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Visitor reviews for Bukovel Ski Resort

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• January 05, 2012
  Björn from Netherlands
  

  Have been going to Bukovel (and Slavske) a couple of times and I do not fully agree with another review.

  *First off all, I have a positive attitude. I like travelling and like to experience new things, meet new people, see the culture. etc. I understand the some things are different in other parts of Europe.

  * The Skiing is good. The lifts are all fast 4 seats 'Doppelmayer'. Last week there wasn't much snow between Catholic Xmas and New Year but thanks to the good snow making machines all the lifts were working, and the snow on the slopes was good. I am a good and fast skier and there is enough to keep me interested for a couple of days. The colours of the slopes are same as in Austria, although some reds are little easier. There are two very easy runs for beginners (7&14) and a couple of blues, red, and a few pretty steep black. Although the runs are not as long as in the Alps. The slopes are groomed very well. I didn't have to wait more than 2 minutes for the lifts, only lift 7 was busy sometimes, but maybe in Ukrainian holidays this could be different. Check the Ukrainian Bukovel website for new ski map! (on the official English and Russian site is an old map! ) There are no T-bars at all anymore.

  * There is a difference between the resort itself (around Lift 2) and all the houses, chalets, B&B, local restaurants etc just outside of the resort. These are located from lift 1R down the road. I stayed at the local places and the people there are very friendly and the food/drinks is great and cheap. (for 100 UAH each you have a good few courses meal with a couple of beers). My Chalet was 10 min walk to lift R1 which is fine for me. You can rent your gear next to the slopes and leave it there after a day of skiing.

  *Some staff could be rude but really, most are ok! Especially just outside the resort.

  *Some visitors are the 'nouveau riche' which aren't always the most friendly people. But there are many families etc as well. I don't care actually.

  *Transport: It's far! From Kyiv it's pretty comfortable. Take a night train, sleep good, and arrive early morning in Ivano Frankivsk. If you have the money: take a full coupé (4 beds). The beds are ± 150 UAH (14 Euro) each. Then you have to take a bus for 1,5h to Bukovel which isn't that comfortable, but you can be on the slopes around 10 AM. The last day you can ski all day and then take the bus + night train back to Kyiv and be there the next morning. Comfortable in my opinion.
  The bus from Lviv takes 4-5h!
  There is a train track almost to Bukovel... but no train seems to run there..... I can't see why.
  With a couple of friends we rented our own van with driver from Lviv Airport last year.

  Bukovel is the only serious ski resort in Ukraine and together with Jasna in Slowakia the only serious ones in Eastern Europe.

  Apres-ski is nothing like Austria. Even not like France. It's more a diner with some drinks. There is one club near lift 7.

  Conclusion: if you wanna ski, Ukraine is something new. It's visa free for EU nationalities. The Carpats are nice mountains. And compare to the Alps it's very cheap! 0,5L pint of lager for around 1 Euro (12 UAH), a room for 300-500 UAH (25-50 euro) and a ski pass for 20 Euro a day. Ski rent was 80 UAH/day for good, although not the latest, material. All good value for money in my opinion.
  Maybe I will go there next year again...

