Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Hi all

as promised here is my update.

Bansko was amazing! Skiid all week even though it rained on wed and we got soaked! It snowed fri and sat very heavily and i had my first taste of powder on red 2 before going to ski Tomba on sat!!!

Our instructor was Svetlin and he was amazing. Really brought our whole group on leaps and bounds so I will try to book private with him next yr as a result!

Should be really good snow still for those out there now and with more on the way the rest of the season should be fantastic. We most certainly didn't want to leave.

Stayed in hotel Bansko and although it was pleasant, clean and tidy we have a few niggles. The food was not amazing (an i usually really enjoy the food) as it was constantly reheated from breakfast for the evening meal and even from a couple of days ago in respect of the soup. The choice was also quite poor until Sat night (the last meal!) Having stayed at the Prespa in pamporovo twice i much preferred their food and they are only a 3* where as hotel bansko is 4*.

The facilitis were very nice, the pool was great and usually empty and the rooms were fine too. As the hotel is near old town Bansko we ventured in there on several occasions and found some very nice mehanas although I can't remember names (sorry). the food in the mehanas is beautiful and reasonably priced too, I recommend the chicken satch, a traditional Bulgarian meal which is very tasty.

We didn't like the Happy End bar up near the Gondola as the prices were more expensive then the uk and they advertise cheaper beers (such as pirinski) in the menu but they don't actually serve anything other than tuborg so watch out. I also paid for a 50ml shot of baileys and they only gave 25ml so again watch out!

Prices on the mountain could be steep, e.g £4 for chips and bottle of water, or £5 for soup, bread and water but compared with the rest of Europe i guess this is ok. If you wanted a chicken skewer this alone would cost £3.50 then £2.50 for chips plus a drink the price could really be ramped up. We ate light at lunch time consequently!

Overall we had a fantastic time, and we are really chuffed for getting down tomba having only skiid since jan 2007 and this being our 3rd week of tuition!

In terms of spending money we only spent around £500 between three of us therefore this proves you can have a great time on a budget!

If you want to drink a lot but on a budget just pop in to a supermarket where you can get 2l bottles of Kamenitza for about £2.

The exchange rate is hovering around 2l to the pound at the moment too.

have a great time all those who are going, we will definately be back next year!

Any questions just ask

I always opt for the Pirinski at the Supermarket its a fair bit cheaper than Kaminitza and its also Zagorka strength + its a nice beer.

Good to see you had a good time - I too agree the happy end is more than the town & likewise the bars & food up the mountain but thats fine prime position. Really though if you have a good breakfast & take water/drinks in your ruck sack its very cheap.

Cannot wait until last ski week in Apr - hope its possible to ski then, one thing thats for sure it'll certainly be nice & empty on the slopes and walk on at any time ski lifts - but at the risk of not much snow. However we go for the Ski holiday - real novices just out for a good time, could happily spend a few hrs at the top mountain bar enjoying the view & scotch...

Ex rate is changing all the time & some days big swings from day to day.

If you daughter only eats chips - then buy a few plates of herbed boiled or roasted potatoes, I really like them dead cheap too.

Oh if you like garlic bread most places have home made bread with the garlic fantastic. One place even does curry bread... which is out of this world (given you like curry flavour).

Does your daughter like meat at all? If so get her a skewer, can be pork, chicken, lamb, beef, venison or a mix of them all.