Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Hey,

Trying to organise a snowboarding holiday for early January 07. Wondering if it would be better to go either the 1st or 2nd week. 1st week would pull in New Year and all the fun but the pistes could be far too busy. Any suggestions which week is better (snow & atmosphere wise)?

Also which resort would be best for a couple in their mid twenties? Everyone raves bout Pamps... We've boarded once before in Andorra and managed some red slopes. So I guess we're looking for good snow in a great resort with a class lifestyle? Reckon Bulgaria cuts it at this time of year?

Finally, how easy is it to organise a holiday without the package deal & Where would I fly to from Ireland? any recommendations for hotels?

Cheers for any advice

Bansko has a snowpark (top of the Tordorka) and the off-piste is superb. If you are after more challenging runs then Bansko is the place to go. However, I would not recommend it for absolute beginners.

Having skied Andorra for a number of seasons and seen the Grandvalira area develop I think you will be used to having a lot of piste. For this reason alone I think you should be looking at Bansko which has the largest KM of piste (65). If you're skiing reds then you'll be foot tapping by the middle of the week in Pamps and Boro... and probably foot tapping in Bansko by the end.

Just my opinion.

Regards

Justin

Don't go to borovets, try bansko or pamporova. You won't enjoy Borovets, no nightlife, or snow etc!! I'm a wobbly beginner on skis going back to Borovets in January - spent most of my time this year eating snow after being wiped out by boarders!!!!! Seriously, Borovets is great fun, good atmosphere etc. - but can't compare to bansko or pamps as I've never been there. I went to Andorra 25 years ago and didn't enjoy it one bit - hence the long break before trying again, a couple of days in Borovets and I got the skiing bug

Hi Ails - last 2 posts were mysteriously deleted so hopefully third time lucky!
Can't remember the whole message I wrote but you can fly to Sofia from Dublin with:
Sky Europe (change in Brataslava)
Czech airlines,
Lufthansa
possibly others but have not checked.

Bansko is really busy over New Year with large queues for the gondola - once on the hill queues are not too bad for the lifts. If you wait until the 2nd week in Jan (the Greeks are back to work after the Orthodox New Year) the place really quietens down - no queues for gondola and don't have to book restaurants at night.

Enjoy whatever you do

Hi All,

Thanks a million for the info.

So I guess we're focussing on 3 resorts at the moment: bansko in Bulgaria, Livigino in Italy & finally Sauze d'Oulx also in Italy. Any opinions on which of these is the best? Anyone sampled a few of these places? Which did you prefer?

I think one of our main selling points for Italy is that there could be more
runs. Is this the case? Bansko sounds great atmosphere-wise, facilities & value for money. 1 more concern is the transfer time from Plovdiv airport to Bansko resort. How long would it take to do the 160km. Heard the roads are pretty bad. Have I got this wrong? Are we talking 3 hr drive or more like 5?

Anyone any views?

Once again, cheers for all info.

Ails

Hi Ails - If you are thinking about Bansko I would say Sofia was a better option than Plovdiv. The road from Plovdiv is really bad with huge potholes that my car would disappear down! Having said that if you get a really cheap flight to there then go for it!
You can get a public bus from Sofia to Bansko, or can book a private transfer through this website.

I was in Sauze D'Oulx many years ago - was cheap back then but the prices for food/drink in Italy have gone up significantly since then. Can't help you about the resort etc as it would be about 14 years ago...