

Hope this helps and I am sure others will contribute shortly!

Kas
x

Hi Kas

Thank u so much for your reply!.

I really don't want my daughter to go in the kindergarten tbh, would much rather she went in a ski school. So I guess it's all about researching the ski schools and asking would they allow her being 1 month shy off being 6 years old.

We will definitely get the kids to do some skiing practise before they come but the centres that have real snow are 20p miles away from us so we will probably have to do it as a intensive day course for us all I think.

It's good to here Bulgaria is so kid friendly this is a huge plus for us

If ski schools all start at say 11am how do we get the kids to there's and us to ours, read a lot of people saying the que for the ski lifts are really lengthy. It would make us late for our lessons would it?

Rebecca x

Hi Again,

Most ski schools start between 9 and 10. The queues in Borovets are really not that bad, unless at Half-Term. In addition, the resort of Borovets is located around the ski slopes so for the first day or so, you would not be on the lifts anyway and would walk straight onto the slope. In general, you all go to the ski depot together, then the children would go off with their instructor and you would go off with yours. The ski school will then give you a finishing time and a meeting place to pick up your children - this would either be back at the depot or in a restaurant etc if that is what you have arranged.

I know which ski schools in Borovets would take your 5 year old and will check on a couple of others so if you decide you want to go to Borovets, then you can always message me @ info@bobbysbarborovets.com and I will be able to send you a list and their contact details.

Hope this helps again but like I said before, it would be good to get some advice on Bansko & Pamps as well to help you make your decision.

Fire away with anything else!

x

Hi Rebecca and welcome to the forum!

All three Bulgarian resorts cater well for Children. Kas is the Borovets Babe and I guess I'm the Pamporovo Princess?

If you can get your youngest skiing well then it would be so much easier to get the ski schools to take her. Pamporovo ski school takes children from 7 upwards but will make exceptions for younger children if they can already ski. It is hard work for little ones and they need to have some stamina to be able to cope with the physical strength required from learning to ski. The more skiing they can do at dry slopes and/or indoor snow facilities the easier it will be. The worst case scenario is that she struggles to keep up / is too tired and then we can use the kindergarten as the fall back position. All the restaurants are easy to access for all abilities so meeting up at lunch is easy to do. Alternatively we can arrange some private tuition for your youngest for a couple of hours on some days and the rest of the time either ski with you or use the kindergarten?

Bulgaria is a really cost effective option and, as a mother myself, it is really lovely to be able to say 'yes' to my children when they ask for that extra hot chocolate rather than constantly counting the pennies. As Kas has said - kids are accepted everywhere and Bulgarians are great with children. They are encouraged to get up and dance when the live music starts.

In Pamporovo we can offer lots of family apres ski activities from ringo's (sledging on inner tubes) to trips to the natural thermal hot springs, ski doo trips, swimming pools, ten pin bowling, traditional Bulgarian evenings with dancing and live music. All restaurants are very child friendly and our apartments are well kitted out for families.

Pamporovo does not really suffer with queues apart from New Year and Half term as the resort is already in the mountains. The nursery slopes are just a short bus ride from the apartments.
My email is info@snow-white-skiing.co.uk if you would like any additional information about Pamporovo.
I hope this helps? Please shout if you have any questions

Pippa (Snow White)

My youngest boy, then 7, started skiing last year in Pamporovo. It was the first week of January and extremely cold (around minus 20c) which is not normal for the resort but being that cold he didn't take well to the lessons on the first day and didn't want to go back on the second day. We had a word with our rep and she suggested trying the kindergarten and he loved it. The staff were really good to him and they incorporated short spells of ski lessons with indoor play activities. By the end of the week he was skiing with us from the top of the mountain the whole way to the bottom and now he can't wait to go back this season. Another addict in the family. :-)

As far as your other concerns I would agree with everything Snow White has said about Pamporovo.

We've found the Borovets instructors very helpful sorting out start/finish/break times.

They really don't mind if you've got to finish early or miss a session - it's your holiday after all.

All the kids I've seen are having a great time and usually skiing much better than me!

I can only comment on Borovets - the resort is centred on the RIla hotel and slopes and there's lots of restaurants and bars nearby. You may want to consider walking distance for little ones. Some hotels offer shuttle buses. Borovets has a shorter transfer time than the other resorts. Especially last March when there was a little too much snow...

You will all have a great time, wherever you choose.

Well made some progress today flights are booked whoop whoop we come out on Jan 28th - Feb 4th. Huge problem is outward flight is at 8.30pm and we don't land till 2am!. So firstly I have to find somewhere that will collect us at 2am do people really do transfers at this time?

We have also sorted out ski lessons for us all ☺. It's private tuition for the 5 of us, one hour tuition with instructor then 1 hour practical on our own which I thought was great idea 2 hours seems good amount of time. Ski center has advised 5 lessons which will be 10 hours each of instruction do u all think that's okay and enough? For especially me not to look like a wally on my 1st day? He reckons kids will be really good as they learn so quick and are very flexible? Hoping this will help my 5 yr old to help with ski school etc?,

Faced with a dilemma, reading all the review of the resorts and our news for night activities with the kids we where swaying towards pamporovo, but when we looked at the 4 hour transfer time and our flight arrival time, we would arrive in resort at roughly 6.30am would like to think kids would have a good sleep on plane or in transfer vehicle but knowing us they would be to excited to sleep. And ski school would start at 11 so we would all be shattered

So we are back to Bansko & Borovets. Out of the 2 which ones has activities that's kids could do at night like pamporovo.

Went browsing for ski clothes today. Saw gorgeous Trespass kids ski jackets is this a good make for the kids to wear? My husband has an animal ski jacket and matching trousers is this make ok? One thing I did see is ski goggles do we bring our own?. Does anyone have a list if items of clothing u need when going skiing.

Sorry for all the questions, I'm an awful worrier and want to make sure all is perfect for our first ski holiday but got to say I'm soooo excited been watching ski school videos tonight and it looks fab for us all. Only 10 weeks to go 😆😆

Rebecca xxx

Well I'm all for Borovets. The slopes can be used at night for things like sledging. As for your ski instruction. You have probably gone down the expensive route.... I also notice that you are not going for a whole week and with only two hours skiing per day, you will have a lot of spare time to get very bored. Borovets is a ski resort, there aint much else to do. Most of the ski schools offer 4 hours tuition per day, starting 10ish and finishing around 3 which includes an hour for lunch and one drink break during the day which you will remain with your instructor. This arrangement also allows you approx. an hour to spend on the slopes on your own and with family or friends without the instructor. You will then spend the rest of the day with the family. Some ski schools will offer 3 day packages, 4 hrs p/day and for the kids too. You can get transfers anytime of the day or night. Again I'd suggest contacting Kas as she can arrange all of this. I could give you some other contact names like Hunters but you can also book these through Kas assuming Borovets is your destination of choice