Pamporovo

Pamporovo ski resort is located in the heart of the Rhodopi mountain. It is the sunniest Bulgarian mountain resort. The ski slopes of Pamporovo are safe guarded and maintained in a very good condition. The gentle profile of the mountain with its rounded slopes and summits makes Pamporovo suitable for beginners. But there are difficult ski runs like "The Wall" for the advanced skiers. Ski rentals are available near the ski runs and the lift stations, you can book ski equipment rental, ski school and lift pass with us, as well.

Pamporovo webcam

webcam: Pamporovo position: Pamporovo

Pamporovo ski resort

The ski area Mechi Chal, Chepelare is a part of the ski area of Pamporovo. The new name of the resort is Pamporovo-Mechi Chal.

Both ski areas are connected by shuttle buses that connect the main ski centers Pamporovo /Malina Ski Center 1/ and Mechi Chal ski center.

The buses run on schedule with an interval of 15 minutes.

All customers who bought ski pass and ski packages in Pamporovo for the next winter season will get a bonus riding in the ski area of Mechi Chal.

One lift pass will be used in both resorts and all ski packages purchased in Pamporovo will be valid for the ski area Mechi Chal.

Open: December – April
Downhill: 37km

Location

Pamporovo ski resort is located 85 km from Plovdiv and 240 km from Sofia. The resort is situated on 1650 m above the sea level in the Rhodopi mountain at the foot of Snejanka peak (1926 m).

Resort information

Pamporovo is the sunniest Bulgarian mountain resort. The winter here is soft with 120 sunny days. The ski pistes are covered with snow throughout the whole skiing season that lasts from December till April. The average air temperature is - 3 C.

The rounded mountain slopes and summits are suitable for skiing and snowboarding for beginners.
For advanced skiers there are difficult ski runs like "the Wall".

Pamporovo mountain rescue service

(+359) 309 58336; (+359) 1475.

Medical and dental services

Ambulance, first aid on the ski slopes and clinic as well as 24 h a day emergency ski patrol service are available. Fully equipped hospitals, pharmacies and dentists are available in the town of Smolyan and in Chepelare resort.

All dental services and some medical services must be paid in cash to the doctors or clinics. They should provide the necessary receipts, bills and invoices describing the cost and the service, so that you can claim back the expense to your insurance company. In case of injury you should inform your insurance company and follow its instructions.

How to reach Pamporovo ski resort

Pamporovo is situated around 260 km away from Sofia, 85 km south of Plovdiv, 15 km north of the town of Smolyan and 10 km south of Chepelare resort.

By plane

From Sofia Airport to Pamporovo you can reach:

- via highway Trakia/A1/E80 and Route 86 approximately for 3 hours. The distance is 227 km.

- via highway Trakia/A1/E80 approximately for 5 hours. The distance is 285 km.


From Plovdiv Airport to Pamporovo you can reach:

- via Route 86 for 1 h 30 min. The distance is 74 km.

Book a ticket at the best rate for charter or regular flight to Bulgaria: http://bulgariaflights.com

By car/ private transfer

The most comfortable, reliable and quickest way to reach Pamporovo is by car or private transfer.

Book a private transfer at a reasonable price here: Private transfer to Pamporovo or rent a car.

The driver will wait you at the airport and will a private vehicle will take you to Pamporovo.

By bus

There are buses to Pamporovo from Sofia, Plovdiv and Smolyan.

The ski slopes in Pamporovo

All ski slopesin Pamporovo are safeguarded and maintained in a very good condition. More than 100 highly qualified ski instructors fluent in different languages are here to teach both beginners and intermediate skiers and snowboarders.

Ski rentals are available near the ski runs and the lift stations, you can book ski equipment rental, ski school, lift pass with us.

There are 17 pistes in Pamporovo with total length of 37 km. They are located between 1926 and 1450 m above the sea level on the northern, eastern and western slopes of the Snejanka peak, where the TV tower is located.

There are ski tracks for all categories of skiers and boarders – Beginners, Intermediates and Advanced.

Pamporovo is popular with its best conditions for beginner skiers on the Balkans with its green trails with long and easy slopes.

The most difficult ski piste is "The Wall" that is for professionals. It is opened and lightened till 10 pm.

Pamporovo is especially appropriate for cross-country skiing in the forests of the Rodopi mountain. There are 3 cross-country runs with more than 30 km of trails in total.

9 ski tow lines and 6 ski chair-lifts serve the pistes.

Great off-piste skiing and snowboarding is available in this resort, however we recommend using a local guide when going off-piste.

