The Skiers' Guide to Bansko

Amazing place, quite crowded during holidays but good. Information could be clearer. Apres ski great.

Great experience, a “is what it is” type of place. Great value for money, wasn’t super crowded, a really enjoyable experience will be back again soon, hopefully!

We visited bansko in Feb 2025. We had a wonderful time doing abit of skiing and snowboarding. There were great options for places to eat and drink and the Apres was great!

Unfortunately we came during bad/no snow so this review is tarnished by climate and shouldn’t fully reflect Bansko as an option for a ski holiday. It’s cheap and cheerful with good investment into amenities. The queue for the gondola can be up to 1h30 long so I’d strongly advise investing in the queue jump lift pass to make the most of your week. I’m sure during January it would be considerably better, December 25 was bad for many areas in terms of snow including much more luxurious venues.

Bansko is a great resort. I would be careful about booking too far in advance especially if your planning to go in early January. Its great for intermediate skiers who want a cheap break away. Beginners will struggle if the the piste that runs to the bottom gondola isn't open. I believe they have great conditions later into the season.

I'd say its quite good for beginners. I remember going years ago when I was first starting out (not in school holidays) and it was great. This time I happened to take my family in the Feb school holidays and its was just a nightmare. Way too busy, gondola queue was 3hours+ then the slopes were rammed with people who couldnt board/ski. It was okay once you went onto the harder runs but for my wife and son it was their first time and you could hardly move with people flying oit of control and falling over everywhere on the blue runs. Wasn't an enjoyable experience I was avoid it during school holidays.

The city itself is great and its super cheap.

Long gondola ride from town up to the first ski lifts, can have long queues at peak times in the mornings. Weather was exceptionally warm when we were there so groomed runs quickly gutted up and turned to slush and ice in places. Good first thing in the morning. We found apres to be good and plenty of restaurants to choose from in the town. Very affordable option and I would visit again.

Very good for beginner snowboarders as it's almost all chair lifts. Very efficient lift service and very good value for money.
Great options to eat in the evening and it's got a really nice cosy feel to it as it's not a huge resort.
We are currently back and despite the lack of early snow the slopes all the way up are open and we'll groomed.
Day pass for adults cost us 29 GBP this year.

Great Ski resort if you’re looking for value for money! Decent runs, more for beginner/intermediate level or if you want to practise carving on less strap slopes. Gets very busy over half term weeks!!

Town was nice, some lovely places to eat and apres was decent too. Had one of the best kebabs of my life on the mountain but unfortunately can’t remember the name of the restaurant! Went and had a lovely evening in the Kemplinsky spa to reset too and very reasonably priced. Overall excellent if you want an easy and cheaper ski trip, you probably only want to do max 4/5 days as not the biggest area to ski, but lovely and relaxed.

As a first time winter holiday maker I didn’t know what to expect so I’d set the bar on average…. But it surpassed average on day 1. The Premier Luxury Mountain Resort was lovely, clean and very welcoming, with a great ambiance of open fire in the bar with a modern fee to it at the same time. It was about 10 minutes walk to the bottom of the ski lift and the equipment store but the hotel did have a mini bus service if you wanted. Once up the lift and took in the amazing views we were greeted by many instructors who offered classes for beginners, as this was my first time skiing we had pre booked for lessons ( about €17/person for the week). The slopes were very well kept considering it was coming to the end of the season and everyone seemed to be respectful of each other on the slopes which was I was relieved of because of my numerous falls I’d collected…

There is a lot more I could say about the place but as a beginner and first time winter holiday maker I would definitely suggest bansko as a decent place to go if you’re looking for a reasonable priced ski trip with some decent looking black courses, some nicest shops in town and restaurants to match.

Really nice resort, albeit smaller than a lot of others. Ideal location for a short stay ski holiday or for a family ski holiday due to this.
Lovely long ski road to the bottom with a pub pit stop half way down for a gorgeous sunset and pint!
Lots of bars and restaurants at the end of the ski road and on the main high street.
Unfortunately there is only 1 gondola to get to the top of the mountain so the morning queue is insanely long however, there’s plenty of taxi minibuses around and don’t cost too much when split between people.
Relatively quiet runs. 2-3 main stop off points for food and drinks with a few other little cabins around. 1 snow park. A couple of woodland runs. 1 or 2 black runs but mostly red and blues. Cheap ski hire and lift pass.
All round nice resort and area, but better suited to newbies, families or quick trips. Quite affordable compared to many other ski resorts in different countries.

Lovely resort, affordable, not much for advance riders, and not loads of runs could do the whole resort in a day, worth it for a weekend trip, if you’re with family or learning.

The biggest problem for us was the ski lift. The main gondola to get you into the skiing area had a very big queue in the morning that could take 2 hours. Once in the skiing areas the chair lifts were not a problem.
We enjoyed the apre ski bar at the bottom of the main run and the live music there. Food and drink was really good value on and off the slopes.

As with any resort, food and drink on the mountain is much more expensive. Bansko has an old town away from the tourist part and the local food is much cheaper and delicious.

Apres starts at Happy End bar and there's plenty of options to party until early morning if that's what you're looking for.

A great and relatively cheap place to go skiing. I was a beginner and was going down reds by the end of the week. Lift wasn’t too busy to get up there but we weren’t there in peak holidays

Excellent for beginners, also apre ski is fantastic. Very inexpensive, if you’re on more of a budget.

Great budget option for a ski trip with friends! The upper ski area is amazing! People love to party and it’s very well priced. Main drawbacks are that there’s only one small gondola from the village to the mountain (absurd waiting times!) and that the lower ski area is a bit disappointing, too mellow.

Good variety of pisted runs
Efficient lifts, great apres down the ski road but it does get busy.
Lively nightlife in the town
Queue for gondola in the morning is pretty bad. If the mountain road is open you can get a taxi to the mid mountain to save the queue.

Amazing for my first experience after learning how to ride. Good for a new rider but after the first time it gets a bit tedious.

Bansko is a lively, fun town set up to entertain tourists during the ski season. The slopes are well maintained though can be busy at times as the resort attracts many new skiers and boarders due to affordable ski-schools. Choose your visit outside school and peak times as the main gondola also gets very busy. To avoid this take a taxi to the mid-station. Thermal baths, ice skating and the old town are a must see. Food, drink and music are fantastic, cheaper than other resorts.