Posts Tagged ‘Bulgaria’

The snowboard resort of Bansko in Bulgaria is a snowboard resort that you have to visit with the right mind-set. Many other reviews of this resort will be very negative because the reviewer is comparing it to the more expensive snowboard resorts in France or Snowboard resorts in Austria.

Bansko is an up and coming snowboard resort and is being improved every year. There is a lot of building work going on around the resort and the town but unfortunately a lot of these buildings are half built which is more than likely down to the global recession. The area near the main gondola is not the prettiest of towns and you need to keep your wits about you at night because you may come across a few man-holes without their covers on.

There also seems to be an aweful lot of stray dogs around the town which could upset those people that are scared of dogs. They will do you know harm but it’s probably worth mentioning.

There is only one way to describe the transfer from the airport to the snowboard resort and that is different. When you’re not dodging potholes, you’re dodging oncoming traffic, the roads in Bulgaria really are terrible. The transfer from the airport is around 3.5 hours. The town of Bansko is nice and very cheap (especially compared to other snowboard resorts) to give you a rough idea, a 2 litre bottle of beer is around £2 from the shops and a Pint of beer in the pub is around £1.50. If you are a lover of meat then all of the traditional Bulgarian restaurants are perfect for you, large fillet streaks for around £6. If you’re a vegetarian then there is an excellent Italian restaurant opposite the gondola which is very popular with local people and visitors to Bansko.

The local people seem nice enough, especially down in the town and the staff on the mountains. Some of the local snowboarders and skiiers in Bansko can be very rude when it comes to queuing for the ski lift. They will cut in line and barge past you, but this is only a minority of locals.

The mountain itself is more than adequate, it is also great for snowboarding. For more advance snowboarders, you could find the mountain a little bit limiting after a while. This is not the type of snowboard resort that best suits those snowboarders that like to go as fast as they can down every piste it’s just not big enough. For a week away it’s fine, especially if it is your 1st snowboard holiday or you are beginner-intermediate snowboarders, but Bansko could be too small and unchallenging for an experienced snowboarder unless you a a fan of off-piste.

There are some nice off-piste nice tree runs between runs 5 and 10 and some gentle off-piste around the snowboard park which is particulary good for beginners. The snowboard park in Bansko isn’t really worth mentioning it has 1 kicker, 1 small pipe, 1 low box and about 5 rails, which were all badly looked after because there was no snowboard park crew. Hopefully the snowboard park in Bansko is something that will be improved over the next few seasons.

People who have been to the snowboard resort of Bansko would usually tell you they’d definitely go back there again. At a fraction of the cost of some of the other european snowboard resorts, why wouldn’t you? Everyone loves a bargain and Bansko definitely delivers this. In summary, if you visit Bansko expecting the resort to be like the three valleys then you will be truly disappointed, but if you have an open mind and treat it as a completely new experience, you will have a brilliant snowboard holiday.