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  TOURIST INFORMATION

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      Bansko Information

Getting to Bansko
The nearest airport to Bansko is Sofia, 150km northwest, although some charter companies use Plovdiv, 160km to the east. Transfer time from Sofia is about two and a half hours in normal conditions, and from Plovdiv is four hours - If relying on a transfer company to drive you back to Sofia airport you should allow 5 hours from leaving Bansko until your flight takes off.

Location - South Western Bulgaria
Bansko lies in the so-called Kotlovina, a level plain lying between three mountain ranges – the Pirin to the West, the Rila to the north and the Rhodopes to the east. It is the Pirin range that is the closest to hand, its wooded flanks rising suddenly from Bansko’s southern suburbs. Pirin’s compact cluster of glacier-carved peaks culminate in the handsomely chiselled limestone summit of Mt Vihren (2914m), which looms over Bansko to the west

By Bus
Travelling from Sofia to Bansko by bus takes about three hours. Buses depart from either Sofia’s Central Bus Station (Tsentralna avtogara), near to the train station on bul. Knyaginya Maria Luiza, or from Ovcha Kupel bus station, 5km southwest of the city centre (on the route of trams no.5 and no.19).

Bansko’s bus station is at the northern end of town, a ten minute walk from the main square. There is a taxi rank in the bus station forecourt. There is a public toilet, and a small shop, selling coffee, nibble-snacks and soft drinks, but no other facilities.Time Table

By Car
Bansko lies two-and-a-half hours’ drive from Sofia, although journey time can lengthen (when getting out of Sofia is often half the problem). Quickest route is to take the main E79 south to Simitli, from where a well-marked east-bound turn leads over the Predela Pass to Bansko. The Simitli-Bansko road is now first class and offers a smooth ride. In the season be careful where you park your car as the local patrols are about and will lift your car and pound it until you pay for its release. If you would prefer othes to do the driving for you, there are many transfer companies that will happily collect you from the airport and return you after your stay in Bansko. Check their prices as they do vary a little, however the quality varies quite a bit, stick to recomended companies. There are many good ones.

By Train
Nobody ever takes the train to Bansko if they’re in a hurry. The journey from Sofia takes over 7 hours and involves a change of trains at the middle-of-nowhere junction of Septemvri. However the trip from Septemvri to Bansko is one of the most scenic that Bulgaria has to offer, with a narrow-gauge track, snaking its way across the western spurs of the Rhodope Mountains. It’s an especially magical journey in winter, with the fir trees covered in frost, and snow-white minarets spearing skywards from the Bulgarian-Muslim villages, sprinkled along the route.

Bansko’s train station is near the bus station, an easy 10-minute walk north of the town centre. If you need a taxi and there are none in the forecourt, head for the bus station (turn right outside the train station then bear left) to find one. The train station has a ticket hall but no other facilities, although the pair of vintage steam locos, parked outside, adds an air of jollity to the scene

Useful Words & Phrases

Eating Out in Bansko
Bansko is chock-full of "mehanas", traditional-style taverns where Bulgarian food is washed down with copious quantities of local wine and spirits. Each mehana tries to cultivate a folksy feel through its choice of wooden furnishings, stripey tablecloths, brightly-coloured textiles and stone-clad walls (although these ethnic interior elements are becoming so standardized that it's become increasingly difficult to tell one mehana apart from another). The other characteristic feature of the Bansko mehana is the ubiquitous presence of Macedonian folk music - either on the CD player or performed live by a local band. With shrill clarinets drilling holes in your grey matter and the clatter of a darbuka drummer echoing around your ears, dining out in Bansko can be a wonderfully raucous experience.
If neither Bulgarian food nor music are quite your cup of tea, then Bansko offers respite in the form of some pizzerias, a couple of steakhouses, and a reasonable range of international food in the restaurants of the bigger hotels.

