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 Traditional old houses in Bansko
Bansko guide
Car hiring in BanskoBansko is the biggest of all Bulgarian ski resorts. During the winter, tourists of UK, Russia, Israel, Germany and Bulgaria are coming to ski, party or just take a walk in this sunny and snow-filled resort. Book your cheap car hire in Bansko from Top Rent A Car. The resort is built in the 10th century over an ancient Thracian settlement. Bansko became wealthy by the 18th century, because of its position on the caravan route between the Aegean coast and Danubian Europe. You can reserve a car hire in Bansko from Top Rent A Car. It was a centre of the eminent traders and craftsmen. In Bansko you can see several museums and more than 150 cultural monuments, but the main purpose for visiting the resort is the ski. It is a great place for skiing in winter and hiking in summer using Car Hire in Bansko. If you rent ski gear you can get a discount for the lift ticket. If you rent an apartment from Top Rent A Car, you will get discount when book a car in Bansko. There are a lot of ski rental shops around the first station. The weather in Bansko is cold, so warm clothes and a full face hood is mandatory. There are multiday tickets as well as half day ticket for the period after 12:30 or 13:00. Most of the hotels offer a bus service to the ski lift station. You have to get to the lift station not later than 9:00 if you want to avoid the queues. If you are going to visit Bansko and you haven’t book your car rental, you can do this using our car rental booking engine on the left side of the web site. We have office close to Sofia International Airport on “Brussels” 3 blvd or we can deliver your car to Bansko. Top Rent A Car offers also holiday apartments.
Bansko is small picturesque town in the foot of Pirin Mountain. It’s situated 56 km from Blagoevgrad, 145 km from Plovdiv and 150 km from the capital Sofia. Bansko is known as a cultural heritage with more than 120 historical and cultural monuments and as Bulgaria’s best ski resort. Pirin Mountain is very popular place for a rest and an extreme vacation because of its beautiful peaks, the highest one is Vihren, many lakes, caves and waterfalls, gorgeous pine forests. The ski resort became popular in the last 10 years or so when many foreign investors decided to develop the “gate to Pirin” into a skiing resort because of the long snow season there – from December to May. Thus the resort now has many hotels – from luxurious ones, even one five-star hotel, to small family hotels and apartments for sale or rent.
Ski tracks
 There are two main ski centers – Chalin Valog and Shiligarnika that are easily accessed by the Gondola lift that starts from Bansko. The wind and temperature on different runs can be checked on huge monitors in the town at the first station of the Gondola lift. The runs and tracks of Bansko resort vary from very easy for people who had never tried skiing to extremely difficult for the experienced skiers, including Slalom and Giant Slalom runs, biathlon tracks, a cross-country track and the pride of Bansko – the first Fun Park in Bulgaria. The Fun Park offers its client the ability to build a track of their own with artificial bumps and jumps; and every evening the snowboarders and skiers have the opportunity to show off their skills in front of an audience. A mountain rescue service is available 24/7. What’s worth seeing?
 The skiers and snowboarders can enjoy the beauty of the Pirin Mountain or explore the town of Bansko. Many of the houses are from the Revival Period of the country and are turned into museum houses, and other structures are worth seeing just for their architecture. In the Staroto Gradishte site there are remains of an ancient fortress and Thracian mound hills. Many shops in the town offer superb hand-made souvenirs from wood and metal. Another historical monument is Rila monastery, founded in X century, part of UNESCO World Heritage Site. For the lovers of the hot springs there are 27 thermal mineral springs in Banya, only 5 km away from Bansko.
 Nightlife
The Bansko resort offers many restaurants and typical taverns called “mehana”. Most of the taverns have an orchestra that plays national songs or perform a program with folklore motives. The menu includes many Bulgarian wines and typical for the region dishes such as banska kapama, banski starets, chobanski shish, karvavitza, sudzuk, sheep yogurt with honey and blueberries. In almost every hotel there’s a disco that works from the early evening to the early morning. Events
In February there’s a National Competition for ice sculptures “Fire from ice”; a Halfpipe discipline Snowboard Republic Competition; a Balkan Open Cup in alpine skiing discipline.
 In March there’s a 2SBX Snowboard Republic Competition; a ski-run for the cup of Pirin. In April there’s a Snowboard Republic Competition, an Alpine Skiing Republic Competition, a Biathlon Republic Competition, National Cup “Pirin” – alpine skiing disciplines, and events dedicated to the Week of the forest – 18-24 April. In May there’s Bansko Open 2005 – a European Arm Wrestling Tournament, a Folklore Festival “Between Three Mountains” and in 18-24 May there are festivals of the Bansko Traditions. From 8 to 13 of August is one of the biggest events - Bansko International Jazz Festival with 13 years of history. It has no entrance fee and at the festival played some of the biggest names of the Bulgarian and world scene such as Scott Hamilton, Teodosii Spasov, Sharl Papazov, Antoni Dochev, ecc. In August 2009 started the first Bansko Opera Fest which is planned to become annual and as popular as Bansko Jazz Fest. In September there’s Pirin Folk Bulgaria, an International festival of the Bulgarian song. The participants are usually from the Balkans and have to write and perform a typical for the Bulgarian folklore song. On October the 5th is the day of Bansko. The program is rich and various for every year.  Location: Bansko |
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