Bulgaria’s Bansko has narrowly lost its long-held title from the Post Office of best-value winter sports resort to an Italian contender. The latest Post Office Travel Money Family Ski Resort Report found Bardonecchia, north of Turin, the cheapest of 20 resorts, unseating the long-time number one.
Bansko’s total in-resort cost for one week for two adults and two children, including food and drink, ski pass, equipment hire and lessons, was £1,487 – nearly £10 more expensive than in Bardonecchia.
It is the first time the Italian resort has been top in the report’s 12-year history and follows an 18% rise in the Bulgarian resort’s costs and a 1% fall in Bardonecchia. The Italian resort now offers the cheapest family lift pass of the 20 resorts analysed, at £391; while the £489 cost of ski school for two adults and two children was £100 lower than in Bansko.
Chris Logan, managing director of Crystal Ski Holidays, explained: “Bardonecchia is an ideal resort for families, with great gentle slopes for beginners and intermediates, plus we have discounted lift passes available for children under the age of eight, making it an even more affordable option.”
The upward price trend was apparent in other eastern European resorts too. Kranjska Gora in Slovenia registered the biggest price increase of 23% to £1,636, pushing the Slovenian resort down two places to fourth. A steep rise in equipment hire cost, up 31% to £384, was a factor. But ski school remained cheaper in Kranjska Gora than anywhere else, at £355 for a family of four.
