Bulgaria - Eastern Europe - page 94

English Invasion
Get here in high season and you'd be forgiven for thinking that you've some-
how taken a wrong turn. Since 2003 some 3,000 Britons have bought homes in
Bansko (over $175 million has been invested in Bulgarian property since 1994),
and in 2005 80% of visitors in town hailed from the U.K. and Ireland.

Fun Fact

up at such reasonable prices that even those forced to go half- or full-board by hotels
during peak season can afford to junk these (generally awful) meals and head into the
old quarter for a decent spread. But if you're not high up in the mountains or settled
around a table in the village heart, the picture is a little less pretty, as Bansko's innate
charm is increasingly compromised by the unprecedented growth seen in the last few
years—every season sees more concrete poured into foundations that creep beyond the
“official” building line as developers try to deliver on the promise of “uninterrupted
views,” with prospects for the hotels left in the wake of their greed ever-diminishing.
The only justice is that 1 year from now, these developers will have to face the butt-
end of the new kids on the block. The exception to this is the pricey Kempinski: situ-
ated right on the western edge, where flower-edged balconies provide huge views of
the Pirin, interrupted only by skiers flashing down the final run while others rise to
meet the challenge of its powdered peaks.
ESSENTIALS: GETTING THERE & GETTING AROUND
Surprise Tours offers direct transfers to Bansko (just under 3 hr.) for 75

€

($96). If
you're counting every stotinka, take the public bus. The 3-hour journey from Sofia to
Bansko will cost a mere 8lev/$5.20/1.60£, as does the 3 1 ⁄ 2 -hour bus trip from Plovdiv.
Buses pull into Ul Patriarh Evitimi, on the northern outskirts; a 10-minute walk from
the old quarter (centered around ploshtad Vazrazhdane) and about 25 to 40 minutes
to the new developments creeping up the slope where most of the “better” hotels are
located. If this is your destination make sure you prearrange a transfer. Around the cor-
ner from here you'll find the small train station; Bansko's only train connection (via
narrow-gauge track) is with Septemvri, which in turn lies on the Sofia-Plovdiv line. The
journey between Bansko and Septemvri is wonderfully scenic as it trundles through for-
est-clad mountains and valleys of timeless bucolic beauty, but at 5 hours is inconve-
niently long; that said, if you catch the earliest (there are three a day; get your host to
check most recent times), this could be the best way to reach Plovdiv, allowing you to
take in some Pirin and western Rhodopean scenery without going to the expense of
renting a car. Alternatively, you can experience two-thirds of the journey by booking
with Intersport (see details below), which will put you on the train and pick you up
from the Velingrad station, bringing you back to Bansko by road.
The tourist information center is located off the central square (ploshtad Vapt-
sarov) just north of the old quarter, but opening hours are in reality inconveniently
flexible ( & 07443/5048; Mon-Fri 9am-1pm and 2-5pm).
For a wide variety of 1-, 2- and 3-day guided hiking or biking excursions in the Pirin
National Park (ranging from 39lev-149lev/$25-$95/£14-£52), or 1-day rafting
(99lev/$63/£34) and rock-climbing expeditions (49lev/$32/£17), contact Intersport
( & 088 878 8859; www.intersport.bansko.bg). Intersport also offers sightseeing excur-
sions to Melnik and Rozhen Monastery, Leshten and Kovachevitsa, and Dancing Bear