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
January 12, 2010
Darren Evans from
United Kingdom
Darren Evans from
United Kingdom
Jan 2010. Don't go! I know it's cheap (that's why I went) but the place has been over-developed and the queues for the gondola and the lifts on the mountain are terrible. It's nothing to queue for 1-2 hours to get on the gondola, people pushing in the queues (Greeks are the worst) people walking over your skis in the queues on the mountain. All in all, a very stressful experience. My advice, save up and go somewhere like Tahoe in California where I went last year. No queues to speak of, lovely snow, very friendly staff. Alternatively save your money, you'll spend more time queuing than skiing!
January 12, 2010
simonnou eric from
France
simonnou eric from
France
Stayed at Bansko for the first time last new year holidays (2009-2010). It was just the feeling to be in the Alps, not much difference; even if you had to wait at the station main lift (gondola), the pleasure up-there was great as when I was ski-instructor years ago.
I live in Greece since 20 years, thats why I've been to Bansko.
I am thinking all the time now to invest in buying an appartment over there!
January 12, 2010
MissB from
Bulgaria
MissB from
Bulgaria
Queues, queues, and more queues...terrible!
I will start the review by advising everybody to never go to Bansko based on the abysmal experience myself, partner, and friends have just had on our snowboard/ski holiday there.
The queues for the main gondola and chairlifts were, in a word, horrific. On average 1 and a half hours to get up to the mountain, and one day the queue length was, wait for it, three hours long! Once we got to mid station on the mountain, half of the lifts were closed and the average waiting time to even get on a chairlift was between 25-40 minutes
The organization on the slopes was nil - the width of the queue of people waiting to cram onto a 4 person chair lift at times was about 50 people wide - that is by no means an exaggeration. It was such mayhem, that many people were getting onto lifts holding skies and boards in their arms! I dare to think what would have happened if you happened to be going down a slope below and take a knock from a falling pair of skis! Health and safety seems to not be of a concern in Bansko.
The Hotel Lion was just far too hot. And the heat was constant. I read in reviews before we left that the corridors were hot, but this was an understatement. The rooms were nice and big and modern, the cleaning staff were lovely and worked hard, but this was negated by how relentlessly hot the hotel was. The room had no air con either, and when we opened a window to get 'fresh air', we were greeting by plumes of acrid black smoke from god knows what being burned by the Hotel Perun over the road. Rest assured, if a hotel was burning what smelled like carcinogenic materials in the UK like that, health and safety would close it down within an hour! The chimney was burning black smoke for four days of the seven we were in the hotel.
This brings me onto the cigarette smoking in Bulgaria! It seems like this is a national past time, and it reminded me of how much we take the smoking ban for granted in this country. One of my friends who came on the holiday is a smoker, and even she could not stomach the constant smoking everywhere. You only had to walk out the door of your room in the hotel and you would be greeted with a waft of cigarette smoke - not to mention people puffing away faithfully at breakfast and dinner when you are trying to eat - not very nice at all.
Hotel Lion is one of hundreds of hotels in Bansko - it is over-developed to a hideous extent which means the mountain infrastructure cannot cope with the influx of people wishing to strap on a board or pair of skis. Even the locals I got speaking too all said the same thing; “There are too many hotels in Bansko for it to cope”.
We were told that Bulgaria was good value for money also - not so true on the mountain, as one meal (which was freezing cold when we ate it because the restaurant was so busy we couldn't find a seat so we had to eat outside) for two people was a surprising 58 lev, which is about £27. Not cheap by any means. We did find a place to eat on the mountain that was cheaper, but alas, we found that gem on the last day - typical.
Save your money and go to Eastern Europe or long haul, we spoke to families who were enraged and upset at how much money they’d wasted on Bulgaria, as it turned out to be a false economy. On average, you were lucky to get in 4 runs in an entire day, and even then, the slopes were packed with people. This was by no mean feat. Not only the worst snowboarding holiday experience of my life, but the worst holiday full stop I have ever been on. Please don’t waste your time or money like we did on Bulgaria!
January 11, 2010
Adrian from
United Kingdom
Adrian from
United Kingdom
Returned from Bansko on 10/1/2010 - My second trip (first one a few years ago). Much of the development underway last time I was there had now been finished. With no new infrastructure, the gondola and lifts cannot cope with the demand. Expect long waits! If you’re not at the gondola waiting for it to open you could get caught in the 2 hour (yes that’s right! Two hour) queues. Things up the mountain at Bansko weren’t much better. No wait was less than 35 mins, most nearer the hour. Given the runs can take as little a 5-6 mins to complete that’s a lot of waiting!!
I like the place (a lot) but if you really want time on the slopes you’d better look else where!
January 05, 2010
Damo from
France
Damo from
France
Bansko has been a bit of a victim of Bulgarias other two main resorts lack of snow. It's over crowded and the high winds over the last couple of weeks have closed half the mountain making it even more crowded. In short Bansko's a great resort but avoid holiday periods. I've been 4 times and love the place but if you go at peak times and wind conditions close runs it can be a nightmare.
January 05, 2010
Jazzy from
United Kingdom
Jazzy from
United Kingdom
Just returned from my first trip to Bansko and spent the Christmas and New Year period there. Having never been to Bulgaria myself but having plenty of friends who have skied at Bansko over the past few years I knew not to expect Alps standards. Overall, it was a good holiday and I would definitley go back. The snow wasn't the best as, ironically, there was more snow in the UK, however the canons did a good job and there was enough to get in our full weeks skiing. The resort in my opinion is very good.....especially for beginners/intermediates. Plenty of runs although they were very busy......but you should expect that if you go on holiday at what is probably the busiest time of the year!