• Bukovel Ratings

  Based on 11 votes. Vote

  Access: 3.3 (1) At least one overnight stop, (2) requires a whole day, (3) requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns (4) arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon, (5) there is a main airport within an hour of Bukovel.	Public Transport: 3.4 (1) There are no buses or taxis to Bukovel, (3) there are slow or infrequent buses / trains available, (5) getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections.
  Scenery: 3.4 (1) An ugly resort in a bland setting, (3) average mountain views and resort, (5) a spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town.	Accommodation: 4.1 (1) No places to stay in/near Bukovel, (3) a few places to stay in the resort, (5) a wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets.
  Cheap Rooms: 3.0 (1) No budget accommodation available, (3) just one or two hostels so book ahead, (5) several cheap hostels and pensions available.	Luxury Hotels: 4.1 (1) No luxury accommodation available, (3) just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead, (5) several up-market hotels in Bukovel.
  Ski in/Ski out: 3.4 (1) The ski area is located far from any accommodation, (3) a free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip, (5) Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available.	Childcare: 3.4 (1) There are no child care facilities at Bukovel, (5) the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche.
  Snowsure: 3.9 (1) Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing, (2) is often closed due to a lack of snow, (3) occasionally suffers from a lack of snow, (4) rarely suffers from a lack of snow, (5) Bukovel is snowsure even in the poorest seasons.	Snowmaking: 4.6 (1) Bukovel relies entirely on natural snow, (3) there are just a few snow cannons, (5) there are snowmaking facilities on all pistes.
  Snow Grooming: 4.7 (1) There are no snow groomers at Bukovel, (3) occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state, (5) all the runs at Bukovel are groomed daily.	Shelter: 4.4 (1) there is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut, (3) there are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close, (5) Bukovel is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close.
  Nearby options: 2.7 (1) If snow conditions are poor at Bukovel, it will be poor everywhere nearby, (3) there are good alternatives within an hours drive, (5) other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions.	Regional rating: 4.5 (1) Bukovel usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region, (3) has average conditions for the region, (5) usually has the best snow conditions in the region.
  Lift Staff: 2.9 (1) The staff at Bukovel are rude or unhelpful, (5) lift staff at Bukovel are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help.	Crowds/Queues: 2.9 (1) the resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues, (3) it is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays, (5) it is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare.
  Ski Schools: 3.6 (1) No ski schools available, (2) one or two ski schools but local language only, (3) a few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors, (4) plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available, (5) excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors.	Hire and Repairs: 4.0 (1) Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex. (3) there are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance, (5) good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible.
  Variety of pistes: 3.7 (1) The ski runs are featureless and unvaried, (3) the ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week, (5) Bukovel has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain.	Beginners: 4.1 (1) Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard, (3) a few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week, (3) Vast areas of gentle terrain.
  Intermediates: 4.0 (1) No intermediate terrain at Bukovel, (3) intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days, (5) vast areas of cruising runs.	Advanced: 3.1 (1) Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders, (3) enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste, (5) Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week.
  Snow Park: 3.3 (1) Not even a kicker at Bukovel, (3) average sized park quite well looked after, (5) huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails.	Off-piste: 2.5 (1) No off-piste worth mentioning, (2) off piste is out-of-bounds, (3) some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days, (5) a vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days.
  Cross-country: 1.8 (1) There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Bukovel, (3) there are some cross country trails available, (5) the area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails.	Luge/Toboggan: 1.9 (1) No designated luge or toboggan runs, (3) there are toboggan runs that open quite often, (5) Bukovel has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages.
  Mountain Dining: 3.6 (1) Nowhere to buy food by the pistes, (3) some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive, (5) there is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets.	Eating: 3.8 (1) Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop. (5) A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants.
  Apres-Ski: 3.5 (1) Nothing to do, not even a bar, (3) there are a few bars in the resort but nothing special, (5) clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere.	Other Sports: 2.7 (1) No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts, (3) resort has just a small public swimming pool, (5) resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool.
  Entertainment: 3.2 (1) Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here, (3) the non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week, (5) the resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports.	Winter Walks: 2.2 (1) Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails, (3) a couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails, (5) extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities.
  Ski Pass Value: 3.4 (1) A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available, (3) the ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts, (5) ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area.	Value (National): 2.8 (1) Overall, Bukovel is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money, (3) overall represents average value for money, (5) overall offers the best value resort in the country.
  Value (Global): 3.5 (1) Overall, Bukovel is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world, (3) overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries, (5) internationally the resort offers excellent value for money.

