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
Click here to submit your own review of Bansko
(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
February 17, 2008
Gill from
United Kingdom
Gill from
United Kingdom
I'm afraid I have to totally disagree with Andy, we just returned on the 9th of Feb following a weeks excellent skiing. I found the total opposite with the local people, finding them friendly and eager to 'get on' with the invasion of tourists. The gondola does need addressing (which I believe they are doing) because the queues are quite long, especially on arrival day! However, we just got up earlier and arrived before 9 a.m and didn't have to queue for more than 20mins, and to be honest have found that in most French resorts. It is a bit like a building site in some places, but the old town is utterly charming. Once on the mountain, we found the pistes to be well groomed, lovely and wide and the views are spectacular!! We will definitely be returning and I can see in about 5 years, when the town has developed, it will be a Bulgarian Val d'Isere!
February 17, 2008
Andy R from
United Kingdom
Andy R from
United Kingdom
I came back from Bansko last week, it was good for skiing and that was about it. The place is 60 years behind the times, the locals are downright rude and seem to think they're doing you a favour by letting you spend your hard earned in their country, wild dogs out at night, infastructure looked like there was a war on, no good bars and no real catering for the holiday maker. I wont be going back. Get a grip Bulgaria, we're trying to drag you into the 21st Century, you must be amazed when/if you ever come to UK, real pavements and road and even street lighting. You'd think they would be begging us to spend our cash out there, instead the locals did it for me. No chance Bulgaria do one, back to the stone age !
February 12, 2008
AIDAN FROM UK from
United Kingdom
AIDAN FROM UK from
United Kingdom
Just returned from Bansko, staying in the hotel Lion.
Superb hotel with excellent food,shuttle service every 10 mins to the gondola.
The slopes are just fantastic,maintained and groomed to a top European standard,while the piste bashers work through the night to provide an excellent following day for us.The nursery slopes are long and wide.
The gondola station in the morning is a bit hectic,but in saying that we never had to queue for longer than 20 mins and no more than 2 mins queue on any of the chair lifts.
The views, once up on the mountain, are just spectacular.
The runs are well numbered and marked out "beginners please beware" as a lot of the blues e.g numbers 11 and 3 at the Todorka peak are actually more of a red, runs 4 and 6 and 1 are the best for beginners just moving off the nursery slopes. The ski road number 1 back to the gondola is about 6k long and is a must "even for beginners" once you have spent a few days on the nursery slopes.
The Tomba black run is a superb challenge for you advanced skiers but beware at the top section.
The Bulgarians are very friendly people with the exception of just a handful,and speak excellent English.
Remember; Bulgaria is still a very poor country with a lot of poverty,and most of us English and Europeans, generally, are regarded as being very rich.
Food on the mountain is around the same price as back home, but you're up there and they know you have to eat, back in the town it is very cheap.
The town is a bit of a building site at the moment. No work is actually carried out during the season so don't worry about noise and dust. If you happen to have "snow in the town you won't even notice", all planning has been halted for the next 5 yrs and completion is going to be around 2yrs for existing work.
At the end of the 08 season ("May"), work will commence on another gondola station and is expected to be finished around October for the 09 season.
Remember what you're paying and that you are actually going there for"skiing".
We will definately be going back to Bansko!!
February 05, 2008
stefan
stefan
I go to Bansko every year and it's great fun but the city steel looks like a construction site.
The pistes were a little frozen in the morning but after 11:00 the ski conditions are great.
If you want good skiing you should be at the gondola lift at 8:30 sharp because after that the rush hour begins and you can wait up to 1 hour to get to the mountain.
Don't buy a 6 day ticket because if you don't ski one day and you go one day after 12:30 it's cheaper to buy tickets every day.
Get the mountain insurance because if you fall on the slopes the rescue service charges 200Euro to get you to the gondola and the insurance costs 4Euro four 7 days.
The night life in Bansko is bad. There are only mehanas and 3/4 pubs and one club. But the striptease bars are great.
February 04, 2008
graeme mcdowell from
Spain
graeme mcdowell from
Spain
Have been to Bansko several times and will be returning in two weeks.Conditions on the slopes are reliable and improve year on year. For a new resort, Bansko will become one of the best in Europe as developments are completed. Quaint old village with character mehanas...locals do have similar attitude to the French in the Alps but hey, you can't have it all {some customer service training would help}.
Overall, looking forward to returning to Bansko. It has a great future as it 'beds in' over the next few years.
February 02, 2008
\Charles & Jane from
United Kingdom
\Charles & Jane from
United Kingdom
How pleased I was to see some positive reviews for such a lovely place to go.
