Bulgaria Ski discussion board
Pamporovo report
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posts : 13 (Beginner)Date : 02-21-05 18:11Pamporovo report
Flights :-
We flew with Balkan with no real problems. Check-in at East Midlands was easy, and the flight actually left about 10 mins early !!. Very old plane (TU154) but it got us there OK. A bit of a wait at Plovdiv to get through passport control, but when we did, our cases had already arrived on the one belt!
Transfer took about 1hr 30 mins, and was fine.
Coming back, again it went smoothly. Duty free shop in Plovdiv was empty again!
The only differences this year compared to last ...
We flew with Balkan with no real problems. Check-in at East Midlands was easy, and the flight actually left about 10 mins early !!. Very old plane (TU154) but it got us there OK. A bit of a wait at Plovdiv to get through passport control, but when we did, our cases had already arrived on the one belt!
Transfer took about 1hr 30 mins, and was fine.
Coming back, again it went smoothly. Duty free shop in Plovdiv was empty again!
The only differences this year compared to last ...
Flights :-
We flew with Balkan with no real problems. Check-in at East Midlands was easy, and the flight actually left about 10 mins early !!. Very old plane (TU154) but it got us there OK. A bit of a wait at Plovdiv to get through passport control, but when we did, our cases had already arrived on the one belt!
Transfer took about 1hr 30 mins, and was fine.
Coming back, again it went smoothly. Duty free shop in Plovdiv was empty again!
The only differences this year compared to last weer that you didn’t get a Mars bar with your “meal”, and the drinks were not free this year.
Hotel Pamporovo was Ok. Our room needed a bit of redecoration, and was often too warm, so we had to have the window open for much of the time, but it was no problem. The food was fairly poor. Some of the meat dishes in the evening seemed undercooked, and spinach pancakes appeared at 3 meals in a row (including breakfast !). All the desserts were variations on the same theme (gateaux), but there was always fresh fruit available as well.
Exchange there is a fixed 2.5 Lev to the pound.
Skiing was SUPERB. Our instructor, Katy, was excellent. Snow was fantastic. My boys and I had only one week’s skiing before this week, and could do good linked snowplough turns. By the end of the week, we were going down the black runs (except the top bit of the Wall), doing good carved turns etc.,
Good points – all the above, plus the instructors show was worth seeing. The ski boots and skis seemed to be better than last year.
Bad points – the 4-man lift from depot 1 was out of action 1 day, so we had to be bussed to depot 2 – it was 11.30 before we got to the top of the mountain. The restaurant prices have gone up a fair bit from last year, as have the taxis.
Also, the run down to depot 1 is a pretty tough for beginners – we saw loads of them having to come down on the 4-main chair.
All in all, Pamps is an excellent resort to learn to ski, and cheap when compared with other European resorts
TonyJ
We flew with Balkan with no real problems. Check-in at East Midlands was easy, and the flight actually left about 10 mins early !!. Very old plane (TU154) but it got us there OK. A bit of a wait at Plovdiv to get through passport control, but when we did, our cases had already arrived on the one belt!
Transfer took about 1hr 30 mins, and was fine.
Coming back, again it went smoothly. Duty free shop in Plovdiv was empty again!
The only differences this year compared to last weer that you didn’t get a Mars bar with your “meal”, and the drinks were not free this year.
Hotel Pamporovo was Ok. Our room needed a bit of redecoration, and was often too warm, so we had to have the window open for much of the time, but it was no problem. The food was fairly poor. Some of the meat dishes in the evening seemed undercooked, and spinach pancakes appeared at 3 meals in a row (including breakfast !). All the desserts were variations on the same theme (gateaux), but there was always fresh fruit available as well.
Exchange there is a fixed 2.5 Lev to the pound.
Skiing was SUPERB. Our instructor, Katy, was excellent. Snow was fantastic. My boys and I had only one week’s skiing before this week, and could do good linked snowplough turns. By the end of the week, we were going down the black runs (except the top bit of the Wall), doing good carved turns etc.,
Good points – all the above, plus the instructors show was worth seeing. The ski boots and skis seemed to be better than last year.
Bad points – the 4-man lift from depot 1 was out of action 1 day, so we had to be bussed to depot 2 – it was 11.30 before we got to the top of the mountain. The restaurant prices have gone up a fair bit from last year, as have the taxis.
Also, the run down to depot 1 is a pretty tough for beginners – we saw loads of them having to come down on the 4-main chair.
All in all, Pamps is an excellent resort to learn to ski, and cheap when compared with other European resorts
TonyJ
re: Pamporovo report
Thanks for the report, we fly this Saturday and staying at the Pamps. Can we walk to the ski school or do we have to wait for the bus. Does the school have lockers to leave boots and ski's in so that we can walk and not cary everything.Thanks
Pete & Caryn
re: Pamporovo report
hey guysyou can walk depending on where your hotel is. the ski depots have shelves for your boots when out skiing and you leave the ski boots and skis back in the depots each night. this leaves you with free hands to carry the bars of milka chocolate you may buy at the shop at ski depot 1. hope you have a great time and keep an eye out for the snowfish.
re: Pamporovo report
katy is great , [instructor] there should be a fan club.re: Pamporovo report
dont walk from pamps hotel too far and too much snow just got back on saturday there is plenty of buses have a great time hotel and resort is great.re: Pamporovo report
if with Balkan and skiing ski depot 1 is not far to walk and sometimes quicker than waiting for a busre: Pamporovo report
If you are with Balkan, then your ski depot is Depot 1. If with Thomson, Crystal etc., then your depot is No. 2.
It is an easy 10 mins walk to depot 1 from Hotel Pamps. We walked several days rather than getting the bus - you will find there seem to be more buses for depot 2 arrive than for depot 1 !!
If you are NOT with Balkan, then you will need to get a bus, as it is too far to walk to depot 2.
Both depots have shelves etc. to keep boots and skis.
Alternatively, you could get ...
It is an easy 10 mins walk to depot 1 from Hotel Pamps. We walked several days rather than getting the bus - you will find there seem to be more buses for depot 2 arrive than for depot 1 !!
If you are NOT with Balkan, then you will need to get a bus, as it is too far to walk to depot 2.
Both depots have shelves etc. to keep boots and skis.
Alternatively, you could get ...
If you are with Balkan, then your ski depot is Depot 1. If with Thomson, Crystal etc., then your depot is No. 2.
It is an easy 10 mins walk to depot 1 from Hotel Pamps. We walked several days rather than getting the bus - you will find there seem to be more buses for depot 2 arrive than for depot 1 !!
If you are NOT with Balkan, then you will need to get a bus, as it is too far to walk to depot 2.
Both depots have shelves etc. to keep boots and skis.
Alternatively, you could get a taxi - there are always some waiting outside the hotel. It's about 7 lev to Depot 1, and, so I am told, about 10 lev to depot 2.
TonyJ
It is an easy 10 mins walk to depot 1 from Hotel Pamps. We walked several days rather than getting the bus - you will find there seem to be more buses for depot 2 arrive than for depot 1 !!
If you are NOT with Balkan, then you will need to get a bus, as it is too far to walk to depot 2.
Both depots have shelves etc. to keep boots and skis.
Alternatively, you could get a taxi - there are always some waiting outside the hotel. It's about 7 lev to Depot 1, and, so I am told, about 10 lev to depot 2.
TonyJ
