To be honest, we were a little bit skeptical about going and skiing in Bulgaria (mostly because of rumors and bad media publicity in the past ). However, a lot of our friends shared their experience about skiing in Bansko and we have decided that we must try it ourselves as well.
The ski resort in the town under Todorka Peak, is an amazing choice if you want to learn how to ski; there are a lot of good ski schools, with instructors that speak international languages. Also,the ski slope difficulty ratings are from blue to black, with a total length of more than 70km (quite amazing, right?). Bansko can easily be reached by car from Sofia airport, however the parking in the city can be a little bit problematic if your accommodation does not provide car parking.
Before buying flight tickets or booking accommodation, the first thing that you have to check is, if your vacation period is during some specific events (e.g. kids holiday vacation or Old New Year in Bulgaria and last but not least, holiday period for the people from UK – they do like come skiing in Bansko). We cannot stress this enough, but here is a regarding the gondola lift queues, in a regular skiing day of February. So be carefully about it, as it might be the difference between a good and a bad ski vacation trip.
First impressions
Located at the foot of Pirin Mountains, Bansko is a popular ski resort not only for the locals, but to other nationalities as well. In Bansko, you are going to meet tourists not only from European countries like Romania, United Kingdom and Greece, but from countries outside of Europe as well (e.g. Israel or Turkey). You have plenty of choices regarding restaurants, local pubs, hotels, and the best part about it are the modest prices, to enjoy life in a European mountain town.
- People-Friendly 75%
- Cost of living 50%
- Weather 75%
- Ski slopes 80%
- Facilities 65%
Learning to ski in Bansko
If you would like to make a surprise to your significant one and learn how to ski, then Bansko is a good starting point for it. The beautiful thing about this ski resort is that is very friendly towards the people that want to learn how to ski. With more than five blue slopes and one nursery slope, you will have no trouble practicing as much as you would like, before jumping to the next level of skiing – red or black slopes. For us, SankiySki school proved to be an amazing choice: since our early email discussions until we said good bye and thank you. The staff was very professional and the lessons did pay off – no surprise that they have so many good reviews on tripadvisor and they are the number one in town.
Bansko ski slopes review
With the highest skiing area at 2600 meters and with a total length of more than 70km, the Bansko ski runs offer great variety for all types of ski lovers. The difficulty scale distribution for the ski slopes is as follows: 30% beginners, 45% advanced and 35% expert – meaning that you can have fun, regardless of your level of skiing. The first ride of the Bansko gondola is at 8:30 AM(usually it’s with 15 minutes earlier than scheduled, so people can gather & embark) and the last ride is at 5 PM, whereas the lift’s schedule is between 8:45 AM and 4:15 PM; sadly, as far as we know, there is no official nocturnal skiing. It’s nice that all of the ski runs are covered with snow cannons alongside in order to provide perfect conditions for skiing. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that you won’t encounter icy slopes or hard packed snow. All in all, the Bansko ski resort offers both skiers and snowboarders a good place to learn & boast their talent and to enjoy this beautiful winter activity.
“Youth without love is spring without a flower.” – bulgarian proverb
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