Skiing Borovets has for many years offered great value for entry-level package holidays from the UK and Ireland, making it the default choice for younger first-timers and for intermediate skiers and snowboarders looking for a fun ski holiday that won't kill their wallet.
Bulgaria's longest-established and liveliest winter sports resort, Borovets is set deep within an expansive mature pine forest in an area that was once royal hunting grounds reserved for the Bulgarian kings, now forming part of the largely unspoilt Rila National Park.
The resort's ski area is draped over the foothills and ridge-spine of Musala peak, the highest mountain in Bulgaria and the Balkans, in the eastern Rila Mountains just over 70km south of the Bulgarian capital Sofia. This region has a fair snowfall record, with mid- to late-season being the most reliable period.
Because of the lack of advanced level terrain and the cheap and cheerful nature of the resort, Borovets has generally been sold as an ideal ski resort for beginners. But whereas the price-point is usually spot-on for those new to snowsports, the limited and often crowded nursery slopes are far from perfect and the resort is really better suited to improvers and intermediates on a budget.
That said, the various ski schools in Borovets are much praised by previous first-time visitors, and over the past few years, the resort has doubled the number of snow cannons, providing coverage to more than 60 percent of the ski slopes.
Borovets - Ski Map & Pistes:
The Borovets ski area consists of three adjacent but poorly linked sectors: the central Borovets 'Sitnyakovo' slopes which flow into the resort's main base area, the thickly forested neighbouring Yastrebetz sector, and the highest, above-the-treeline Markudjik sector. The latter is served by a long gondola connection from a base terminal located a little way away from the slopes of the other two sectors.
The Sitnyakovo ski centre contains the compact beginners' area and has a lively collection of bars and restaurants clustered around its conveniently located base area. Its upper slopes are a mix of attractive tree-lined blue and red runs, which unfortunately tend to get chopped-up and trickier very quickly because of heavy use.
The Yastrebetz sector is usually much quieter and offers some enjoyable long cruising red runs through the forest with around 600m of vertical. Unfortunately the sole 4-seater chairlift that serves this sector is based one kilometre away from the village centre - fine for riding circuits on these slopes, but inconvenient when you want to head back to the resort or to continue to the other sectors. The resort's snow park is also located here.
A good tip is to take one of the waiting horse-drawn sleighs that ply this route between the lift base and the resort centre, a romantic yet inexpensive alternative to walking.
The gondola journey up to the resort's exposed dome-shaped Markudjik summit sector takes around 20 minutes, and often has long queues waiting to embark at the base terminal. Best to aim to get there for opening time, or to go elsewhere until the morning rush has abated.
Once at the top of this sector, you then have a choice of wide but short red pistes, plus a gentle link run to join the upper slopes of the Yastrebetz sector. An appealing but flat 12km home-run is also sometimes possible from the summit, via a pisted service road which runs all the way to the gondola base terminal.
Borovets - Off-Piste, Backcountry & Ski Touring:
If you're looking for off-piste skiing in Borovets, you'll find plenty between the pistes in the high-altitude Markudjik sector and under the Yastrebetz Express gondola, after fresh snowfalls. Thick trees alongside many pistes do restrict the off-piste possibilities, however. But there have been avalanches in Borovets in the past, so always book the services of a good mountain guide.
The same applies if you want to go ski-touring around the remote corners of the southern Rila peaks. There is no ski infrastructure in this lovely, unspoilt valley, but there are miles of great ski touring terrain to explore and enjoy.
Borovets - Restaurants, Bars & The Town:
Borovets is famous for its cheap and cheerful après ski scene. The resort contains plenty of pubs and bars with live music and questionable DJs, many offering great value happy-hour drinks promotions (the equivalent of £1 a pint!) and fun theme nights. Plus there are basement-level nightclubs at the Rila and Samokov hotels.
The liveliest après ski joints are those at the bottom of the main Rila nursery slopes, as well as those close to the gondola base terminal: Black Tiger, Happy Duck and Alpina are some of the most popular venues. Family visitors should note that Borovets also has a seedier selection of 'adult' establishments too, featuring pole-dancing and lap-dancing. Many of these are in prominent main-street locations that some people may regard as a bit too in-your-face.
Somewhat incongruously mixed in amongst these fleshpots are some very decent restaurants, offering a nice variety of mostly local, Greek and Italian food at good value prices. For a more traditional Bulgarian flavour, try one of the folkloric themed evenings promoted locally, usually featuring a buffet of regional specialities accompanied with local wines and performances of traditional music, singing and dancing.
Borovets has a fascinating hotchpotch of market-style stalls and small shops selling snowsports accessories, souvenirs and trinkets, many of which remain open late into the evening, otherwise the choices for shopping in the resort are limited to a few sports shops and some boutiques in the lobbies of the larger hotels. For a greater range of shops, coupled with some cultural sightseeing, excursions are available to the capital Sofia. Excursions are also offered to the nearby historic Rila Monastery, the largest and most important in Bulgaria.
Off-slope activities include tenpin bowling, hotel swimming pools and fitness suites, some offering very good value sports-massage and beauty treatments. Snowmobile excursions are big here, too, and one evening every week the local ski-school instructors put on a show of freestyle and synchronized skiing and snowboarding on the central base-area slopes.
Borovets - Ski Hire:
There are plenty of options for ski hire in Borovets, including the Borovets Ski School 'Ril-Ski' where you can get good hire/lesson packages. Also Ski & Board Traventuria and the Alpin Rent Ski and School. Many of the bigger hotels also have their own in-house ski hire.
Borovets - Ski School:
If you want to learn to ski in Borovets - and many do! - good options include the aforementioned Borovets Ski School 'Ril-Ski', the Hunters Ski School which also does ski hire, Musala Rubies Ski School and Yanakiev Ski and Snowboard School.
