Review of Bansko

12th February 2006 by Paul Congdon 

We visited Bansko w/c 21 Jan 06. Having previously stayed in Killington, and Courchevel 1850, and having done our research on wtss and other websites, we knew roughly what to expect and what not to expect. It is a different class of resort, but even so, snow is snow, so long as you don’t need dozens of blacks or terrain parks. The transport around the slopes is good, The Gondola was virtually queue-less all week, and the chairs were much the same. Buy a lift pass before you go, its cheaper, we paid 70 pounds each, they were 78 over there. All the lifts are in good condition. There don’t appear to be enough piste bashers at the moment, and a few times during the week we came face to face with them on their way up at 2pm! The on slope restaurants are basic but the food is tasty, beer good, and both cheap (3 pounds all in). The cheapness made the holiday that much better, as the evenings were no different, a decent meal and 4 or 5 drinks would rarely reach 10 pounds each. There are loads of mexana’s (their equivalent of a pub / bar) to eat and drink in, and even the occasional pr outside trying to drag you in. There’s the Lion Pub, with sky sports, and really good home made food (albeit a little more expensive, but hey, still only 5 quid for a main course. There’s a nightclub which only opens at weekends, 10 pin bowling, and a highly recommended pizza restaurant called the Golden Fox! This was our cheapest meal of the week too, at 4.50 for 3 courses and 2 drinks! The transfer to and from Sofia was fairly torturous, its a good 3.5 hours driving, despite it being barely over 150 kilometres! Then you’ll have a petrol / snack /toilet stop and the other hotel pick ups, so a total of 5-6 hours. And there is nothing to do and only a few seats at Sofia airport. By 2008 or 2009 there could be trouble in Bansko, as there is a serious amount of redevelopment and I would not expect the slope infrastructure to change much now. It will get very busy, i’ve no doubt. But for now and in the next year or two, give it a go, especially if you are a beginner or intermediate. Finally, if you want to send postcards, you can ONLY buy stamps at the post office!

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