Borovets – The Oldest Ski Resort in Bulgaria

Borovets is one of the older ski resorts in Bulgaria and is situated on the edge of the Sofia Province on the northern side of the Rila mountain range. It is just 10km from the town of Samakov and 73km from the capital.

Borovets dates back to 1896 and was originally a hunting resort for the former kings of Bulgaria. Slowly overtime is developed into a ski resort and numerous budget and more luxury hotels sprung up. As it is only an hour from the capital it is an easy commute for people living in Sofia and for those flying into the international airport in the capital.

In 1981 and 1984 Bovorets was host to the World Cup Alpine Skiing races and it also boasts one of the best Biathlon tracks in the world.

Much has been made in recent years about the Super Borovets project that was meant to join the town of Samakov to the main ski resort by a gondola, create more ski runs and connect outlying chalet and apartment developments with the skiing. Ir was one of the largest and most expensive and ambitious in Bulgaria’s history. The idea was to divid the resort into 3 distinct areas. There will be a brand new development around the town of Samakov, ten kilometres away. This will concentrate more on budget accommodation and provide a further 5000 hotel rooms for the ski area. Level 2 will be the existing ski resort after much regeneration and will be the main in-resort accommodation area. Level 3 is for luxury accommodation only with just 2,500 hotel rooms.

However, the project was slated to start in 2004 and be complete by 2009 but has faced many set backs, including concerns from eco groups about the impact on the local environment and wildlife and of course the economic downturn as affected the plans. Now the plan is to construct another 19 new ski pistes and 12 new ski lifts, including a lift connecting Samakov with the main area, so the area will be around 90km of skiing.

As it is Borovets has around 58 km of groomed pistes at around 1350 metres to 2560 metres and most end at the centre of Borovets giving more or less ski in and out accommodation. There are currently various drag lifts, chair lifts and a couple of gondolas. A number of new modern lifts have been implemented to take people to the peak and get more people up the mountain quicker. All in all Bovorets can currently take 8150 people up the mountain an hour. Night skiing is also offered.

The ski area is currently split into two areas, a smaller area with runs terminating at the main resort and then the second area is much larger and accessed by a gondola. The resort is considered good for beginners and intermediates. Advanced skiers will find it a little limiting.

There was cross country skiing but the 35 km run was deemed not good enough and so it is currently being upgraded.

Borovets is very easy to reach. The nearest airport is Sofia where there are regular EasyJet and Wizz Air flights as well as Bulgarian Air and British Airways. A number of large tour operates sell holidays there including Crystal, First Choice and Balkan holidays.