Bulgaria Ski discussion board

I have been boarding for years and this will be my third time in Boro. Most of your reivews are fair and it can be rough around the edges BUT as for value for money I dont think it can beat. Its my girl friends second trip boarding and to be honest I am paying £225 all in with passes the lot half board. To go to france or canada we would be paying £170 plus for passes alone!!!

I have found staying a little further out of the main resort you get more for your money. Been and seen the rooms in the Rila and Samacov and stopped in the mora and all pretty poor. I stopped in the Bor 5 - 10 minutes walk into the town. Much nicer and the food is great. They put a free bus on in the evening then its all down hill after the day is over. Its clean friendly and not to big. Plus the rooms are really warm.

Also for food dont hit the expensive places like the happy duck etc. We go to the Sunski usually at the cross roads to the gondola and its cheap, really friendly and the food is good. In fact its so friendly we are still in touch all year with one of the waitresses from there!

Yes the pistes have a bit to be desired but for learners I personally think they will learn better if its not perfect. What you dont tend to get is them being over packed like france and italy so its swings and roundabouts.

Once my other half is proficient then I wont go to Bulgaria but until then I think its perfect!

Hello everyone,

First I would like to thank Calum for a very objective review. I have been to Borovets since the age of 4 and witnessed a real transformation. You have to keep in mind that Bulgarians in the service industry are not the friendliest of people, (they're still learning and changing their ways from comunist times) however once you get to know them a little they consider you their friend and you might learn a great deal from them, mostly about good restaurants and cheap hotels. As a Bulgarian (living currently in Canada) I love going back to ski in Borovets, just like I did since childhood. The ski slopes are only 70km away from the capital or a short 2 hour drive, we usually went on Saturday morning and left by Sunday night. The key is to find a family owned hotel, I've had the pleasure of staying with "baba (grandma) Ivanka" there and she had always a nice meal prepared for us in the evening. Her husband "dyado (grandpa) Kolyo" who was probably at least 80 was chopping wood for the fire place and got drunk with us and played the accordion and we sang traditional Bulgarian songs. This was not only much cheaper than staying at a hotel, but heck it was a lot more fun too! I would recomend NOT to eat on the slopes as the food is insanely over priced and discusting! Better bring a nice sandwich from home and you'll be much happier! I would also recomend to stay outside of the Borovets village, its crowded, loud and overpriced. The Samokov village is a good alternative and they have an open air market and you can get really good fresh food! Also I would like to disagree that Bulgarians can't afford to go skiing at such prices. Having grown up in Bulgaria through the economic crisis in 97 and after the fall of comunism my family and I never compromised on going skiing. Bulgarians really know how to budget and we definately do not pay prices that westerners do... And don't feel insulted about the different rates, afterall can't Bulgarians also enjoy the beautiful nature of their country? I have to say that it is more dificult for me to go skiing for a week as a Canadian, then as a Bulgarian, I only get 2 weeks off throughout the year and prices are steep for Banff or Whistler, I make good money here but I'd still think twice. Hope you have fun stay in Bulgaria and hope my little pointers help!