Ski Bulgaria

Bulgaria in south Eastern Europe is home to 10 ski areas and originally built a reputation as a budget destination for British schools and package tours. Borovets, established in 1930 and for many years the country’s top resort and with 40km of piste Eastern Europe’s largest, was best known.

However since 2000 its image has been largely transformed by the development of Bansko in to one of Eastern Europe’s leading resorts thanks to investment in modern lifts and accommodation that includes a five star Kempinski hotels – one of the first chain hotels in a European ski resort.

Other top resorts include capital Sofia’s local ski area of Vitosha and the purpose-built, communist-era development Pamporovo.

Unfortunately over the past decade the development of Bulgaria’s ski areas has been increasingly controversial and placed the resorts in the front line between developers, which in Bulgaria’s case are reported to be off-shore investment companies, and environmentalists. Parts of Bansko was built illegally on national park land recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Many years of environmental campaigning right up to European Union level finally proved this but the Bulgarian government opted to change laws to retrospectively allow development rather than enforce dismantling lifts.