The Winter Season
As days get shorter and the smell of winter fills the chilly air of December mornings, vacation, partying and hitting the mountain slopes becomes our top priority. While you are sharpening the edges of your skis and snowboards, the people of Bansko are preparing for the winter season with all their strength.
The piles of firewood are ready for the long, cold nights, wines, rakias and the good old Banski Starets are seasoning in the basements and vigorous maintenance gives a new life to the lonely lifts and ski runs. They are all waiting for the colorful throngs who come each winter to enjoy the snow and the mountains. 
Going uphill on Bansko’s main Pirin Street, (Bansko Map) we can see that things are changing for good. There are few construction sites left to litter the picturesque village but generally the buildings have been completed and the place is looking much more like a true resort. The magic of this cosy, rural community has returned. Apart from some finishing touches, building has stopped and entrepreneurs are mostly investing in quality and comfort at reasonable prices.

Bansko Slopes  (See Piste Map)
Most of Bansko’s skiing opportunities are located just southwest of town on the slopes of Mt Todorka, which culminates in the 2756m peak of Todorin vruh.
Access to the pistes is provided by the gondola which departs from Bansko’s lift station, located at the southwestern end of town. Passes can be bought from 4pm onwards on the previous day if you want to avoid queuing on the morning itself – you can’t purchase them in advance over the internet. Expect queues to get on the gondola itself – especially between the 9-10am ‘rush hour’.
The lift-operating company Ulen run a ski-hire centre at the lift station. It’s by no means the only ski-hire place in town and you should check prices elsewhere before making your choice.It is rare that you would need to prebook your ski's and boots. However it might be wise to prebook any lessons that you require.
The gondola ascends in two stages, first to Chalin valog directly above Bansko, which is the starting point for a couple of shortish red runs. The second stage of the gondola climbs to Banderishka polyana, where a trio of chairlifts branch off to higher altitudes. To the west of Banderishka polyana lies Tsarna mogila, the longest of the intermediate routes, although there’s a much wider range of opportunities to the south, where the upper reaches of Mt Todorka host the densest network of pistes. An interlocking web of red runs descend down Todorka to the Shiligarnika area, while longer blue runs wind their way down to Shiligarnika via the so-called Plateau on the eastern shoulder of the mountain. Todorka is also the start of the Alberto Tomba run, Bansko’s only black route, which ends up at Banderishka polyana.
There are plenty of snacking, eating and drinking opportunities at Banderishka polyana, Shiligarnika and the Plateau.

Dobrinishte Slopes
 Ten kilometres southeast of Bansko, the village of Dobrinishte is the gateway to another skiing area, although the range of pistes is much more limited and access to them is time-consuming. Main route to the slopes is a chairlift, which rises from the Gotse Delchev chalet 12km south of the village, to the Bezbog chalet, just below the 2645m Bezbog peak. The pistes running back down the mountain to the Gotse Delchev chalet are marked as red, but are quite a challenge for intermediates who don’t have a previous knowledge of the area.  

A Little of Bansko's Past
If you think that Bansko is a Balkan village suddenly catapulted to fame and fortune by its latter-day development as a ski-centre, then think again. Bansko was one of nineteenth-century Bulgaria’s richest towns, and the monuments are still here to prove it.
Bansko owed its wealth to a central position on key inland caravan routes, which lead from the Aegean port of Thessaloniki to the cities of central Europe. As well as providing food and lodging to the caravan drovers, Bansko folk became traders themselves, warehousing rich silks from the east and fine furniture from the west.

The caravan trade died out in the late nineteenth century when it became more convenient to transport goods on steamships and trains rather than on the backs of donkeys. Bansko continued to flourish as an agricultural centre rich in goats, sheep and cattle, and enjoyed a considerable political role in the years before World War I when it was an important centre of the anti-Ottoman Macedonian revolutionary movement.

Bansko is among those Bulgarian towns which played a noteworthy role in the historic development of the nation especially during the Revival Period. The historic charater of the town remains in the unique houses of Banskalii with their tall pinewood gates and carved-wood ceilings, and in the architecture and the fine iconostasis of churches. The past and present are interwoven in a way that is at once distinctive and original.

The most impressive side of Bansko are the preserved traditions and the spirit of the old quarter with its stone houses and traditional Bulgarian restaurants (mehanas). In every restaurant you one can taste excellent local cuisine and famous red wine and listen to the traditional folklore music which accompanies almost every event and social gathering.