This year I took a second snowboard trip and for a few varying reasons (tight budget being one) a small group of us decided to go to Bulgaria. None of us had ever been here before, it was cheaper than france and I had heard some good things about it (some bad too but we’ll get to those later).
We stopped in the hotel Moura which was normal 3* star hotel. Our rooms were pretty good, decent size, two single beds, big old tv playing all the crap you usually get abroad, nice hot showers and far too well heated. The food on offer at the hotel was passable, both breakfast and evening meal were a buffet affair with a decent selection on offer, breakfast always had eggs and a fruit selection while evening meal usually had salad, some meat dishes and cake too. Shame most of the food was at best tepid. The bar downstairs was a nice little area but due to smoking still being allowed in Bulgaria it stank a bit, and they never had any change behind the bar.
The snow wasn’t too good for the first day, they hadn’t had much and it had been a little warm so the lower slopes were looking pretty worn in, up top was a little better but quite a few runs and lifts were closed.
Thankfully it snowed the first night and the whole second day, dumping about 16 inches in total which gave the slopes the top up they needed. This also gave us some pow runs on the second day which was good fun, and also hard work. This snow helped keep most slopes topped up for most of the week.
There was a small mix of green, blue, red and black runs unfortunately they didn’t link together too well so you were left to walk between a few of the lifts. The blue’s and reds were all ok, (most blacks were closed due to not enough snow), but it was difficult to find one solid run down, you seemed to chop and change between different runs as you went down. For me this was ok, but for the beginners in the group less so. In order to ride two of the nicer blues they had to run a steep red in the middle or walk round a flat green just to link them together. We did manage to session a nice little jump one afternoon though, the sun was shining down through the trees and we stayed so long that the lifts were closed once we rode back down.
The resort itself was small but fairly well contained, loads of bars and eateries to choose from, all of which had someone outside making out that they were the best and you should eat there. Food was well priced, so it was easy enough to get lunch for £5 – £10 and evening meal for less than £20, usually with a free shot of some weird liquor. The local beer Kamenitza was nice enough and the cheapest drink to buy at around £1.90 a pint, or about £2.90 for a litre of the stuff. It was even cheaper in the supermarket.
The nightlife here seemed to cater quite well for the british tourist, most bars offering cheap beer and a free shot with most orders, quite a few were showing football and/or rugby games, and it was easy enough to get food in any of the places too. The one night we had out was fairly cheap and very funny, we met a few crazy locals as we wandered the streets inbetween bars, and even met a bloke who looked like Mario running one place (there was a picture of him dressed up as mario on the bar too).
It was a fairly good trip overall, we played the longest game of Shithead ever (played for a good few hours every night) and made the most of what was on offer. It wasn’t a bad place to go snowboarding and i’m sure in better snow conditions it would make for a great (and cheap) holiday, but for me France (even though pricier) is better value for money, they just have the whole run structure down.
You can see more photos here.