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Bansko resort snow
Lat Long: 41.78° N 23.44° E
Ski Bulgaria

Bansko Resort Reviews

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Visitor reviews for Bansko Ski Resort

Bansko Ratings

Overall: 3.6. Based on 220 votes and 362 reviews.

Rate this resort

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

Variety of pistes: 3.9

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Bansko has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 3.5

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 4.1

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 3.5

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Bansko

Public Transport: 3.5

  • There are no buses or taxis to Bansko
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 4.5

  • No places to stay in/near Bansko
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 4.2

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 4.2

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Bansko

Ski in/Ski out: 3.5

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 3.4

  • There are no child care facilities at Bansko
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 4.2

  • Bansko relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 3.9

  • There are no snow groomers at Bansko
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Bansko are groomed daily

Shelter: 3.8

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Bansko is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 2.6

  • If snow conditions are poor at Bansko, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 4.2

  • Bansko usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 3.3

  • The staff at Bansko are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Bansko are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 2.7

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 4.1

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 4.3

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 3.9

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 4.1

  • No intermediate terrain at Bansko
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 3.6

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 2.7

  • Not even a kicker at Bansko
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 3.1

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Bansko
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 2.0

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Bansko has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 3.4

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 4.2

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 4.1

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 3.5

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 3.6

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 3.4

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 3.4

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 3.7

  • Overall, Bansko is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 3.9

  • Overall, Bansko is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

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October 29, 2006
john williams from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Just got back from Bansko. My first visit. I was not expecting a lot, but facilities and people where pleasant. Went up the mountains; it was stunning. Will be returning no doubt.
October 04, 2006
Stephen Davis from Ski France France
I was in Bansko in March, myself and my girlfriend bought an apartment there. So far we have liked it very much. In expensive I thought until I read one of your e-mails posted. I think it is very wrong that they have nearly doubled the price on the daily gondala lift as I'm from Ireland and am on reasnable wages. It is not fair that the Bulgarian people whos wages are much lower should pay the price for the richer Europeans causing the price to go up. DROP THE PRICE OF THE GONDALA LIFT.
April 11, 2006
Neil Westerby from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Have been to Bansko twice, once at Christmas and then again in March and have loved it each time. Am a pretty experienced skier but found Bankso to be fun and varied, this is the place for everyone. I had a coach for 3 afternoons to give me one to one technique tuition and I paid next to nothing. Have already booked for Christmas 2006 and have purchased a couple of properties so Bansko is my new ski home.
March 14, 2006
Mat Hague from Ski Bulgaria Bulgaria
I live here and ski Bansko, Borovets, Vitosha and Pamporovo. Bansko has the best facilities (2 year old lifts etc) and ski rental gear. It's great fun on the weekend when the Bulgarians turn up but otherwise boring in the town, which is incidently one big building site as a housing boom gets underway. 14 runs will keep a moderate skier interested for 2-3 days so don't come for longer than a week. Ski late in the day mid-week and you will find yourself on completely empty slopes - I've been there thinking they must have closed the mountain. Queues are horrendous in the mornings, especially at weekends, but a new gondola (running alongside the old one) is (supposedly) due to be built summer 2006. Staff and management at Ulen are hopeless and increasingly rude as are the staff at the various hostelries in the town as we found out this year. Shame, as Bulgarians are almost always really excellent people. Piste maintenance is better here than at other Bulgarian resorts but still poor. You pays your money and takes your choice. Lots of very cheap apartments will soon come onto the rental market as soon as the suckers that bought them realise the mountain is not, in reality, covered in gold. Ski equipment in Bulgaria is extremely cheap (half to a third UK prices) as most is made in the region, so consider buying goodies here - remember to ask for tax back to get a further 20% off. This is not yet well developed here, so ask if they do it before you buy. Sorry, bribing medical staff is normal here. But when you're screaming in agony on the top of a mountain what're you going to do, start haggling??!! Don't expect too much and you'll be pleasantly surprised.
February 16, 2006
Sue Stephenson from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
I have recently returned from my first ever skiing trip and it has left me wondering why I have never skied before now! Bansko was brilliant, hotel excellent, skiing and tuition fantastic, altogether a wonderful experience and one I can't wait to repeat. I went with a group of friends who were all at different levels of competence, therefore we were put in the appropriate ski schools and all had a brilliant experience. Bansko is fantastic. Sue, Bourne, England
February 14, 2006
mike from Ski Greece Greece
ACCIDENT: Bansko is a very nice ski resort. Is close to Greece which we prefer. But last week 2 friends had an accident, one of them break the hand and the other the knee. It's ok but the Bulgarian employers ask from them 300 Euro each one to carry them from the top of the mountains to the doctor and the doctor ask 300 Euro, this was surprising for them. Good organization but....happen! Where is the responsibility of Austrian owners of Bansko ski resort? Never happen accident otherwise never u know!!!!!! :-)
February 13, 2006
alex papapaschalis from Ski Greece Greece
I was in Bansko on January 2006. The mountain is really great with a lot of pistes and runs + brand new lifts! Good snow and snow making! Perfect view! But unfortunately there was a big line to pass in order to get your ticket pass. Many many people were everyday on this line, we stay on this line more than 1 hour to get our passes! After that you have to stay in a big line also to get into the big gondola that takes you to the ski/snowboard area. This situation is not good at all! They must do something about it. Snowboarding in Bankso is a must! There was a park then but a lot of snow covered everything so we never saw it. A big off-piste run is there for snowboarding but it's better to speak with local snowboarders for more info about this, there are many of them around! Bansko village is not something special. But there are many good local traditional places for food + some bars for going out. Best bar/club is the 'Oxygen', many snowboardrers are going there! Piri hotel is the hotel you must avoid! It's the only one outside from the borders of Bansko village, with poor service and hospitality!
January 24, 2006
MIKE from Ski France France
Stayed in Bansko from 30/12/05 to 06/01/06. The snow conditions were great & the ski area had a lot more to offer than I thought before I went. the food in the local resturants was very good, compared to the hotels which people told me was not very good. Stayed at a new appartment complex called The Vihren, no complaints, huge appartment, reasonable rates. The only complaint I have is the line for the gondola in the mornings - nn the thursday morning it took me 1 3/4 hours to get my daughter from the gondola station to ski school. I am returning in march & hopefully it wont be as busy.
January 22, 2006
Tugrul Ertekin from Ski Turkey Turkey
We were in Bansko in the second week of January, and we were really impressed by the resort quality and variety of the pistes. All the lifts were almost brand new and they were run problem-free. Marking of the ski-runs could have been done in a better way, 'cos some blue runs seemed a bit reddish to us. The town was really cheap, drinks were even cheaper than we expected (a pint of lager costs 0.5-1 euro). Night life was a bit boring though. The only downside was the staff working in the resort. Most of them were rude and unfriendly. It took almost 2 hours to rent the ski-eqipment due to the lack of organisation and insufficient staff. It seems Bulgarians (of course there are exceptions) are not used to the tourists and can not appreciate how important it is to satisfy them. Anyway, I advise anyone to go to Bansko and enjoy a cheap ski holiday!
January 07, 2006
John from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Bansko is a great resort and hopwfully will continue to improve! as the resort gets busier due to the vast improvements over the past few years. There are now tentative plans inplace to construct a second gondola in the next 2-3 years to try and cope with increased demand. I really enjoy the resort and will go for many years to come! Cheers!