There are so many places to eat and drink you will never struggle to find somewhere, lions pub - nice food, quick service and friendly staff: heard it was really expensive, personally dont agree.....it would seem expensive if you went over there expecting to get a 3 course meal for £3 but lets face it we are now in 2010 and even though it's Bulgaria it's a modern ski resort and they aren't stupid.....they know people will pay for decent food! We ate there for under a tenner and had a starter, good sized main meal and a few soft drinks.....couldn't do that here! Also liked Diamonds pub, lots of English in there...very friendly and, again, very reasonable. Some of the more traditional taverns were as expected: cheaper. However, the food wasn't the nicest but you have to give it a go, eh. Some of the salads are worth a try! Be wary of some of the staff though.....did get ripped off on the bill in one place, although they give you the reciept it's all in Bulgarian and even when we paid the amount it said we were told it wasn't enough so handed over another 10leva and still didn't get any change. Decided not to argue as it wasn't really worth it and they were'nt the sort of people you wanted to argue with anyway plus it wasn't a regular occurance, but would watch out for it next time. Mountain restuarants at Bansko were expensive but we only ate there twice and that was because the queues for the lifts had got so long! A hot chocolate was £3 but you know what....it was worth it. Go into town to one of the little snack stops and you'll get it for £1. Plenty of places to get huge pizza slices for 2-3leva so you'll never go hungary (unless you hate pizza).
I would return to Bansko but not during a holiday period as it was just too busy; gondola queues and lifts were huge (even taking the advice of others and going up about an hour after it opened). Also you never seemed to be able to find out what was open...often we would get to the top of the gondola only to find there was only one chair on. The top of the mountain was shut for the whole of our trip which was very dissapointing.
To summarise, Bansko is definitley worth a visit....it is cheaper than anywhere I have skied before....including the Scottish resorts which are much smaller. Don't go if you're a snob as you will hate it the minute you see the half finished buildings! Go with an open mind and remember it's develping and you'll be fine. Take care walking around as you are more likely to injure yourself braving the pavements than on the slopes. Oh and avoid the streets on new years eve if you want to keep all your limbs. Bulgarians appear to have a very haphazard way of celebrating.....which is fine, it's their country after all but they do not have any sort of safety policies in place and you will come across toddlers with firecrackers! If you are spending new years eve there then find a nice pub and have a drink!
Overall, a good and different way to spend your christmas and new year, look forward to going back to Bansko when there is more snow!!
January 03, 2010
dimitra from
Greece
dimitra from
Greece
Have just returned from Bansko, and made my decision, I'll never go back there for skiing, because:
1. even if the skiing infrastructure is good (well, Austrians made it), the Bulgarians that run the resort don't care at all about how to correctly treat the snow at the end of the day and in the morning, before opening. As a result, in the morning you have extremely stiff snow and in a couple of hours, very heavy and dangerous snow.
2. queues are enormous and they do not spread the possibility of buying passes in other kiosks around the village.
3. almost no-one working in Bansko make any slight effort to learn 15 useful words in English. Bulgarian is not a very common language and the resort aims to become an international destination.
4. went to buy toe warmers. in one shop the product was sold at 10 leva (5 euros) in another, 2 blocks away, exactly the same warmer was sold for 6 leva.
5. all coffee shops, hotels and restaurants are for smokers, nowhere to breath clean air
6. even if when buying your ski pass they assure you that all slopes are open, DO NOT believe them.
7. no pavements for pedestrians in Bansko. all of them are destroyed and if you have escaped an accident in the slopes, you risk to have it while walking in the village.
8. no parkings around, only paid a couple of paid ones, and if you park in a pretty desert street, police will pick your car immediately unless you pay them 60 euros.
Conclusion: it's better to go to experienced and traditional destination for ski/snowboard (and you surely get a good price for them) than to go to a country that does not respect your choice to go there and your money.
January 02, 2010
Dimitris Papadopoulos from
Greece
Dimitris Papadopoulos from
Greece
We've been skiing in Bansko for the past five years and enjoyed it so much that we've recently decided to buy our own apt. The weather was not favourable during the holidays, that is, there wasn't enough snow for the resort to work perfectly. This along with the incredibly long queues to get a skiing pass and get on the gondola plus the fact that you have to pay the same amount (about 30 Euros) for a day are quite disappointing. They say all the pistes and all the lifts work. That is not true. We hope for the best (please let it snow).
Dimitris P.
December 19, 2009
Olivier from
Switzerland
Olivier from
Switzerland
Hi everybody,
I am from Verbier, one of the must known ski resort in the Alps. I was a ski and snowboard teacher there. Now I live in Bulgaria and of course love it (I wouldn't be here otherwise). I came here because of it's nature, wild, not crowded, superbe.
I chose Bansko because it is the only ski resort that has enough steep slopes compared to the other ski resorts in Bulgaria. To compare with french, Swiss or Austrian resorts, I'd say it stands at the top of the average and is really worth the scenery. It has the longest beginner's slope I've seen, which runs at the bottom of the only cable car, that's perfect. One awful thing is for how long you have to line up in the morning, pretty much 40mn. And that is not acceptable for me!
As other said, if you arrive in Bulgaria, you have to be open minded, in order to get cheap food, drinks... If you are looking for an English pub, people are not dumb, they know you will pay for it and my thoughts about this is that prices are too high for what it really is.
As summary, Bansko is a city at the bottom of great mountains, there is a new golf course, plenty of buildings which are not so ugly (compared to plenty of places in France) but is is not so cheap, check the lift tickets :)
Have fun going there
PS : If you are a para-glider, please contact me directly, I'll give you specific information about flying in Bulgaria.
Norway
Nearest