Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Back from Bansko today. For those of you thinking of going to Bansko and cluttering up the slopes and resort generally don't go. Bansko is a terrible place only marginally better than Midsommer and you won't even get to meet John Nettles.

Now if you promise never to go to Bansko i'll let you read on.

We flew out with Balkan Holidays from Manchester. Although we took of about 40 mins late, we made good time and were due to land in Sofia on time. However, then came the first of two 'eventful' landings. It starded with major turbulance caused by strom conditions in Sofia leading to an aborted attempt at landing and a diversion to the worlds biggest and best airport - you guessed it - Plovdiv. The total delay was about 4 hours which wouldn't have been too bad but for that putting us in our hotel less than 5 hours before ski school started.

So 3 and a half hours later we went down for breakfast at our hotel Perun. Excellent choice of freshly cooked eggs, fruit, cakes, pancakes, cereal, toast, cheese, yoghurt - I could go on but you get the picture!

Over to the gondola to pick up our hire equipment and here follows my first tip - give serious thought to travelling with Balkan holidays. To the best of my knowledge they are the only package operator who offer Sunday flights. There have been numerous reports on this site of delays of up to 3 hours picking up hire equipment for Saturday arrivals. For us, the set up was somewhat less than perfect but at least we were on our way up the mountain with good equipment in about an hour.

You could not miss the ski school at the mountain top - you practically fall over it as you come out of the Gondola.

We were fairly quickly allocated with an instructor. We landed well and truly on our feet when we were allocated George. He really is a top bloke who kept the week interesting and challenging whilst taking the time to give us some quality tips and useful excercises. He was very knowledgable about the local area and gave us some interesting facts about the mountains. If that was not enough, one night after lessons he took me to the Saloman shop in his car where with his help I bought my first set of ski's. It took me well over an hour to choose but George was very patient. In the end, I bought Ski's, bindings, boots, poles and a flight bag (all Saloman) for 936 leva (£334.29) (after George had negotiated me a good discount). Interestingly some people we met had gone into the Saloman shop the night before but were unable to secure any discount.

On our last night George presented our group with diplomas and invited us to join him at his favourite restaurant. This was without doubt our best meal in Bansko. I don't know the name of it but if you go down Pirin Street you come to a small cross roads (fairly well down). You will see a Diel sports shop and next door to it is a doorway with red fairy lights around it. It is in there - try is and order either chicken or pork sache or hachlour (i think that's how it is spelt) kebab. Quality food.

A big thank you to you George.

As for the hotel, the staff were friendly, service was excellent and the facilities were superb - the outdoor pool was to die for at 45 degree's, the massage was great and overall prices seemed lower than at the other hotels (2 leva a beer and only 25 for a 1 hour full body massage).

The slopes were generally well maintained with loads of fresh powder through the week. It was just a shame that the piste bashers didn't operate on Friday night as our last day skiing was very hard work (very mogully).

Back home today - a bit of a turbulant landing (we landed hard and before the nose was down a gust of wind blew the nose round and we ended up heading towards the terminal building but the pilot somehow kept us on the runway swerving hard.

Aside from the flights I could not fault this holiday. Bansko is a gem of a place and I only hope that the development there does not kill it.

Any questions about Bansko and how it compares to Borovets (I went there last year) please ask.

Cheers Pete, time of my life!

Met a bloke in Amigo's who had done 14 years in pamps before trying Bansko in january this year. He loved it so much that he booked a late deal for March and is looking forward to the next 14 years in Bansko!

Could Pamporovo Pete become Bansko Bill???!!!

Re the Lion, it is bang opposite the Perun. Looks cracking from the outside but sadly I didn't meet or talk to anyone staying there so can't give you much info.

Location wise the Lion is about a 5 min walk from the Gondola along what can almost be described as a road but don't fall down a pot hole - you might never be seen again. I recommend the very frequent shuttle bus.

When you in Bansko? I'm booking for next year soon.

pete we only paid £452 self catering for the two of us but the hassle wasnt worth it the day before we flew out spent about 2 hours chasing things to make sure they were booked, also noone to help when we got there, wouldnt do it again, but this year booked very late and was the only way we could ski as there was nothing else left. we only spent about £200 on food as well so is very cheap do in it yourself, but easier through a travel agent with reps at hand in the resort and thats what the extra covers