A modern, inexpensive ski destination.

Until recently, Bansko was not one of the best known ski areas in Bulgaria. But heavy investment across the ski area and the resort have utterly transformed this quaint medieval town and its ski area into a year-round, international destination resort. Not yet well-known in North America, prices remain, for the moment, relatively low, making it the best value in European skiing.

The Bansko ski area boasts the latest technology with Austrian Dopplmayr gondola and detachable chairlifts and SkiData hands-free lift passes.

Near the gondola base station, the German Kempinski group has built the Grand Arena, beside St. Moritz its only five-star deluxe hotel in a ski resort.

What’s Great

• Eastern Europe’s best mountain
• Efficient lifts with few queues
• A picturesque town at the base
• Smart new or renovated hotels
• Very low prices for lift tickets and incidentals
• Friendly, helpful locals
• Cheap and very cheerful traditional restaurants all over the town