  Based on 11 votes. Vote

• January 02, 2012
  Mike from United Kingdom
  

  Have been going to Bukovel for 4 or 5 years, often multiple times per year. Why? Because it's relatively nearby (3 hours) when I go to visit my wife's family for the holidays. If it were not for that, I'd say, frankly, stay away. The skiing is "ok" and the lifts are of good quality, but there are many more reasons why you should spend your money elsewhere:

  1. The staff at Bukovel are drawn from the local population. They are chronically rude, inept, and totally clueless. I was physically assaulted (actually hit) by the on-piste ski patrol without warning for conducting "un-authorized instruction" because I was helping a friend of mine step into skis for the first time. I have seen food vendors yell at foreign guests and threaten to cancel their ski-passes since they could not understand the menu quickly enough to the servers satisfaction. I have seen parking lot security in their paramilitary uniforms openly taking bribes for better parking spaces. Don't get me wrong - many of the staff are fine - such as the ski instructors. However, there are enough bad apples that it can be really miserable. The 'security' staff should be fired immediately.

  2. Other guests: Bukovel is a place where people with more money than class aggregate. While in some sense this is true for many resort areas, it is especially true in Bukovel where you have the chintzy boorishness of the Russian and Kievan 'biznes' types and their usual sins of tacky conspicuous consumption. There's a reason why the first thing people do when checking out Tripadvisor for, say, Egypt is to see whether their resort is a Russian package resort destination. Bukovel is kind of like that, many times over.

  3. Access: Bukovel is far from everywhere. And, just when you think you've made it, you get stuck in a traffic jam at the resort's one road. To put things in perspective, it is far, far quicker, from Kiev or Moscow to go to Chamonix (plane to Geneva, then 2 hour bus) than to Bukovel. Amazingly, in all the years the resort has been open, the geniuses who run the place have not thought to make a dedicated ski train from Lviv or Kiev to as near the resort as the train can go (a little past Yaremche). However, if you like riding in dilapidated 'marshritkas', then, well Bukovel is the place for you! I'm lucky in that I have my own vehicle in Ukraine, but even so, it's not pretty.

  Accomodation and prices are overall ok by western standards, though extortionate by local standards. I have heard myriad stories of opportunism by local accommodation owners - such as kicking people out of their rooms while they were away skiing because others sauntered in offering to pay more.

  Overall, if you are compelled to be in the area, you can get some ok skiing at Bukovel and the mountains can be nice and there are always some nice times there. However, despite any pretenses to modernity, this is still Ukraine. There is absolutely no reason to come here from abroad. You can get similar quality skiing for similar prices in, say, poland, where you will find nicer people and none of the post-soviet / nouveau-riche nonsense of Ukraine. I've come to navigate the place ok, but suggest that others don't bother making a special trip. Even if you are taking a trip to say, Lviv, it is simply too far and too much hassle to be worth the effort.

• October 07, 2011
  Yaroslav from Ukraine
  

  Bukovel info on fb.com/bukovel: 50 km+ of ski pistes for beginners, advanced riders and experts, fast lifts, summer and winter fun-parks, comfortable hotels, lodges and apartments, spa-centres, souvenir and equipment shops, kid centers, night clubs, bowling and much more for comfort, pleasure and health!

  And it`s true for 100%!

• February 16, 2011
  Елена from Ukraine
  

  Дякую ВСІМ, хто створив справжню гірськолижну казку!!!!!! Дуже приємно, що Буковель в Україні!!! Дякую за велетенську працю Людей, що доклали рук до цього! Відпочивала в Буковелі вже вдруге в цьому році, задоволена всим, оскільки для катання створено абсолютно всі умови!!!!

• January 09, 2011
  vovan from Ukraine
  

  Каждую зиму катаюсь на Буковеле, есть свои недостатки но не смотря на все курот таких маштабов на просторах бывшого СНГ надо еще поискать. Буковель СУПЕР!
  (здаю жилье 24км от Буковеля +380503837458)

• February 28, 2010
  demetriy from Ukraine
  

  Prices are high at Bukovel for Ukraine, service level is low, skiing there for 3 years.

• February 20, 2010
  Milan from Czech Republic
  

  Bukovel - good...

