Borovets

Borovets is a ski and mountain resort in Central Western Bulgaria, on the slopes of the Rila mountain range close to the town of Samokov. It's one of Bulgaria's most popular ski resorts and one of the starting points for hiking to Musala, the highest peak in Rila, Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula.

Get in
As the crow flies, Borovets is about south from the capital Sofia and  west from the second largest city, Plovdiv, but the mountainous terrain increases road distance. The town of Samokov, the centre of the local municipality (obshtina) is in the valley below, to the north.

Sofia, the closest airport, is served by a number of budget airlines including Wizz Air and Easyjet among others. If booked early, you can pick up a really cheap deal. Also, British Airways and Bulgaria Air can offer extremely good deals and provide more comfort. Lufthansa have several daily flights to Sofia, with connections from many countries through Munich Airport or Frankfurt Airport. Most hotels are fully prepared to provide transfer services with booking.

Holidays to this area can also be arranged via tour operators with package holidays available from a variety of companies including Crystal, First Choice and Balkan Holidays.

By bus
If you are in Sofia, independent travel by bus is the cheapest option, but not very easy or comfortable for foreigners because of the first step - getting from Sofia to Samokov by bus. Samokov and Borovets are connected by a shuttle bus (about 20 min) that runs at least once an hour between 08:00 and 18:00 from Samokov's Bus Station. In Borovets, it stops in front of Hotel Samokov.

See
Also make sure to check out the sights in Samokov.



Skiing and snowboarding
The ski area in Borovets is split in two; a smaller area with runs down into the main resort is serviced by 2 chairlifts and a number of drag tows and consists of nursery slopes; a couple of short black runs; 1 long blue run and a number of short reds. The second ski area is accessible via a Gondola and is much larger with a number of long blue and red runs. Black slopes are available at this resort but it must be noted that despite the high quality of the red and black runs this resort is considered to be mainly for beginners and intermediates. The resort has several good ski schools and a wide range of apres-ski activities.

Snowboarders share the same area as the general skiers and have a wide range of slopes available to them. Borovets is also the only resort in Bulgaria to offer cross-country skiing (???).

Hiking
BGMountains.org map zoomed in on Borovets; downloadable Garmin maps with place names in Latin letters.

Eat
Most restaurants on the pistes are relatively expensive (by local standards) and average quality. Some however do offer very good food.
 * La Bomba a local grill restaurant, with tasty and reasonably priced food. Try pork on the spit roast and the local bread, baked with butter and salt.
 * The Blue Steak House/restaurant in the center of the town, great steak and other dishes.
 * The Blue Steak House/restaurant in the center of the town, great steak and other dishes.

Drink
There are many bars and restaurants in the resort where you and eat and drink to excess until the early hours.


 * The Golden Chicken aka Bobby's Bar A place to grab a beer and talk about a day on the slopes. Predominantly English speaking. Everybody seems to be friendly and up for a chat so if you're after a good social experience or any info on the area this is a place to start. Has a couple of quiet periods between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and about 16:00 when people start to roll in off the slopes.

Go next

 * Samokov - another major tourist center for winter sports
 * Semkovo - go skiing