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Bars
and Clubs
There are loads, but here are some of our favourites:
Bars
Happy End: Sitting right at the bottom of the main gondola, the Happy End club is a great après venue.
The Friendly Bar: Great live bands
The Lion Pub: Typical English pub, serving very good potato wedges!
Parfe: A bit more sophisticated for a chilled-out evening
Amigos: Great staff (one of whom won the bar-tending European championship two years running) who cheerfully encourage dancing on the bar.
Nightclubs
Oxygen: Cave-like underground club with some great DJs (especially on Weds)
Amnesia: Lively crowds and a good mix of music.
Retro Club: Can be good, as long as you don’t upset the HUGE bouncers!
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Off piste
Bunderitsa Couloirs: Eight couloirs on the western slope of Todorka, with the first two being just a few minutes hike from the top lift. They range from wide and relatively easy to narrow and pretty steep, so get some advice before you hit them.
Eastern Couloir: Crampons make this hike a bit easier, but it’s a pretty nice wide run when you get there – just watch out for avalanche danger as it's prone to slides.
North Face: Where the extreme Big Mountain Competitions are usually held, there are some good routes down with some challenging rocks, obvious couloir and a big cornice.
For the serious backcountry Bezbog, Dobrinishte to Bansko and the mountains behind the Todorka Peak are prone to having untracked powder stashes long after snowfall.
There are plenty of huts used for walkers in the summer that make perfect refuges and lunch stops in the winter.
Knowing the route and being prepared is essential so going with an experienced local or a guide (always with transceivers, shovel and probe) is recommended, especially as at the time of writing there are no avalanche reports available in the resort and the Recco system is not yet supported.
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Moguls
There are some pretty good moguls at the top of the Tomba black, and sometimes all the way down.
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Speed
As at present Bansko attracts mostly beginners and intermediates, the Tomba black can be nice and empty for belting all the way down (when the moguls have been flattened). Also the reds no.2 and no.4 are great for getting a bit of speed up.
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Snowparks
Next to blue no.11 the snow park has a couple of massive tabletops and one or two small kickers. Burton AM have an event here every year, so after they've been the park improves quite a bit.
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Events
Burton AM: Under 20s snowboarding comp, 16 Feb 2008 (dates TBC for 2009)
Mad Goat Competition: Extreme off piste, 21 – 24 Feb 2008 (dates TBC for 2009)
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Away
Days
Borovets is about 2 hours away and Vitosha is about 2.5 hours away, just remember to avoid the busy weekends.
Sofia, the capital is an interesting city with great shopping, 2.5 hours away.
Plovdiv is a bit further away (using mountain roads), but is a much older city with an amphitheatre and a great old town. Back to top
Shopping
Bulgaria’s resorts are cheap compared to others in Europe. Watch out for fakes, although they are usually pretty easy to spot with photocopied labels and the like!
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Internet
Cafés
Plan B Internet lounge: near the old footbridge over the Glazne. Free if you have your own laptop, very reasonable otherwise.
The Video Shop: below the main square. Very cheap but if you go out of school hours it's full of yelling kids!
A lot of the hotels and a few cafes and bars have free wi-fi.
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Eating
Out
There are literally hundreds of mehanas (taverns) dotted around, but here are some of the best:
The Metikita: up the mountain road past the gondola – their speciality pork dish is lovely, but you’ll need to book.
Kipreva Kushta: in Razlog so you’ll need transport but this is very popular with the locals and gets you away from the tourist traps.
Dedo Penne: near the old church in the old town, staff are very friendly and there is an interestingly shaped bit of modern art, or chunk of wood, depending on your point of view.
Friendly Bar: if you get bored of the mehanas, it’s a bit more expensive but the food is generally very good and a little bit different.
Mountain Restaurants
At Shiligarnika the food is better, but generally on the mountain the food is over-priced and the service not great. You’re better nipping back into town or taking a packed lunch! Having said that, pizza is usually a safe bet!
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McDonalds
Sofia – three hours away. There’s also a KFC, so you should make a day of it!
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Après
Options
If you don’t fancy the bars you can try out the night skiing.
Or if you want to relax, you can always try out the Jacuzzi Bar – rest your limbs in the Jacuzzi whilst sipping a pricey cocktail, served by a waitress in a very small outfit (it’s warm in there).
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Shopping
Day
For chalet shopping, it’s down to Blagoevgrad (45 mins) to the Metro cash & carry, where you can get pretty much everything you need – they will even order stuff that you can’t find.
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Finding Employment
Tour operators, such as Neilson, are just starting to send staff over here. Otherwise, there are a few independent British companies setting up in Bansko, so check out Natives listings, and if you can't find anything there, google and contact them directly. Working for a Bulgarian company doesn’t usually pay much (even for seasonaire wages) and involves really long hours.
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Living
Due to the high number of apartments, finding something that is relatively close to the gondola but only a short walk to your favourite bar shouldn’t be too difficult.
If you want to chill out a bit more and save some cash, try one of the other villages, like Dobrinishte or Bachevo, but you'll need transport to get into Bansko.
There are loads of apartments in Bansko and if you start looking early you should be able to find reasonably priced rents, especially if you are not bothered about being next to the gondola.
The local buses run fairly regularly, if you can manage to find out the timetable from the surly staff at the station!
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MyNatives
Search
If you’re thinking of doing a season in Bansko then why not
search through MyNatives to see who else has worked there and what advice
they may be able to offer.
Join
Anyone can join MyNatives, where you join in the chat in the chatroom, post pictures in the gallery and blog your heart out about what you're up to.
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[Thanks to Victoria Christopher for putting this guide together.]
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