Ski run Difficulty Length [m] Inclination [m]
Slope 6 - Pamporovo (Tourist) Light piste 5150 476
Slope 12А Stoykite 2 Medium 3740 453
Slope 12 Stoykite 1 Medium 3640 453
Slope 4 - Snejanka Difficult ski run 1060 130
Slope 1 - Yazovira (The Small Wall) Medium 990 155
Slope 11 - Kartola Medium 740 190
Fun park - half pipe Medium 110 3
Slope 2 - The Wall Cross country 0 0
Slope 3 Arch. Petar Petrov (European cup) Cross country 0 0
Slope 4A - Snezhanka Cross country 0 0
Slope 5A - BypassMalina Cross country 0 0
Slope 7 - Orlovetz Cross country 0 0
Slope 8 - Perelik (South) Cross country 0 0
Slope 10 - Delyovo dere (Ladies slalom) Cross country 0 0
Slope 13 Border cross (Race track) Cross country 0 0
Slope Mechi chal Cross country 0 0
Slope 1A - Bypass (Small Wall) Cross country 0 0
Slope 5 - Malina Cross country 0 0
Slope 9 - Smolyan lakes Cross country 0 0

Apres ski

Being one of the most popular mountain resorts in Bulgaria, Pamporovo has a lot to offer for the skiers and snowboarders who love to party and have a good time after the enjoying days on the slopes.

In general there are many places that worth visiting, and there are no places that look similar. Every bar, pub or disco has its unique style and atmosphere. The local people have developed a good selection of places to go.
The staff in most places is professional, very helpful and friendly. English (plus some other popular languages) is widely spoken.

Most of the famous drinks are available. Local or imported alcohols, beers and wines are available at very reasonable prices. Regular "Happy hours" provide drinks on half price to start the night with.

DJs will give their best to make your party special. Music is mainly dance hits, but any requests are welcome.

There is no entrance fee in any disco or club in Pamporovo.

Talking about the night life in the resort, there are few places that deserve special attention:

- The White Hart: Reported to be the hottest spot this winter. Traditionally designed pub with own unique style. Run by Steve Clark this place is the best for party, loads of amusements, Karaoke every Thur, very good food, etc.
- BJ's: in the lobby of hotel Perelik.
- Dak's Bar: on the ground floor of hotel Snejanka.
- Night Flight: in hotel Rojen. A new disco, the largest in Pamporovo.

Check out information about bars and restaurants in Pamporovo here.

  • Gloria Mar Restaurant

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    Gloria Mar is a stylish Bulgarian restaurant chain, with a high quality cuisine, excellent service and elegant interior. You can make a reservation at +359 893 55 00 55 to make... read more

Recommended hotels

Pamporovo offers luxury comfort in high-class hotels, built in an original Rhodopes style. We have prepared a special selection of the best hotels in Pamporovo, offering excellent quality at the best possible rate.

Browse the hotels and choose the hotel the suit your requirements. We kindly ask you to fill in the booking form and a representative of BulgariaSki.com will be in touch with you shortly.

  • Price from 83€ Single Room Check all prices

    Orlovetz Hotel      

    Resort: Pamporovo Show map

    The five-star hotel Orlovetz is located in a lovely place in the center of Pamporovo resort. The hotel is an equivalent of luxury, calmness and coziness, combining them elegantly for the comfort of its...

    4.1/5
  • Price from 52€ Single Room Check all prices

    Murgavets Hotel     

    Resort: Pamporovo Show map

    Murgavets Grand Hotel is located in the centre of Pamporovo. The hotel is open to visitors all year round and offers excellent conditions for recreation, sports, tourism, business meetings, seminars and company events and...

    3.7/5
  • Best deal
    Price from 59€ Single Room Check all prices

    Finlandia Hotel     

    Resort: Pamporovo Show map

    Finlandia hotel is situated amidst evergreen pine forests, 800 meters away from the lifts and ski runs and within walking distance from the resort...

    3.5/5
  • Price from 61€ One-bedroom apartment Check all prices
    Resort: Pamporovo Show map

    Kamelia Apartment Complex is located on the ski track. The unique position allows guests to ski down the hill right after the exit of the Ski...

    4.1/5
  • Price from 77€ One-bedroom apartment Check all prices
    Resort: Pamporovo Show map

    Malina Residence Hotel is situated just 150m away from the Pamporovo ski center, among the tranquility and beauty of the venerable pine...

    0.0/5
View more recommended hotels

Places to go during your ski holiday in Pamporovo

Guests of Pamporovo can take tours to some of the remarkable sightseeing around. We have shortlisted some of the resorts and places of interest in the Rhodope mountain nearby Pamporovo resort that worth to be visited.

Smolyan is a town in the Rodopi mountain, just 15 km from Pamporovo ski resort. The town offers a lot of historical and cultural landmarks as well as beautiful nature – lakes, rocks, forests and national parks. Smolyan is a starting position for different routes in the Rodopes.

