Budget snowboarding in Bansko is easily done. You just need to book everything early and separately. Its far from being the biggest ski resort in Europe, but if you’re looking for a cheap skiing or snowboarding trip within Europe, you could do a lot worse than Bansko in southwest Bulgaria.
About Bansko
As mentioned, the snowy wonderland of Bansko is located in Southwest Bulgaria. Its the biggest of Bulgaria’s 3 main ski resorts which also includes Borovets and Pamporovo.
Now the alps Bansko is not, its not for the accomplished skiers and boarders amongst you who expect top notch equipment and facilities. Its more for newbies to the slopes and those on a budget. In total there are 70km of ski runs available to punters, the highest of which start at 2600m above sea level. The views from this height are incredible believe me. There’s a mix of beginners, intermediate and expert slopes, just not in the same numbers as with other, bigger ski resorts. To get a better idea of how many exactly, click here to see a piste map of Bansko.
Of all the runs on that map, my favourite has to be the blue run number 1. Its whats commonly know as the Snow Road and stretches for 7km from the top of the gondola, all the way back down to the edge of town from where the gondola begins. Of an evening when the floodlights are turned on its a very atmospheric and scenic ride down the snow road once you’re finished on the higher altitude slopes for the day. Conveniently, also in that same spot where the snow road ends there is a bar called ‘Happy End’ that skiers and boarders flock to for a spot of apres ski – the happy hour gets things moving nicely.
Throughout the town both food and drink and both reasonably priced. A local beer will set you back roughly £1.50 – £2, and a large pizza around £5. Most bars and restaurants also come with free wifi which made my real time instagram photo post on Bansko a lot lot easier. Add to that free wifi at the top of the gondola, yep truthfully they have it at all the way up in the mountains, and its both a cheap and easy place to communicate home from.
Apart from the queues for the gondola in the morning, I could find very few negatives about my snowboarding experience in Bansko. As an beginner to intermediate boarder it was spot on!
The Bansko Gondola … soon to be Gondola’s?
Now, at present there is only a single gondola taking you from the town up into the snowy mountain range. As mentioned, the gondala queues can get long at peak time, VERY LONG, and naturally this means waiting a while before you’re able to reach the snow. Most lessons start around 10am so I would aim to have collected your equipment from the workshops and be getting in line for the gondola no latter than 9am. If you can do 8.30am ever better. If on the other hand you don’t have any lessons booked, why not have a lie in and get the gondola around 11am, once the queues will have died down a little. If you ignore this advice expect to wait in the queues for an hour or two. The queues are also pretty savage, be prepared to stick your elbows out a little and fight for your space, there’s quite a lot of people who like to queue jump.
So that last paragraph probably sell any holidays to Bansko, but its worth bearing in mind that talks are currently ongoing with regards to building a 2nd gondola in Bansko so things could get a whole lot better on the queuing front. In fact one local we spoke to said it was already a done deal, they just need to build the thing. It’ll take a while, roughly 2 years according to city mayor Alexander Kravarov, but still, its promising news that a new gondola is on the way! Watch this space.
The Budget Bit
Right, so here’s what my four night trip cost me …
Flights | £160 | London Gatwick to Sofia. 3 hrs each way |
Accommodation | £40 | Self catering apartment |
Transfers to and from Sofia Airport | £25 | Roughly 3 hrs in a minibus from Sofia Airport to Bansko |
3 days lift pass, board and boots hire | £125 | Cost would obviously increase if you have lessons. Ski rental is usually cheaper than snowboard rental |
Total | £350 |
Now that’s pretty cheap for a snow holiday, hitting the slopes in France or Austria would cost you a lot more, but you should also bear in mind that my friends and I booked our trip to Bansko pretty last minute. If we had got our asses in gear we could have got those flights for under £100, therefore taking the total below the £300 mark.
At a tenner (£10) a night each between 4 people, the accommodation was an absolute steal. Adding a couple more nights to your stay in Bansko is minimal, you would only have to cover the extra £20 each for accommodation and an additional day or two’s equipment hire if you wanted to ski/board for more than 3 days.
If I was to stay for 6 nights instead of 4 and book early enough here’s what my revised costs could look like …
Flights | £100 | London Gatwick to Sofia. 3 hrs each way |
Accommodation | £60 | Self catering apartment |
Transfers to and from Sofia Airport | £25 | Roughly 3 hrs in a minibus from Sofia Airport to Bansko |
3 days lift pass, board and boots hire | £200 | Cost would obviously increase if you have lessons. Ski rental is usually cheaper than snowboard rental |
Total | £385 |
That’s a frickin steal. Ok there will obviously be spending money, but with your own apartment you could save by cooking your own meals, and just because the bars are open till 2am it doesn’t mean you have to stay out drinking till then … trust me, going home earlier makes getting up the next day for lessons a whole lot less painful.
