Bulgaria best value ski destination for Brits
20 February 2009
British skiers looking to hit the slopes on a budget in 2009 should head to Bulgaria, according to a new survey of ski resorts by M&S Money, reports Balkan Travellers.
The survey by M&S Money, the Marks & Spencer Financial Services company, compared costs of items purchased on a typical ski trip at winter resorts around the world to find that the cheapest basket was in Bulgaria. At the country’s biggest resort of Bansko, the basket cost £471 (around 530 euro). At the resort of Engelberg, in Europe’s most expensive winter sport destination – Switzerland, which has been popular with Brits, the basket cost £585 (around 660 euro).
Although Bulgaria is a EU-member state, it will not replace its currency - the lev - with the euro until 2012, according to a publication by the Open Press news website. Even though the lev is pegged to the euro, visitors will still find most items cheaper than in other European countries.
An affordable destination in the euro zone was found to be Italy, where a three-course meal for two, including wine cost £56 (around 63 euro) in the resort of Courmayeaur, compared to £75 (around 85 euro) in Flaine, France. As a comparison, according to another survey on the same trend cited by BalkanTravellers.com in December, a three-course meal in Bansko costs £6 (around 6.70 euro) per person while a bottle of beer there costs 80p (around 0.90 euro).
The US was found to remain one of the most expensive ski destinations - the price of a seven-day ski lift pass for one adult there costs £252 (around 285 euro) at the resort of Breckenridge in Colorado, compared to £146 (around 165 euro) in Bulgaria.
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