Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Two entirely different cultures so difficult to compare.
As for prices, I think it would be difficult to find a 4 star hotel in Italy with good spa, pool etc for the price paid in Bulgaria, yes you can go to resorts with much more ski terain, but do look at the difference in the lift pass price, last minute deals can be very good value to Italy, but i have compared like for like hotels and lift pass prices and Italy seems to be approx £200 more expensive.
Bulgaria offers good value and if you time your visit right can have excellent conditions with minimal queues, get your timing wrong and it can be bad, but the same can be said for other european resorts.
I have skied in Austria and found that I spent more one one night drinking and a meal than I normally do in a week in Bansko.

I've been following what people have been saying on this thread with interest but having visited Bansko a number of times as well as other larger European resorts can't see how the two can be compared.
Whilst Bansko is cheaper than resorts in Austria and Italy both in terms of hotels and food/drink the ski areas are a million miles apart. A resort such as Mayrhofen offers 650km of pistes to explore on one lift pass, Bansko can only offer 65, however this is not reflected in the cost of the lift pass, £165 for Mayrhofen, £140 for Bansko.
The piste maintenance should also be taken into account, most resorts will prepare the pistes every night, however in Bansko this seems to happen far less, 2-3 times a week tops. This is a point that really annoys me.
What I will say here though is the Bulgarian mountains are a much more friendlier place and not full of the arrogant idiots found round most of the bigger name resorts in the alps.

Off the piste Bansko does have the advantage of cheaper hotels offering better facilities than you could get for the same money in the Alps, £450 for a nice hotel half board in Bansko, the same money gets you a grotty 3 star (if that) in Italy. The food though in the Bulgarian hotels that is included under half board is not great, weatherspoons would show up the food here. Saying that if your paying £750 for the week in a resort in the Alps you expect restaurant quality food in the hotel.
Eating out in Bansko is a lot cheaper and here is where Bansko has the advantage over the Alps, a decent meal with drinks will cost less than £10 a head, compared to £25. Going out drinking much cheaper, £1.50 a pint compared to £3.50 in Austria. This can make up for the fact that Bansko is very spread out and can involve a lot of walking from bar to bar in the evening instead of everything being on your doorstep in all of the Alps resorts I've visited.

I'd like to add that I love Bansko and will be visiting again in a couple of weeks, it's just that I feel it cannot be compared to an Alps ski holiday, they are two very different things in my opinion.
I always recommend Bansko to anybody thinking of a ski trip, it is great for learning and a cheap second ski trip, I also love the Alps and the vast ski areas it can offer.

This is just my opinion though and I know some people on here will shoot me down for not sharing the view that Bulgaria is the greatest ski destination in the world so for that I'm sorry in advance.

I hope everyone going to Bulgaria this season has a great trip.

Jimmy P,
Have to agree with you for the most part, however on my recent visit the pistes were groomed everynight, I was always out before ski school for a 45 min warm up and found the grooming to be good. I think where the problem arises is when they groom the pistes in the evening and there is snow overnight, or maybee theres another reason.
No you cant really compare like for like, it would be like comparing a Ford Focus with a Ferrari, both cars, both get you from A to B, but thats pretty much where the comparison ends.
Bansko may be a Ford Focus, but not everyone can afford to drive a ferrari, and as a Focus owned can say it does the job well as does Bansko.
I would love to try the ferrari when funds permit though!!

I second Don, last week the pistes were groomed to a high standard every night, being up on the mountain at 8.30 to 9am at the latest we enjoyed the corduroy and it's only the ignorant mid day/early afternooners that complain about the piste conditions, believing them not to be prepared.

As a snowboarder requiring just off piste freeride opportunity over endless kilometers of piste, Bansko stands up very well, perhaps Bansko should become a snowboard exclusive destination, all skiers could enjoy the superior conditions of Italy, France, Austria