Hello Bansko!

In January 2018, my other half (Celyn) and I ventured to Bansko, Bulgaria with nine other friends for a skiing adventure. Bansko in the winter was an experience for any skier/traveller. I was not sure what to expect, having only skied in luxury in countries such as France, Norway and Austria etc. I had my eyes opened in all aspects of the holiday, and hopefully my account will help you to decide whether this is the place for you or not.

In the Town...

Flights and Transfers: Flying takes approximately 3.5 hours from London airports. Sofia airport is small with two luggage carousels. Although luggage is regularly pushed off the conveyor belt to be scattered around the airport, all luggage beat us through passport control - no lengthy waits like in the UK. Not very fancy but not the worst airport I have flown to! The transfer took little over 2 hours to Bansko. Neither flights nor transfers were expensive, and generally are included with chalet and hotel deals.

Fountains in the Old Town

Accommodation and Town: My group (10 adults and 1 child) stayed in Chalet Jora, run by Total Chalets. The chalet was perfect for a group who knew each other (four shared bathrooms), was cosy and very comfortable. The hosts were friendly and the owner of Total Chalets, Jay, dipped in and out of the chalet frequently. Similar to most chalets the hosts cooked six nights and had one night off. Other accommodation is available, self catering apartments are extremely cheap, and there are numerous hotels, chalets and B&Bs dotted around Bansko. Prices for the same standard of accommodation are at least half the price in Bulgaria compared to France and similar. Towards the gondola has a definite

One street with a pop-up art gallery
in the Old Town

tourist vibe, with little shops selling everything and lots of bars. Below half way down the town was the 'Old Town' with the post office (opening hours between 10am and 4pm no matter what the actual opening times say!), many traditional Mehanas, museums, decorations and fountains. For postcards and souvenirs, visit the Old Town as you will not find any up the top.

Restaurants: It was nice to stay with a British company, generally eating British food. On the night off, Celyn and I went into the town and ate at a traditional Bulgarian Mehana which was amazing. There was live music and beautiful traditional decor. Traditional food includes various meat skewers, dishes of

Bulgarian Mehana

vegetables and lots of spice! We had the equivalent of a mixed grill and would highly recommend experiencing any traditional Mehana as it is an amazing experience. It is definitely possible to stay self catered and eat out every night without spending a fortune. There are restaurants for everyone: fast food, British pubs, diners, you name it. Buying items for breakfast is inexpensive too, due to the currency being roughly £1 to 2 lev, making everything cheap.

Bars and Nightlife: Bulgaria is know for its cheap party atmosphere. Apres Ski is everywhere, on of the most popular

Bulgarian mixed grill served
in the Mehana

being Happy End just below the gondola. There are clubs, strip clubs and bars frequently on every street. Drinks are inexpensive on the whole. All local beer and spirits are very cheap: look for Savoy Rum, Gin, Vodka etc, they are local spirits which taste great. Imported spirits, beer and cider are more expensive, closer to UK prices. An imported spirit and a mixer in one bar was 8 lev (£4) compared to 4 lev (£2) for a local spirit with mixer. We bought home a couple of bottles of spirit, 70cl of Savoy Rum cost 8 lev (£4) and 100cl of Savoy Gin cost 10 lev (£5), because the spirits were so smooth and we really enjoyed them.

Excursions: There are many other things to do in Bansko other than skiing. For a cheap outing, bowling and ice-skating are available. There are plenty of spas and masseuses ideal after a tough day out on the slope. We travelled to Banya in the evening to visit the thermal spas which were incredible. There were 3 pools, the minimum temperature being 30°c and the maximum being 40°c. Theory says they have healing powers due to the high mineral content of the water, and we definitely came out feeling like new! This is a must-do on your trip!

Up the Mountain...

A view from Run

Skiing: Probably the bit you have all been waiting for! Bansko is below the snow line generally. For the whole week we were there (6th to 13th January 2018) there was not snow in the village, making it easier to move around but losing some of the ski resort vibe unfortunately. There are vast quantities of ski hire shops, including the main ski hire which is at the gondola. Ski instruction was everywhere, however not up to the same standard as other places I have visited. I would recommend the instruction from the gondola as the prices were competitive, and if you are a beginner who has not skied more than twice, I would recommend half day, morning or afternoon ski school for safety reasons, as I will explain later.There is no piste map! Granted, there is very little need for one as pretty much every run gets to the bottom one way or another, however the runs are badly marked and signposted so it is handy to have one to avoid accidentally being forced to ski a black. We managed to find a mini piste map printed on the back of a discount voucher in Aldo, the main supermarket.

An early 8am start: A view from
the bottom gondola

The Gondola: The gondola is situated the top of Bansko, and with accommodation dotted all around Bansko, the distance to the gondola can be great. With that being said, our chalet (along with most hotels and chalets) had a shuttle where the chalet staff would take you and pick you up at a certain time at the gondola. The gondola opened the doors at 8:15am and a queue started appearing at 8am. With the knowledge that it is possible to queue for up to 2 hours during peak, we left the chalet at 7:45am every morning, joined the queue at 8am and was sitting in a gondola by 8:30am without fail. The shuttle was vital due to the walk taking at least 20 minutes in ski boots with skis and poles... Not the most fun with 10°c temperature in the lower resort. Once in the gondola, it takes roughly 25 minutes to be at the top station. There is a middle station, however I would not recommend getting off here if you want to get back on during the early morning rush as there is no room in any gondola for extra bodies. The gondola is a once a day thing generally, unless you plan to ski one run which is awkwardly placed.