We have just returned from Bansko and would wish to point out that it is great fun.
The people are really friendly, speak good English and are delighted if you have learned how to say please and thank you in Bulgarian!! So why not do a bit of research?
The skiing is brilliant, the pistes are very well maintained and the value for money is astonishing.
We had no queuing for the gondola but, then again, we do get up at larks fart.
Yes there is a lot of building partly finished, a lot of rough roads and the electricity is something else BUT in a few years time I bet it will be THE place to go in Eastern Europe.
The restaurants are good at cooking meat on the BBQ so don’t expect Haute cuisine. The Shopsi salads are lovely, the Sache platters are tasty and the Bansko beer is fine. Look out for out of the way Mehanas that will be delighted to have your custom and try the local plum brandy!!
As far as I am concerned all you whiners, keep whinging. For those of us willing to look beyond the minimal evident shortcomings Bansko will be our secret for a little bit longer.
February 01, 2008
Claud from
France
Claud from
France
I just came back from my Bansko holiday and I must admit that I didn't expect it to be so perfect.
The city itself is a real pearl - ancient, old town with small coble-stoned streets, great small houses and amazing restaurants (the locals call them mehana). Among this enchanting picture you can find plenty of new and modern hotels, which can satisfy absolutely everyone. Yes, there are really a lot of new buildings, but most of them will be finished by the beginning of the next season. The only thing that reаlly upset me was the big queue in front of the gondola - almost 30 mins waiting there. But by the time I reached the ski zone I realised it was worth the wait. The mountain is just fascinating, with plenty of slopes for all types of skiers. They have 100% fake-snow coverage. Everyday the slopes were so perfectly prepared for skiing...
I've been to many ski resorts in the Alps and I can assure you that Bansko is not worse than them. I really recommend you visit this unique place; Bansko! You pay almost nothing for what you get. In a couple of years it will turn out into one of the best ski resorts in Europe!
January 28, 2008
alison hughes from
United Kingdom
alison hughes from
United Kingdom
Just got home from Bansko and for all you whiners who have been complaining it's a great place and the people are great. Yes, it's a building site, it's up and coming so give them a break. Anywhere in the world is what you make it. Obviously, there are still some whingers out there, if you don't like it don't go or please read about it first and stop complaining.
To all the whiners; lets see what you say in 5 years.
January 28, 2008
Paul Hampshire from
United Kingdom
Paul Hampshire from
United Kingdom
Just came back from a visit to Bansko. This was our first visit and after reading all the reviews about Bansko before we went away, I was just a little concerned. We flew Easyjet from Gatwick and had a great flight. The taxi transfer was nearly three hours and driving through Sofia, was an eye opener. Our hotel in Bansko was ok. Mostly Russian guests. Clean and comfy and very well priced. £18 pppn for B & B. It was just a huge building site but it was what we were expecting to see. Had to take a minibus to the gondola in the morning (not 200 metres to the gondola by foot) but a headache at 5.00pm. Skiing was superb, especially the long (7Km) blue run back to the village. Some of the blue runs, higher up, are as suggested in other reviews, more red than blue. Lift pass was around £18 pppd.
We ate out each night and found the food to be very good. Three courses, wine, coffee and a Brandy to finish off, was £28 for the two of us.
Didn't see any cloaked 'Bully Boys' mafia style people anywhere, as was suggested would be on every street corner. If you want a great place to ski, that's cheap and you can handle a few cranes, a bit of mud and pot-holes in the road, then Bansko is the place. Look forward to a return trip!
January 24, 2008
David Blackwell from
United Kingdom
David Blackwell from
United Kingdom
Bansko.
My first visit to Bansko was in May 06 as my overseas property company had many requests from clients to purchase property there...so I felt I had to go and experience this part of Bulgaria as I had heard varying reports.
From the off, one might be put of due to all the new building going on, but you have to see through all that. All I kept hearing about was Mafia but my own experience was excellent. Bansko is a real medieval town with so much history and culture, very friendly people, fantastic restaurants (so cheap), panoramic scenery in winter and summer, good quality hotels, and some excellent quality new build developments. Yes, uneven paths and non existent roads, loads of building....but in 2009 when this new controlled development is complete, with the start of the new Bansko airport, finishing of the new motorways...many people will be rubbing their hands at being able to see the fantastic potential in Bansko coming to fruition.
On the Mafia subject, the only people I would worry about are some of the so called sharks who call themselves property consultants...be careful...they are British!!
I have now had 8 visits to Bansko (going again next week) and cant wait!
Viva Bansko!
David
Azahar Dream Homes
International Property Consultants
0845 230 4840
Nearest