Inspiration
You didn’t really think I was going to publish a post with only two photos did you? Come on, I love photos. Here’s a few of Bansko and even a video I made which will hopefully act as a bit of encouragement for when you’re preparing to book your trip there. I hope you like.
Useful Links
I wasnt sponsored by either of these companies, but I found them to have good values.
Board hire and lift pass – http://www.skibansko.bg/
Transfers to and from Bansko from Sofia Airport – http://www.banskoexpress.com/
Whoa – outstandingly cheap trip! How great!
@Alex – yup, def one of the cheapest options for ski holidays.
Cool post! I’m always seeking out new skiing/snowboarding destinations.
Sonya recently posted..iPhone Photo + Waiting
Gees, that is cheap. No excuse for a quick weekender away for some snow. How much was the pass in comparison to the board hire?
The CounterIntuitive recently posted..Why Travelling is an Important Part of Growing up for Men
What a bargain! I’ve only ever skied in France and Switzerland and no trip this year due to lack of cash but I might have to branch out next year!
Lucy recently posted..Skiing off the beaten path in St Jean D’Aulps
@Sonya – Worth a shot, i’ll be posting a few videos soon to give you an even better idea.
@CounterIntuitive – They came as a package, but to buy them separately the lift pass would be 91 euro for 3 days, and the board + boots 78 Euro. Cheaper to get them as a package for 145 euro.
@Lucy – Lack of cash was part of the reason I went back. I couldnt find anything else much cheaper.
Good post I’m hoping to head of next winter and will be looking for cheap destinations!! Out of interest how good was the quality of ski equipment?
I presume you could upgrade to ‘superior’ skis and twin tips and things like that if you wanted?
tom recently posted..Choose Life Choose travel
@Tom – sorry mate I didnt ski nor do I know anything about skiing. The ski shop I used doesnt seem to have the option on the site, but it could probably be solved with an email and there are loads of ski shops in town that hire out different types of skis.
Tom – We live in Bansko so obviously a little biased. There is a wide selection of equipment from the many rental shops. The lifts are modern and the hill facilities are good quality.
You will not be disappointed with the prices and facilities.
Fantastic write up, I love Bansko and have only recently come back from a baording trip, I love Bansko partly because I own and rent out an apartment there (near gondola) but also I love the people, the laid back lifestyle, the beer, food and rakia… of which I consumed far too much as usual :-)
Nice vid by the way…
@ L Robinson – thanks, great fun making the vid :)
@Tom
We are the rental shop Neil used this year.
There will be complete overhaul for next year and all skis will be 2014 models.
There will be an option for superior skis as well
We will update our web page for the next season mid May.
Best Regards
Atanas
http://www.skibansko.bg
Excellent blog – as a big fan of Bansko this is the most realistic assessment of it I have seen for a while. Roll on the second gondola.
Just got back from a great skiing trip to Bansko with 2 beginners who had a wonderful time.
Never had any queues, but always avoid bank & school holidays. March is great in Bansko – snow and sunshine
Ok, so following your recommendation in Sarajevo we have checked out your blog – and love it of course. Great info on your ski trip, we will be there in a few days and at these prices hopefully it will be ok on the travel budget.
@Amy – Hey guys, hows it going? How was Mostar? Hope there’s loads of snow for you in Bulgaria. Typically it came by the bucket load the day after you left Sarajevo. Sods law.
Snow this year is BIG :)
We got hammered a few weeks back and now the mountains got around 2 meters natural snow.
I thing the season will last throughout April this year.
Best
Milen recently posted..What to do in Bansko this winter
@Milen – WOW, that sounds incredible! Past April is a nice long season, I’m always worried about booking any trip for later than March just in case there is no snow.
I spent my winter vacation in Bansko and I had great time there! Till now I’ve been using my own car, but this year I’ve decided to rent a car
I heard that this year Bansko will be working to get more business in the wings of the season (November, December -April, May) – they are aiming to get skiers willing to take some risks with the snow at a significant price cut :)
I personally am looking forward to see how this will go
Moris recently posted..Top 3 Orte in Burgas, die Sie in diesem Sommer nicht verpassen sollen
@Moris – good info, thanks. Might take a look at this myself.