- Smolyan Lakes are protected area with splendid landscape - mountain lakes with coniferous forest, varied marsh plant life. They are known as the “emerald eyes of the Rodope Mountains.” They used to be twenty, but now there are just 7 preserved. The whole region is like a natural park.

- Bachkovo Monastery - The “Assumption” monastery is the second large monastery in Bulgaria. It is situated in the western part of Rodope Mountain 10 km away from Asenovgrad. It was founded by Grigoriy Bukuriani – Georgian military commander who was at the service of the Byzantine Emperor. After the Ottomans conquered Bulgaria in the end of 14 century the heroic patriarch St. Evtimiy Tarnovski was send into exile in the monastery, were he stayed until the end of the life. He was buried here. At first the monastery survived after the ottomans attacks but later it was burned down and plundered.

- Chepelare is a beautiful mountain town, lying in a small valley at the heart of the Rhodopes, just 10 km from Pamporovo. The ski runs of vary in difficulty from black to green and the longest ski run in Bulgaria is in Chepelare. High-speed quad lift connects the town with the Mechi Chal peak. A few smaller drag lifts are also in favour of the skiers on the slopes. Chepelare is a small ski resort, so the average prices of the hotels and the ski services are lower compared to Bansko, Borovets and Pamporovo.

- Devin is famous for its favourable climate and mineral water springs. The spa resort of Devin is picturesquely situated on the two banks of Devinska River, in the Western Rodophi Mountains. It is situated only 35 km from Pamporovo ski resort. A balneo-sanatorium and an open-air mineral water pool are built to meet the needs of the healthy holiday-makers. Devin mineral water, bolted in the town, is extensively used for drinking and is ecologically pure.

- Gela village is located at the foot of the most magnificent peaks of the Rhodopes. The village is 18 km away from Pamporovo and 30 km away from Smolyan town. Gela village was founded more than 3300 years ago and it has preserved beautiful legends. Every summer the village hosts a National Bagpipe Festival, attracting hundreds of fans of Bulgarian folk music, tourists and professionals.

- Trigrad is located at 1240 m above the sea level in the Western part of the Rhodope mountain, nearby the Bulgarian-Greek border. The houses have perched on the rocky hills surrounded by impressive rock massifs. Among the attractions in the village is a horseback riding base. Rock climbing and delta-planer flights are also available in the region. Three of the most interesting tourism attractions in Bulgaria are located in close vicinity to the village – these are “Yagodinska” cave, “The Devil's throat” cave and the Trigrad Gorge.
The Trigrad region is one of the biggest carst regions in Bulgaria. There are over 150 caves in the region.

