BANSCO

just come back from w/e
skiing was good , but the amount of building work put me off a bit
theres certainly money being chucked at this place
be carefull if investing thou' - theres a lot of crooks out there {mainly English ones)taking ur money and doing a bunk. def not a family resort . can emagine the quease for lifts will spoil peoples holidays once the season gets under way
very cheap out there thou - North Face jacket £85 UK £30 in Bansko
another 5 yrs im sure it will be a better place
was dumping as we left Tue pm

North Face jackets there are mainly fake over there -so don’t be surprised about the price difference. I am surprised that they spelled it right this time. NORTH FASE was the one they try to sell me.

Dont mean to be rude, but Bulgaria ust doesnt appeal for skiing. Its limited ski areas, the country hasnt got a great reputation for service, accommodation or hospitality, and developers are raping the place.
All the stories I heard from people who have been there are bad ones, including food poisoning, piste closures, no signs on the slopes, and broken and old lifts.
I wonder why people actually choose to go there for a ski holiday, apart from the fact that everything once out there is a little cheaper perhaps?
Like I said, dont mean to be rude.

oh dear, you've gone and done it now

Beware that next knock on your door Tony, it could be the Bulgarian Mafia

Let me guess TONY_H you've been in BOROVETS. Go to Bansko and eat in the well known and recomended places -dont look to find for the cheepest menu on the door. Piste closures accure everywhere in bad weather so you cant count that.Why you need signs every 5 meters -cant you just follow the track or the other skiers. In Bansko on the lift station you can get a map for all the runs, and there are signs in the beginning on every run.The lifts in bansko are just 4-5 years old(borovets- 40-50 years old bought as scrap metal from austria and assembled in borovets).and there are new once every year for the past 3 years.When you add that you can stay on BB for as little as 8 pounds pppn and enaugh runs to keep you busy for a week its not bad at all.

SERJOE wrote:

Let me guess TONY_H you've been in BOROVETS. Go to Bansko and eat in the well known and recomended places -dont look to find for the cheepest menu on the door. Piste closures accure everywhere in bad weather so you cant count that.Why you need signs every 5 meters -cant you just follow the track or the other skiers. In Bansko on the lift station you can get a map for all the runs, and there are signs in the beginning on every run.The lifts in bansko are just 4-5 years old(borovets- 40-50 years old bought as scrap metal from austria and assembled in borovets).and there are new once every year for the past 3 years.When you add that you can stay on BB for as little as 8 pounds pppn and enaugh runs to keep you busy for a week its not bad at all. 

No Serjoe, I havent. But I know people who have. Borovets doesnt have a good reputation, but you clearly work for the Bansko Tourist Board. I know there has been a lot of investment - I got that promo DVD last year, but all I have seen on that is new lifts and very limited runs. Also, I know a few property developers who have been buying over there, and all sorts of dodgy deals have been going on. I understand half of it is already Russian owned. It has no appeal for me because of its limitations.
Pamporovo otherwise, but each to his own I guess.

Like I said, with so many other wonderful places to go in Europe, I dont understand why anyone would go to Bulgaria, when you consider that France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Andorra have so much more to offer.

And no mafia, if you do buy property out there, either!!!!!

This is one that i wrote on another subject, I think its each to their own, Personally its not a place i would go back to.
For couples and groups of lads on the lash maybe, But for young families no.
Sleazy lap dancers pounding the streets giving flyers to people ( my 7yr old at the timeis not my idea of the family resort they are trying to promote.
As for the Brits buying property they are after a quick killing.
My views are unbiased but purely based on my experiences of holidaying there Jan 2007.

and I thank you for backing up what I had been told.

i don’t work for bansko tourist board and i don’t own an apartment there. I am not talking about dodgy deals or properties at all. Its true that is English and Russian owned resort but i don’t care. I don’t go to a ski resort to stay in the town or buy properties or walk the streets to meet the lap dancers or them people standing in front of each food place trying to lure you in. I go purely for skiing and believe it or not bansko is got for that. it take me around 5 min from top to bottom with average speed of 80km/h + another 11 mins with 35km/h on the ski road to the town. there are 70 km of ski runs which is not a huge number but is enough for a week to explore. I'm not saying that is as good as Austria of France, but look for a holiday for under 300 pounds in this places- you won't find one.
Oh, and one more thing - the slopes are almost empty at the moment.

Serjoe. For your information, I have had the following holidays, all under £300:

Mayrhofen Feb 2007 £229 half board
Sauze d'Oulx March 2007 £129 half board
Mayrhofen Jan 2008 £159 B&B

That kind of dispels your theory behind the cheap prices, although I know its cheap to eat and drink out in Bulgaria. But if you want better quality skiing, food and drink, and accommodation, as well as people who dont try and get you into their strip clubs all the time, I'd stay away from Austria.

I reckon I'd have done Bansko's slopes in about 2 - 3 days, so it does have its limits. But whatever flaots your boat, mate. I might give it a try sometime, but I'd much rather see Kapaonik in Serbia or KJ in Slovenia first to be honest.

Safety was my biggest fear,Or lack of it.
The people who run the lift system Ulen ( not sure on the spelling) were more bothered about poncing about on ski-doo`s showing off.Novice skiers were falling off the 4 man chair lift in a pile,One poor woman got smacked in the back of the head with the chair and needed assistance.Did the bloke operating the lift rush to her assistance NO our ski instructor did.He carried on smoking his fag.
Would i go back again? NO WAY

AJ Adele

AJ can you tell me the name of your ski instructor ???