• January 22, 2010
  Оксана from Russian Federation
  

  Отдыхали всей семьей на Новый год!!!!Это просто сказка!!!!
  Лыжи, коньки, санки..........лучше отдыха быть не может!!!!!!!!!

• December 24, 2009
  Taras Bereza from Ukraine
  

  Had it not been so commercialized, Bukovel would have stood a chance to become a thrilling place admired by active sport lovers. Prices deter many people hugely, while rates make you think about survival, not real entertainment. This is also hard to say that the service at Bukovel resembles East European standard.
  Perhaps the question is who stands after and manages Bukovel. Nowadays, the whole Bukovel infrastructure is punished severely by the lack of snow and tourists accordingly.
  Hope Bukovel will become a true national resort accessible to most medium-class Ukraininans.

• December 09, 2009
  dimson from Ukraine
  

  No one wrote about "flying crowbars" in Bukovel - there is no real punishment for brain-deficient people, who do dangerous piste descents and became out of control. They can collide with you. Be carefull. Watch out.

• April 01, 2009
  Raphael from Canada
  

  Bukovel rocks. From the slopes to the pure air - this is high quality skiing. But the price of living and eating there is outrageous. I drove there but the traffic jam was incredibly bad. Like most Ukrainian things: it's very beautiful but impractical. I'd like to see Bukovel become a real resort with affordable prices for all classes of people. And then I'll bring all my friends.

• March 23, 2009
  Arpad from Hungary
  

  Bukovel has very good slopes, fine snow, crowded parking places and bad roads. The new parking houses are nearly ready. Everything is under construction. I hope by the end of this year they will finish the chaos at Bukovel and will have good road signs too, in order to find the parking place for the cars. Ski buses are necessary. Otherwise, this centrum will be the best in Central-East Europe.
  Bukovel is worth a try for everybody.

• February 10, 2009
  Mehmet from Turkey
  

  Bukovel is a very nice place with good and long slopes. The lifts are modern and the landscape is great. But accommodation and transport is a big problem, also prices are too high for that kind of service. Without a car it is hard to get there.
  If the problems are sorted out and a good international advertisement is made, Bukovel can be one of the best ski resort of Europe.

• January 27, 2009
  Mariner from Ukraine
  

  The lifts and pistes at Bukovel are not bad. Accommodations and food is overly expensive. Some times the prices are higher than in France or Italy. Long way to be good. Overall, Bukovel gets 3 points of 5.

• January 06, 2009
  Roman from Canada
  

  Very good pistes and lifts at Bukovel but awful parking and roads around the area.
  Not recommended to be visited at "high season" because of traffic and no parking.

• December 25, 2008
  Alex from Ukraine
  

  For sure, Bukovel has quite a lot of pistes, all ski-lifts are new and comfortable and very good operation of the resort and pistes. Well done guys. Keep going. But still, the accommodation in Bukovel, or close to it, is far more expensive then expected as well as restaurants.

• December 22, 2008
  Bola from Ukraine
  

  The resort of Bukovel is large enough, lots of pistes, especially in high season. Look carefully when you plan your visit - take into account that snow level is low in December, and the temperature is about zero, so the weather is not still stable this month. But starting from late January until March you'll experience nice skiing conditions.

• December 18, 2008
  S from Russian Federation
  

  Sovietic-Ukrainian services and Alpine prices.

• December 01, 2008
  Dmytro from Ukraine
  

  Bukovel is one of the best resorts in Eastern Europe for today. Restaurants and cafes are already in short supply, hotel has increased significantly. Preparation of slopes at Bukovel is at a very high level.

• January 10, 2008
  WarGo from Ukraine
  

  As for Eastern Europe the resort is huge. Brand new 4-chair lifts, well groomed slopes and virtually no queues
  Ski passes are cheap and the hotel at the walking distance from the lifts are around 100 Euro a day for a double.
  The drag is the resort is still developing and there is a lack of restaurants and cafes and the prices are quite high as for Ukraine. Also the level of skiers are fairly low. Not bad to sum up but still too young to be perfect.