Comments Pamporovo

     
  • Neo From United Kingdom
    Sent on 15 February 2018
    The hotel it’s a brilliant idea however there are aspects you would be surprised to stumble upon We arrived late at night about 10pm. Greater by a very polite hostes she kindly provided us with prepacked sandwiches as the restaurant closed at 9pm ( we called in advance to ask if such is possible especially when you have young ckranky from long travel hours in multiple travel vechicles The room very spatious. Bed cover had some suspicious sticky stains that absolutely horrified me at the thought that my children could possibly put their tiny hands on to that. One of the bath robes provided had a black stain on its back, the other bath robe had its pocket thorn out and just hanging. There was a massive flaky, mouldy, damp patch in the corner on the ceiling. The toilet was leaking on the floor. Breakfast food was cold and rancid with a queue for pncakes quite long and very impatient as pancakes was the only food that you could have still warm. Boiled eggs were cold and so hard the yolk was dusty . Fried eggs were dry... won’t even go to details about the rest of the food. As the drinks offered to be purchased by the restaurant aren’t the healthiest of choice for children (all the juices on choice contained added multiple preserving agents and colourants) we asked if possible to have some tap water. It proved to be a terrible mistake, we were told that yes but we would have to pay for it, then told that if they bring a jug for us everyone else will be asking for it, then he brought a manager who was more rude than the server and plainly put it that even if we have children asking for water we would have to buy bottled water and she is not prepared to give us water for free, unnecessarily often stressing the ?free’ word. There are far more many good things that are good about this hotel. It’s main let down it’s restaurant staff who are poor hospitality professionals and frankly plain rude.
  • Lasse WP From Denmark
    Sent on 15 February 2015
    We just had a wonderful trip to Pamporovo. We were a group of 10 adults, and 3 small children (1 to 3 years old), who stayed at the Castle complex, in 4 apartments, for a week (7 days stay, 6 days skiing) Everything at the Castle was great, and the staff was very forthcoming and helpful in every way. The apartments were very practical, and equipped with all necessities. Not luxurious, but really good and adequate in size and layout. You should note though, that towels are not changed every day. Towels are not needed to bring to the spa area and treatments. The food at the Excalibur restaurant was typical for the area, and well prepared. The staff at the restaurant is also great. The Castle complex is situated 2-3 km. from Ski center 2 (Malina). It is of course easiest if you are driving, but there are shuttles from the hotel to the ski center and lift. Ski in-/out is possible at the backside of the complex. We had booked ski- and snowboard packages, and that worked out perfectly as well. The snowboard instructor was a true professional. Patient and very focused on making sure that all of us learned the moves, at our own individual pace. Everyone had a great time, and learned a lot. The area was perfect for us, as we are all beginners on snowboards. Had we been on skies, I suspect the terrain would not be challenging enough for an entire week. We can definitely recommend Pamporovo, and the Castle complex, and will be back next year.
  • kostisx From greece
    Sent on 18 January 2015
    ?αυμάσιο χιονοδρομικό κέντρο. Έρχομαι εδώ και 3 χρόνια κάθε χρόνο. Πολύ καλή σχολή σκι, πολύ περιποιημένες οι πίστες , οικονομικές τιμές, ανάλογες με την ευρωπαϊκή κρίση. Κατηφόρες για όλα τα γούστα και με πολλά λιφτ χωρίς πολλές πολλές ουρές. Δεν είναι εκείνο το κακό που γίνεται στο Μπάνσκο με την γόνδολα κάθε πρωϊ τις ατελείωτες ουρές και τις παρατημένες πίστες όλο πέτρα που καταστρέφεις τα σκι σου και κινδυνεύεις να τραυματιστείς. Το συνιστώ σε κάθε σκιέρ που θέλει να ευχαριστηθεί το χιόνι..
  • Our Nige From England
    Sent on 06 January 2015
    I'm going back to Pamporovo soon for the fifth time, what you have to remember with all ski resorts is that the weather is a gamble and you cannot guarantee good snow ! The first time I went there it was snow all the way from Sofia and so deep at the resort you had great skiing and more snow came almost nightly, the next time there was no snow in sight until you got up into the village and even then it was poor , however up the piste it was as good as they could get it with the help of snow cannons and although not all the slopes were open you had reasonable skiing on what was usable. Don't write-off a resort based on one poor season study the weather reports and see when the snow is at its best then try it again. Personally I have had some brilliant skiing at all the Bulgarian resorts and also poor snow at each too but with the effort put in by the slope dressers and the warmth of the locals you normally get a good time ! And its a lot cheaper than Austria !
  • Dobo From united kingdom
    Sent on 06 January 2015
    Fantastic views of Pampi, can,t wait to be back on the 17th
  • Jnet From UK
    Sent on 06 January 2014
    Just had a brilliant week's skiing (and walking) in Pamporovo - the sun shone every day, there was plenty of snow, the pistes were well groomed and, as always, the restaurants and staff were friendly and welcoming. If you've been before you'll know how great Pamporovo and Bulgaria are and if it's your first time you'll be pleasantly surprised! In our opinion - best hot chocolate - Panorama Terrace Bar at the mid station, THE best spit roast chicken - The Lodge at the top (get there early!), best wild mushroom soup - the little restaurant to the left of the six person ski lift at the top, best home cured ham - Ochko's at the top and best overall friendly welcome, hot wine and pizza - Brothers! (If you can make it down into Smolyan town for an evening, the prices are even cheaper and a huge meal at the Pamporovata Kushta, on the left half way down the main street, will only set you back around £6 a head including drinks.)
  • KC Johan From UK
    Sent on 29 November 2013
    Pamporovo looks good now:) I'll be there December 20th:)
  • sandy From greece
    Sent on 30 January 2013
    we staye in Pamporovo 2013 took our 3 kids to pamparovo and we loved it they went skiing for the 1st time the instructor we got for them was from the mirone ski school his name was Angelo and the guy who sorted the kids out for their boots and ski's was george they were great and really professional, the resort was great it snowed for 2 days solid, just a pity we had to come home, everything up there was amazing there is some where to eat or get a drink, our kids are only small, but the other piste's were really busy and just seeing the amount of people coming down was great, we had a great time the kids loved it i really can not say 1 bad thing about Pamporovo even Forest Nook where we stayed was amazing the chalet which belonged to a lady called Diane chalet 7 was beautiful will be going again next year no doubt ,
  • kaz From Ireland
    Sent on 29 January 2013
    here come the Irish on Sunday!
  • Lori From Belfast
    Sent on 28 January 2013
    Coming here on 3rd Feb 2013 for the 12th year in a row! cannot wait, would highly recommend Bulgaria to anyone!
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