Snowsure: 3.9
- Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
- Is often closed due to a lack of snow
- Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
- Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
- Bansko is snowsure even in the poorest seasons
Visitor reviews for Bansko Ski Resort
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(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
(NOTE: Reviews may be edited by our content team for the purposes of ensuring accurate and relevant information)
Latest
March 29, 2012
Chris from
United Kingdom
Chris from
United Kingdom
March 28, 2012
Seankata from
United Kingdom
Seankata from
United Kingdom
Just back from a long weekened in Bansko and was really impressed since the last visit (Christmas 2009). Two new lifts, one a much needed replacement and the other replacing a slightly scary button lift right at the top is great news as investment in the skiing is needed to keep pace with all the accommodation being built. Slopes were generally in excellent condition and seem to be better than last time too. Plenty of variety for all but the hardend black runner or boarders looking for off-piste paradise. Town still quaintly tatty and some great eating and drinking places are still easy to find. Food quality uniformly excellent, particularly if you're up for any of the local cuisine. Value for money is incredibly hard to beat with a meal for 4 plus drinks costing less than 2 pints in places like Les Arcs! Have yet to spend more than 3 days on the slopes in 5 visits but will be back next year for a couple of weeks; maybe the long awaited new gondola will be installed by then?!?
March 20, 2012
Lee Hailbury from
United Kingdom
Lee Hailbury from
United Kingdom
What a stunning holiday we have just returned from. The old town of Bansko is a very pretty old world type place with many little inns and coffee houses. The more modern area around the ski gondola is where we stayed in Bansko Royal Towers. This is a complex of privately owned apartments which seem to have everything you need for your holiday. The complex also has a spa and a restaurant. We booked through BamroHolidays.com an UK run operation and they had staff on the ground to meet us and attend to any issues while we were there. Great service. The mountain is small but has plenty of skiing for a family of intermediates. The prices generally in Bansko are very competitive with other European ski resorts even on the mountain. We loved it and will be returning on a regular basis.
March 18, 2012
Slavica
Slavica
Bansko is really an amazing place with soul. People are nice and kind. I came back January 4th this year. Ski runs are totally awesome, I enjoyed every day, I think I will come there next year too. I've been in Austria and France and actually, people are kinda cold there. I mean, they must be nice but they're not. I think Balkan really has some power, there are countries with soul, so Banskoo, wait for me next year!
March 14, 2012
john from
United Kingdom
john from
United Kingdom
I go to Bansko at least 3 times a year. The people are friendly and the restaurants are cheap; a typical 3 course meal and a drink in the town costs between £10 to £15 each and a lunch up the mountain costs between £5 to £10.
Yes, the queues for the gondola can take over an hour if you get there 8.30am or after. To avoid long queues and have about a 5 or ten minute queue it is advisable to get there at 8 o'clock or may be 5 minutes earlier. The same applies to the queue where yo buy your lift pass.
Also, there can be problems with the ski passes and that they can stop working. For instance, if you buy a 6 day and it stops working after 2 days they will not refund you your money or replace your pass. I buy a day pass every day to avoid this happening. When I have finished boarding about 4 or 5 pm I go straight to the ski pass desk which shuts at 5.30pm and buy my pass for the next day.
March 04, 2012
Mid Beds from
United Kingdom
Mid Beds from
United Kingdom
The gondola lift is totally unacceptable. The wait on Sunday the first day was 2 hours. We were told it would not be long the next day... wrong! It was 1 hour 30 mins. They funnel you into two sections with the left side reaching the top of the stairs with the empty gondolas being accessible to small groups. Those on the right have to rush and almost fight to get one place, certainly impossible if there is a small group to all get in the same cabin. It is not fair to those who have queued a long time. Each day for the week it was never less than one hour of shuffling in a long queue. Why do they have all the schools starting at the same time? Why not stagger the times? The pistes were good, the restaurants were crowded and expensive with vacant seats almost impossible when everyone stops their school at the same time. I would think twice about returning even though it was good skiing.
