Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The main bus station ( Tsentralna Aftogara; 884 009) and nearby Chastna Aftog-
ara ( 831 132) , serve Sofia, Sandanski, Gotse Delchev, Petrich, Dupnitsa and Plovdiv.
The main bus station has a left-luggage office.
Blagoevgrad serves Sofia hourly (11 lv, two hours) via Dupnitsa, though more connec-
tions arrive en route to/from Kulata or Sandanski. The latter gets 10 daily buses (6 lv, 1½
hours). Another six buses serve Bansko (6 lv, two hours). One direct bus goes to Melnik
daily at 11am (10 lv, two hours). Buses to Rila village (3 lv, 45 minutes) leave hourly until
about 8pm. Two daily buses serve Plovdiv (10 lv, three hours).
The train station ( 885 695) is near the bus stations. Blagoevgrad's on the line
between Sofia and Kulata (for Greece). From/to Sofia there are five daily fast trains (1st/
2nd class 11/9 lv, 2½ hours), and one slow train, via Dupnitsa (9 lv). Three of the fast
trains continue to Sandanski (1st/2nd class 7.50/6 lv, two hours) and Kulata (1st/2nd class
9/7 lv, 2½ hours). At the time of research, the two trains that would normally continue to
Thessaloniki from Blagoevgrad had been suspended by a cash-strapped Greek govern-
ment, but check again when you're there.
Bansko
0749 / POP 8562 / ELEV 930M
Bansko is the big daddy of Bulgarian ski resorts. With trails starting from 900m high to
2600m, and more than a hundred hotels and pensions , the once-quiet village has more
beds than permanent residents. In winter, Brits, Russians, Bulgarians and others come to
ski (and party) in this sunny yet snow-filled resort. In summer things are quieter (except
for August's jazz festival), and the action shifts to the leafy central square, while elderly
women in traditional dress sit chatting on the doorsteps of lovely stone-bullt homes in
Bansko's old quarter.
Built in the 10th century over an ancient Thracian settlement, Bansko became wealthy
by the mid-18th century, well positioned on the caravan route between the Aegean coast
and Danubian Europe. It spawned eminent traders, artisans, icon painters and woodcarv-
ers, plus Otets Paisii Hilendarski, the 18th-century monk who fuelled Bulgarian ethnic na-
tionalism with his literary work and travels.
Bansko's historic significance is attested to in several museums and over 150 cultural
monuments, most from the 19th-century National Revival period. These stone-and-timber
houses were buttressed by fortress-style walls, with hidden escape routes, protecting their
Search WWH ::




Custom Search