Another way to get up the mountain is by the taxi shuttle run by the gondola. There is a bus stop with a turn-style by the taxi bays which is where a free shuttle will run you and your equipment up the mountain. There are about 8 shuttles that can take you up the mountain. This is a good alternative as most people are not aware of it and think you have to pay for it meaning there is generally not a queue. I would not want to risk my own skis being strapped to the roof of the taxi, as I am very protective over my beautiful Dynastars, however I would not think twice if they were a pair of hire skis. The last way up the mountain is by taxi, this generally costs 40 lev (£20) but can be bartered down to 30 lev (£15) which is not bank breaking if a group all pitch in. Both taxi and shuttle take roughly 30 minutes up the mountain, but sometimes have to queue into the car park which can take extra time.

A rare quiet slope! Red Run 12

The Slopes: Technically, according to the piste map, there are 16 runs. This is an apparent blatant lie once you are on the mountain; there are actually 13 runs and 1 ski road. We managed to ski the entire resort within 2 days. The ski road (Run 1) is a long track from the Shiligarnika to the top of the gondola and all the way down to the bottom of the gondola, and is a good 30 minute trek for any good skier. Run 2 is also a ski road which is never open. Another disappointment is Run 14, which has not been open for more than 10 years due to a death caused by an avalanche. It is said that this has been kept on the piste map to make it look like there are more runs than there actually are. Similarly, Run 9A is only used for Boardercross, snow is stockpiled here to use when making jumps. The best runs, in my opinion, are Runs 11 and 3, and Run 12. Run 11 is slightly steeper than Run 3 although both are blues. The issue here is they are still both quite steep and can cause you a lot of damage if you do not know what you are doing, hence my comment earlier:  have lessons if you are a beginner! At least every 15 minutes or so, someone was being taken down the mountain on a stretcher. I saw more people taken off the mountain in one week than I have seen in total over 15 years. I was shocked by the number of casualties as the injuries were unnecessary due to a combination of a lack of instruction and other bad skiers.

A busy Run 6

There are few runs, and Bansko is very popular with all nationalities as it is in driving distance, meaning that there are lots of people on every run. We went off peak and found the blue runs to be crowded, so I shudder to think what it is like at weekends and school holidays. The ski road was full of beginners, ski schools, walkers and tobogganers making it a challenging run down, especially later in the afternoon when everyone leaves at once. If you are not a confident skier, I would suggest travelling down in the gondola to avoid any potential accidents. The main

A Bulgarian signpost... What does
it even mean?!

issue with the resort, beginner-wise, is that beginners can easily get to the top of the mountain with no effort needed. Then once at the top, the only runs are steep, dangerous and misleading. It is important that beginners should stay on the beginner slopes, around the gondola and the Vlek Chalin until competent and confident enough to tackle the blues at the top.


The Red 12 was a good run, not too challenging but far quieter than the other runs due to a lack of beginners thanks to it being a red. The Runs 2, 4, 6 and 9 were enjoyable early in the morning whilst still corduroyed (piste-bashed), after that they were full of death cookies (ice blocks) and sheet ice. The black 9 was steep but particularly uneventful. Run 15 was also enjoyable, it was as fast as you wanted and very quiet due its inaccessibility.  Runs 7 and 8 were short and sweet with interesting T-bars. We found slalom poles in place on a few occasions; great fun but beware of the Bulgarian race team! The best skiing

Skewers and Chips for less
than 20 lev!

was definitely in the morning, with snow conditions deteriorating quickly: all the more reason to be one of the first on the gondola!

The Restaurants: All of the restaurants above the gondola are owned by the ski resort in one way or another making them relatively expensive. A bowl of chips costing 8 lev (£4), cold drinks costing 6 lev (£3) and hot drinks costing 7 lev (£3.50). They all have lots of seating, good service and free toilets. Most people have lunch from about 1pm meaning the slopes quieten down then, which me made the most of. Down the ski road (Run 1 below the gondola) are two independent restaurants which served great food, very cheaply. 50cl of beer cost 2.50 lev (£1.25) and a 100ml shot (four times a UK single!) cost 4 lev (£2)! Chips cost 3 lev (£1.50) or 3.50 lev (£1.75) for cheesy chips. We enjoyed the first restaurant you come across the most due to its variety, and chocolate crepes! The second

Lunchtime pizza

was also good, selling pizza, burgers and hot dogs.


Overall, we had a truly eye-opening visit to Bansko. The town itself was beautiful with a great atmosphere and the skiing could have been worse. There are talks of building a new gondola near the golf course to open up another part of the mountain and increase the ski area. If this is done then the ski resort will definitely be far better than it currently is. We would not go back again, as the skiing is far too limited, unless the resort is expanded. Then we would definitely give it another shot. Do not let this put you off though, as the resort is good for beginners (having tuition) and intermediates practicing. If value for money is what you are after with good food and drink, this is a great place to try. Celyn and I had an amazing holiday, and if you choose Bansko, then we hope you do too!