Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Bansko/Hotel Bisev ...... Excellent

We arrived back from a week in Bansko on Sunday 5th Feb 2006. Excellent. I have skied all over Europe and in Canada and although Bulgaria cannot match Canada it certainly stands up well to the European resorts for maintained runs although I have to say it is limited for advanced skiers and could do with another Gondola. Very cheap to eat or have a drink (£10.00 gets you two courses and a couple of drinks).

When the brochures say book your equipment prior to going ....DON'T. It's far easier to merely get to the main lift station on the first morning and sort equipment and passes out there. It took us 15 minutes to hire equipment and purchase lift passes whilst those who had supposedly pre booked ended up queing for over an hour!

We stayed at the Hotel Bisev which we had been led to believe was way out of the town centre ...... Rubbish, It is a 10 minute walk away from everything, a very clean, well run establishment with excellent breakfasts to set you up for the day. This was supposedly a two star hotel but we and others who stayed there thought it worthy of three at least, very helpful staff too!

If you want to buy ski gear in Bansko there are bargains to be had. Spyder clothing is plentiful as it is a copy of the original but top quality workmanship and materials for a fraction of the cost

Eating out is an experience with some of the local restaurants (Mehana's) being very very cheap and all the food was piping hot which again we had been led to believe was not the case! Bansko 10 out of 10. Watch out for the young girl waitresses not bringing your change back because they think you wouldn't notice after a few beers!