Bansko, Bulgaria

Peter from UNITED KINGDOM writes:

My first skiing holiday and our baby girl's first Christmas. We went to Bansko on Dec 22nd for a week. We stayed at the Strazhite Hotel, five min walk from the gondola.

We landed at 6.00pm and to our surprise were told it was a 3.5 hour transfer to the resort. No worries, we thought we would sit back and chill. The driver went no more than 35 mph all the way (thus so long); we too fell foul of the double scan scam at the petrol station on the way to Bansko - be careful - I ended up with a bag of crisps, some croissants and really bad coffee for ten quid. My own fault.

Still - we got to the hotel and it was awesome - clean, tidy, modern and far beyond our expectations. Swimming pool, steam room etc, even a ten pin bowling alley.

With a ten month baby it's often tough to find where to go for good child care. We got my daughter into the Blue Kangaroo Creche who are the only ones in Bulgaria to take pre 1 year olds. The facility is amazing, new, clean and filled us with confidence.

So, off to ski whilst our daughter is safe with carers.

We went to Bansko with Balkan Holidays which meant all inclusive - half board at hotel, food ok to average but still filling and nourishing after a day skiing. We had ski lessons; five hours every day and then do what you like.

Snow cannons were useful as snow didn't arrive until 24th Dec, then limited - but you can still ski due to the effective cannons. Achy after two days but still fun. There is a 8km blue run from the top of the mountain into the town. A word of advice, don't ski down an 8km blue run with only half a days ski lessons under your belt (my legs were killing me and it was very scary. Still a very happy memory though.) I must be the only man to have ever 'ploughed' 8km.

Food on the mountain at Bansko was very expensive (although cheaper, I'm told, than the rest of Europe). Take some packed lunch stuffs in a rucksack and then just spend £3 a time on the wonderful hot chocolate.

If you want a fairy tale picturesque ski resort then Bansko may not be right for you. We did, however, have a fantastic time and our daughters childcare was better than in the UK. Skiing was so much fun, we even did a very scary red run on the final day with our instructor.

No problems with the lifts, no restrictions on the slope for us - blue runs are very good and long and fun but the snowboarders should slow down.

There are many, many cool people around Bansko. The town's a bit lumpy and bumpy but I don't want to go to a developed city on hols. The locals are friendly and easy to talk with. Don't behave badly and you'll be fine. They are normal people like anyone else. The food was basic but ok - even found a pub selling Guinness.

The snow on Christmas and Boxing Day was quite heavy but it made the Christmas holiday complete.

We spent £1200 on the trip and a further £200 on the creche; this was all in - food, skis, lessons, accommodation, flights and passes - added an extra £150 for beers and extras - total £1550 for a funny, relaxing and well worthy Christmas break - the hotel even threw a huge Christmas party.

Would we recommend Bansko? Yes

Would we go again? Yes, andvwe are. March 7th 2009 for a week.

Enjoy life while you can.

2009-02-04