February 29, 2012
kerry friend from
Bulgaria
kerry friend from
Bulgaria
Our first time skiing in Bansko and how disappointed we were with the gondola. In fact it is unacceptable! The first day we went was the world cup, and we waited an hour and a half to get onto the lift. We missed half our lesson in the morning. The second day, no world cup, we got to the lift early and we still had not got a lift after an hour of waiting!! We actually gave up and went back to the hotel. We skied in the afternoon, but with me teaching the children. The third day, we waited until 11.30 and then went up, again with me teaching the kids. But there was no queue and it was just lovely to get on the gondola straight away. Since then we have done this each day, and the children have a lovely private instructor, which is quite cheap too. I am very disappointed as I have skied in top places like Italy, Austria, France, Switzerland and have never ever had to queue. I have even skied in Andorra and that was also brilliant.
However, once you do get to the top of the mountain, ski runs are brilliant. Food up there is very expensive though. The restaurants in the older parts of the town are really good. The main town is very commercialised. We stayed in Hotel Belmont, disappointed that the lift does not work and we were on the 5th floor. Apparently they should have got it fixed weeks ago but haven't. Also the spa is not working! The sauna and the steam room are on the 6th floor, with no lights working.
Although there are many negatives, we have had a good time :)
February 26, 2012
Catherine from
United Kingdom
Catherine from
United Kingdom
Just back from a fantastic weeks snowboarding in Bansko! My first time in the resort and I loved every minute! We stayed in the Edelweiss Inn aparthotel, great service, lovely apartment, and a fantastic hotel manager who even arranged private transfers to and from the airport for us!
We were in the resort during the half-term (English) holidays, hence the resort was very busy and we soon discovered that the best way to beat the queues at the gondola was to be there for 7.45am, avoiding any queues and even better carving down through the freshly piste'd slopes before anyone else was even near the mountain! We also took an early lunch to avoid the ridiculous queues in the ULEN restaurants! Great service and friendly staff although can be expensive compared to the restaurants in Bansko! Often lunch up the mountain cost us more than a 3 course evening meal in Bansko!
On my 3rd day, I had a collision with a skier which left me with heavy bleeding above me eye! The mountain rescue guys were with me in minutes, had me bandaged up, then a quick ride on the skidoo to the doctors surgery at the bottom gondola station! Doctor seen me within 5 mins, fixed up within 15 mins and away off up the slopes again with an hour! All free of charge and very efficient! Thanks you guys! :)
Hopefully more money will be spent on opening new lifts and pistes within the next few years to cope with the numbers of people visiting this fantastic resort! Would recommend it to anyone and everyone!
February 26, 2012
Candan Akpinar from
Turkey
Candan Akpinar from
Turkey
Well there is not too much criticism for Bansko, hotels are cheap and comfortable, food is tasty, pistes excellent, but problems with infrastructure.
We stayed in a 4 stars hotel called Elegant Lux. Hotel might be 4 stars but there was a small muddy icy lake just at the entrance, makes the access a little adventurous, narrow unfinished streets, parked cars everywhere. And that single gondola, who fights to bring up thousands of people up. Queue time on crowded weekends is minimum one hour for us "ordinary people". Just like a small tap trying to fill a whole pool. Instructors, staff, VIP and ski school go "fast" as they have a different line. Unfair. Once you get up, pistes are clear, almost no queues at all. Bansko would be a five star ski resort, if not suffered gathering around that inflicting gondola.
Transport might be also difficult, if not picked up by the hotel. One option is a bus station at Blogoevgrad, 50 km away from Bansko, frightening, left out from early eighties. There are buses from Sofia, but never tried it.
February 25, 2012
Themos from
Greece
Themos from
Greece
It is a marvellous place for skiing, however, a single gondola to transfer all the people up the mountain is unacceptable. We were lucky when we visited Bansko last week during the world games. They had small vans leaving every few minutes transferring the skiers up the mountain with minimal waiting. The following day the line for the buses was long but buses were scarce. We had to wait for almost an hour in line in order to get on the gondola. This happens even early in the morning. They have to understand that all the crowds of people cannot be handled with the single gondola.
Nearest