Bulgaria Ski discussion board

just got back from one of the best weeks snowboarding i've ever had 12jan to 19jan. 12 lads went and consumed lots of , we went with neilson and the reps were really good especially tom, loz and gallia.

we stayed at hotel bisev samll family run place 3star half board. the food was excellent as were the staff (mainly for us strolling in in the early hours every day).

food and drink are pretty cheap, on the slopes we tended to eat at the friendly cafe, and off the slopes go and see rumen and the crew at the friendly bar ask him to recommend a dish for you i guarantee you wont be dissappointed!! food in the happy end, lion bar and amigo's bar is very good aswell.

as for drinkin in the evenings go on the bar crawl with your reps and let your hair down! we ended up at amigo's "where the party never stop" most nights good music and atmosphere, ask tenor to do his juggling show and dont foget to shout 'lets get this party started'

if your after more traditional food and drink try many of the mehana's (local taverns) every one we tried was an experience they stay open all night and drink RAKIA till the sun comes up, my advice is have it with a meal and sip it! dont down it like a shot its like fire water.

as usual with any resort their are a lot of touts trying to get you into bars, restaurants and clubs which can be a bit annoying at times as they dont take no for an answer.

for the lads there are a couple of strip clubs which are interesting...

there's also a casino, ice rink and places to hire atv quads and ski doo's to have a play on.

as for the slopes well it may not be the best for expert skiers and boarders but it was good enough for us, their are quite a few blue runs that while not too challenging are still nice to warm up on in the morining before moving onto the reds and if you've got the balls the alberto tomba black run (quite a lot of moguls at the top)

your hotel will more than likely have a bus/taxi service to the bottom gondola, where you'l join the queue to get in max 8 people to a car. there is a halfway point you can get out at to ski back to bottom station. for ski school and main runs stay on till top station then if headin to very top of mountain take the right hand chairlift up to stage one than 2nd chair lift up to peak.

the snow was good on our 1st day and it snowed a whiteout on 2nd so day 3 the powder was wicked!! however it hasn't snowed since and they were using the cannons to path some runs

offpiste is good but tough couple of my group strayed off into the next valley and had a good few hours walk through 3-4ft powder to get back to a pisted run!!

we found the best thing to do was catch a chair lift up then come down underneath the lift or cut through the trees from one run to another. watch out for rivers running through the woods although their not to deep one guy fell in whilst tryin to ski over a log and took 2 of us a good half hour to get him out

keep your lift pass in leftside of your jacket and its a 5 lev deposit which you get back when you feed pass into machine outside bottom gondola at the end of your last day.

as for money we all took lev with us bout £200-£250 is enough for a week, there are cash points there by bottom gondola and scattered around the town. most hotels will be happy to change money for you current rate is about 2.45 lev to the pound as for using credit card to pay for things i dont remeber seein any card machines in places we went but then i was using cash all the time

if you want a laugh take fancy dress costumes with you and wear on the bar crawl and on the slopes we had a penguin (me) a parrot, batman, a gorrilla, a bannana, a beer bottle, grim reaper, a irish leprecaun, a pirate, and 2 very sexy ladyboys

all in all very good place would def go back again dont belive all the scare stories and go with an open mind and remember its not like home so dont expect it to be the same!! try new things have fun and keep the waxed side down

trotter and the boys..

Great to hear someone else loving the place as much as I do!

As well as all the things you've mentioned - there's also the bowling there now - 10 lev a game. A bit trippy though as its all UV glowy stuff, takes a bit of getting used to!

And the donut and hotdog stall in the little row of wooden shops on the way back from the gondola station.... just what you need to pile back on all the calories you just burned off.

And remeber when you get down to it - everyone's opinion is different, and everyone will have a different experience on their holiday.
Eg, I hate beer and love Bansko, and my other half loves both!!


You all are making me seriously consider another trip this year... doh!!