Bansko skiing (Bansko)

Member Name: Kittyktm

Product:	Bansko
Date:	31/07/09 (59 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: only a few

Disadvantages: dangerous and under construction

I went to bansko to give it a go last christmas and only that there were a group of fifteen of us we would not have had such a great time.
Skiing: very unsafe in comparison to other european and much more established ski resorts. There was a distinct lack of health and safety in the complete resort and things like guards on the end of the drag lifts were no where to be seen so your fingers could get pulled into them quite easily.

There is only one gondola to the base where everyone skiing has to queue and it took forever every morning if you were to wait, we got local taxis to take us up and it worked out quite cheap between the group but it defeated the purpose of having the lift pass in this respect. People were very rude and it scared the kids when there was so much or a squash at the station.

In terms of the skiing there was a limited amount of runs in comparsion to Westendorf/ sol areas and Val D'isere in France, very few options and not alot of lifts either.

Bansko Town: was a building site for the most part. there were alot of foundations poured for new hotels and appartments etc but they were not sealed off at all and this was very dangerous after a heavy snow fall as your perception of the depth infront of you at night was hard to guage and one could be on the edge of a ten foot drop and not realise this. There were alot of steel sticking up from the ground and not fenced or blocked off.The town itself in the old part is charming alot of character and the local church is beautiful. There are alot of lovely old buildings and the town would be a nice place to visit during the summer. As a ski resort though it left alot ot be desired

Food: the friendly Bar/ Resturant was the best place to eat. We like to try the local food as much as possible and have to total experience if we can however the local food is served luke warm and is quite greasy, its not that it was horrible, it was just not for us is all. the amigo bar also does lovely food but it is a bit of a walk from the centre. there was a lovely pizza hut by the friendly bar and we depended on this little place to feed us.We all got tummy bugs and were all unwell for at least one day and some toilets were very primitave outside of our accomodation!!

We were there for new years eve which was an experience in itself as there were pockets of fireworks going off all over the place which was nice but they seemed to be going in all directions which would make you wonder about who was setting them off!!!

In general we found people to be quite cold and rude. .

I say this as someone who has been to France, Austria, Switzerland and Colerado skiing. We thought it would be nice to go somewhere developing and check it out seeing as the flights and accomodation were so cheap and it was presented really well in brochures etc.
we were very disappointed with the night life and the trip in general.
I am sorry if i sound like a right crank but there were 14 others who felt like me in my trip. When we got to Plovdiv airport, 5 hours away, we met many many more that vowed never to return again and everyone wanted to be on the plane out of there.
Pompadoro resort seemed to have been a better experience for people.

Summary: cheap & you get what you pay for!