Resort height: 1300m
The mountains
There are 58km of pistes in Borovets, which is a modest size for a modern resort. Most of the runs are of intermediate standard, but there is also a popular area of beginner slopes near the Rila hotel in the centre of the village. These can be crowded in high-season weeks, but are a good place to learn outside the school holidays, and the ski school has a long experience of teaching Brits. Once they've mastered their turns, beginners can then progress to a number of easy runs in both piste sectors.
Provided they don't mind skiing the same runs repeatedly over the course of a week, intermediates can also have fun in Borovets - though it's worth paying for some private tuition (cheap, compared with the Alps) to add interest to the week. Bear in mind that the old-fashioned lift system generates big queues during the school holidays.
More expert skiers and snowboarders should target a bigger, steeper resort in the Alps or the Rockies.
Getting there
It's only a 90-minute transfer from Sofia airport to Borovets.
Rating: 
6/10
Après-ski
Party animals can have a lot of fun in Borovets, fuelled by cheap beer and Bulgarian Raika. The Buzz bar, which opens at 3pm in the afternoon, and shuts 13 hours later, is a popular venue, so too Chilli Peppers Bar and Food, which serves burgers and wraps to hungry Brits who don't like their hotel's food. By general consensus, hotel cooking is not great in Bulgaria, and even if you've booked a half-board package, you may find yourself eating out on several nights at venues such as Mamacita's, where charming waiters and live music add extra spice to the Mexican food and Katy's steak pub, which serves highly-rated hamburgers.
Rating: 
5/10
Non-skiers
Day trips to Sofia and the monasteries at Rila, Bachkovo, and Preobrazhenie are the main attraction, although you can also visit hotel spas (open to the public during the day), try ice-skating or go ski-mobiling or tobogganing.
Rating: 
10/10
Cost of living
The best bit about Borovets is the pricing. You can pick up flights, transfers and an accommodation package here for as little as £320, full price - and for £250 if you snap up a late-booking discount. Food and drink is cheap too.
Rating: 5/10
Attractiveness of the resort
After a fresh dump, the treelined pistes on the lower slopes are charming. The resort itself has a cheerful atmosphere (low prices have that effect on people!), but you couldn't call the big, slab-sided hotels pretty.
