Bulgaria Ski discussion board

We’ve just returned from 1-week in Bansko and we had an excellent time. We’ve skied a couple of times over the years and we decided to take it up again after a 6 year break.

The outbound journey - The check in and flight from Newcastle airport were excellent (no queues for check in and we even managed to land almost one hour earlier than scheduled). The in flight catering for Balkan holidays was poor – a ham or cheese sandwich, but we already knew this so we ate beforehand. The 3 hour transfer to resort was a little tedious but again we were prepared for that as it was stated in the brochure.

Accommodation – 3 of us stayed in a 2-bedroomed apartment in the Mountain Residence 4, which was literally 5 minutes walk from the Gondola. We were on the top (fifth) floor so we persevered with the 70 odd stairs every time as there aren’t any lifts. The apartment was quite modern and clean (if you ignore the thick fluff on the floor in one bedroom and the leftover crumbs/sugar in a kitchen cupboard, both of which we quickly cleaned up without making a fuss).

Apparently the apartment can hold up to 6 people, which would definitely be a squash seeing as the apartment was in the eaves of the roof. It had had very low ceilings in some parts of both bedrooms and the bathroom so if 6 people were to share I would suggest at least 2 of them are 3 feet tall or less!

There was also a complimentary grocery pack left for us containing milk, jam, water, butter, cracker breads, and orange juice which was a pleasant surprise, as we didn’t arrive until around 1 am local time. Taking all of the above into account I would use these apartments again and would happy to recommend them to anyone else.

The spa was only open from 16.00 to 21.00 and it cost 10 euros per visit – we thought that was a bit pricey and opted for the liquid version of après ski instead!

Bansko resort – having been to Borovets a couple times until approx 6 years ago we were pleasantly surprised at how modern and clean the facilities were in Bansko – I still get the occasional flashback due to the poor standards of some of the toilets on the ski slopes in Borov! The ski equipment also seemed much improved to that which I remember we had in Borovets but maybe both resorts have had an upgrade since we were last in BG.

I would definitely recommend that you book ski packs with your tour operator before you go, as the individual prices quoted for the individual items at the gondola seemed expensive to us. That said we booked the full ski pack for £145 each, but we could have probably got away with booking the beginners pack at £109 each (which was supposedly for absolute beginners only), as the vouchers seemed to be exactly the same and no-one checked when allocating us to the different groups for lessons.

Snow conditions – the pistes were well groomed on the first 2 days with plenty of sunshine. It rained on the 3rd day, which made the conditions very wet, so we had a day off from skiing to explore the old town. It snowed after that so the conditions improved and lasted until we came home.

Pistes – I think I‘ve seen other people suggest on here that a couple of the blue runs could easily be classified as reds in Bansko and I’m inclined to agree. I’m not the most confident skier and I would say half of our group found some parts of runs 5 and 10 a little hairy in places. The ski road was really good though and it was a great way to end each day.

Drinks prices – this really varied depending on the establishment where you were but we found that the majority of tourist type pubs (bars on the slopes, the Happy end bar, Lion bar, Friendly bar etc) had prices that were just under or similar to our local town pubs. We paid 4-6 lev for either 0.5 litre of draft or bottled lager in these bars, whereas the mehanas charged 2 – 4 lev. The local wine ranged from 6 lev to 10 lev for a half litre, and was quite pleasant. Luckily we didn’t drink spirits, which I think could be expensive in most of the tourist pubs, as it was 4 lev for a vodka and 5 lev for a 500 ml bottle of coke. Whilst you definitely don’t get the same value for money that you used to in Bulgaria Bansko is still cheaper than other European ski resorts.

Food – The prices for food varied depending on what you ate. Most chicken/pizza/pasta dishes were around 10-12 lev, however, lamb and beef steaks were between 20 and 30 lev. We found three really good mehanas around the Lions pub area, and whilst I don’t have the names of all of them. I’ve tried to give directions below.

The restaurant Ivel – walk down towards the Lions pub from the gondola and turn right at the Italian restaurant on the corner. The Ivel is approx 100 metres along that road.

The next one was just up from the Lions pub – it was the 3rd or 4th building on the left (if you stand with your back to the Lions pub). There’s a man called George standing outside in a huge striped blanket coat with a hood. Following a moderate starter each we shared 2 huge skewers of pork and chicken (cost 20 lev each) between three of us and we couldn’t finish them.

The third was on the way down to the old town on the right hand side of the road. A lady called Mimi stood outside and again their food was very good and reasonable.

The first days lunch on the slopes was awful – approx 37 lev for 3 portions of stone cold sausage & chips and 2 small bottles of water. The Friends restaurant, however, did a really good pasta and pizza for 10 lev and chicken kebab for 7 lev.

Apologies for the lengthy review, I just wanted to share some our experiences following the useful ideas/views we’ve had from other postings!!

Andrea - what a great report. This sounds like the Bansko I know and love!!

The first thing that struck me - and I do think this is so important and would perhaps stop some of the moaners HAD they done research beforehand was that you say about the ham and cheese sandwich on Balkan. Well I know it - have experienced it and it IS rubbish. But you either travel again and go prepared (eat before or take stuff) or you don't - simple! I was pleased to see you were well prepared. Also as for the transfer. Alot say they did not know it took so long - blah blah and then complain. Well check it out beforehand then be prepared. Anyway that is not just BG - long transfers in France and other places too.

Anyway going back to your report Andrea - I thought it was really good and I am glad you had a good time. You made me laugh with the apartment and small people comment!

It's a constructive report as to prices etc and of touristy places v mehanas in the old town - the mehanas are great and always win for me. I recall George in the blanket but am terrible at names of the mehanas and never know where I have been but they are all pretty good and if I read many more posts of the yummy kebabs then I don't know if I can wait until March!!

Hi Andrea,

Thanks for the comprehensive review of Bansko. I'm going on 8th Feb with my daughter, at first we were a little apprehensive but this has now eased and turned into sheer excitement about the trip!

As we are first timers we did not know what to expect from a ski trip, thats why I decided to join this site and ask for advice/tips.

I now know what to expect - from the flying/transfer time to the costs of food/drinks and the standard to expect from the resort. I'm sure we won't be disappointed. After all we have to make the most of our holidays don't we!

So thanks to everyone who posts on here......

Cheers

No, the Mountain Resident blocks are not together (at all).

MR3 is the nearest to the Gondola but avoid MR3 (if at all possible) as the acoustic insulation (and/or the construction) is so poor that any person even breathing heavily in any apartment near you (above or below), let alone stomping across the floor) will sound like they are in your ear....how do I know...well, I have an apartment in MR3 and I spend most of the winter here...be warned...bring ear muffs.

There are, if you search, various people posting the same thing on various web sites....sorry!

Oh, and unless you are one of the lucky owners who has managed to have Winslow (the developer) correct the defect, also bring a snorkel to deal with the flooded bathroom floor (the shower trays leak, according an e mail I have from Winslow this is a design defect in the waste).