BOROVETS - PEARL OF THE RILA MOUNTAINS

Borovets is located at the foot of Musala peak in the Rila Mountains. It is a typical European-style mountain resort. Until 1942 it was called Chamkoriya, and the first villas were built there at the end of the 19th century. Here you can enjoy lovely panoramas if you take a jeep-safari through the Sefer Mountains to Lake Iskar, the Black Cliff and the Seven Lakes of Rila, or if you prefer walking tours along the various tourist paths. Excellent opportunities for practising winter sports attract thousands of fans of the mountains from both Bulgaria and abroad, and many facilities have been created for tourists. There are 10 centres in Borovets where you can hire skis, ski equipment and sledges. The resort was twice a host of the World Championship of Alpine Skiing, and the area for biathlon is one of the best in the world.

The ski-runs have a total length of more than 45 km, with various degrees of difficulty, and are grouped in three regions: Sitnyakovo, Markudzhik and Yastrebets. The pistes are kept in excellent condition, and are marked with signs in several languages.

The lift to Yastrebets peak is impressive. Its capacity is 1,200 people per hour, and it reaches the summit in 23 minutes.

The municipality of Samokov plans mega-construction in the resort of Borovets, and has given the green light to the Samokov – Borovets – Beli Iskar project, familiarly known as ‘Super Borovets’, as a response to the millions of Levs that Bansko succeeded in attracting as a tourist destination. The ecologists have warned that hundreds of hectares of municipal forests in the Rila are to be cleared imminently, before the building project and an evaluation of its influence on the environment are carried out. Despite the protests of specialists and social figures, the project, valued at more than 300 million Levs, is very ambitious. It is expected to be finished by 2009, giving Bulgaria the opportunity to submit an application to host the Winter Olympic Games in 2014.

According to the project plan, the first of the three future zones will be the so-called ‘Low Borovets’, situated at more than 1,100 m above sea level, 6 km from Samokov. According to the structural plan, only houses of up to 3 storeys, in a Renaissance style, private hotels and villas will be allowed to be built there, over an area of 200 hectares. It is expected that a golf course, sports facilities, car parks and rowing, fishing, and similar facilities will be constructed around the Beli Iskar river.

The second zone, ‘Middle Borovets’ – about 1,300 metres above sea level – is at the present location of the resort. No new building anticipated.

The third and most expensive zone will be called ‘Super Borovets’. It will be built at a height of 1,600 m, near the ‘Saragyol’ hut in the area called ‘Gvardeyska Polyana’. This will boast super-luxury 5-star hotels. The lack of infrastructure will be a problem for investors, but they hope to obtain a state donation for its development.

If the project Samokov – Borovets – Beli Iskar materialises, the total length of the ski-runs will be 95 km, and the accommodation base will ‘swell’ from 7,000 to 14,000, or even 18,000, beds according to the forecasts of the municipality. Two new gondola-lifts are planned to be built, and further investment is sought for two new ski areas in both western and eastern directions. The three zones will be connected to each other by lifts.

A new 10-km long ski-track from Markudzhik to Borovets, skirting Tsarska Bistritsa, is being constructed at this moment. (We have learned this from the proprietors of ‘Borosport’.) It will be used as an emergency track in case one of the lifts breaks down or the weather is bad. The capacity of this lift is 7,000 people per hour.

The old snow-compacting machines are being repaired for the forthcoming winter season, and a modern machine for preparing the surfaces of the ski-runs will be used. This year the resort is equipped with two stations which will keep a permanent radio connection between the trails and lifts in case of damage or accident.

Regarding the investments in this region, the English investor, Mr. Steve Avery, says: “Although Borovets is Bulgaria’s first and best-known ski resort, it stagnated for years… until now. The ‘Super Borovets’ project, funded by EU, governmental, foreign and local business sources, is scheduled to run from 2005 to 2009, and will revitalise the whole region around the town to a radius of 10-12km. This has already started to affect property values in the surrounding areas. To give an example, in March 2004 we bought, unseen, a half-acre plot in a village 15km from Borovets. When I visited it, I discovered that it wasn’t suitable for building apartments; so, I put it on the market in August. By November it was sold at an 80% profit – after all costs were deducted! I am personally of the opinion that the ‘Bansko effect’ could strike around Borovets at any moment. That’s the reason why Bulgaria Properties Ltd is developing four projects here, and only two in Bansko. We can sell these apartments about 20% cheaper – at the moment, anyway. Borovets must surely offer a better return on investment, regardless of the type of property bought: land, a shack, whatever”.

In brief:
- The closest international airport, Sofia, is about 1 hour away by car, and Plovdiv airport not more than 2 hours by car
- The highest ski-piste – 2,560 m above sea level
- Total length of the ski-pistes – more than 45 km
- Longest ski-piste – 5.8 km
- Lift system: 2 chair-lifts, 6 drag-lifts, 1 gondola-lift, dozens of children’s drag-lifts
- Main exposure of the slopes – north

Information courtesy of "Tourism & Property" magazine, Plovdiv - November 2005.

Details about price madness in Bansko, golf developments in Bulgaria, and new apartments in Bansko and Borovets can be seen at the Bulgaria Properties Ltd web site www.BulgariaProperties.net. You can e-mail questions to advice@BulgariaProperties.net, or, if you have no Internet connection, call the company (in UK) at 0871 226 2296 to order a free 30-page hand-out, or just for a chat, if you prefer. They always have time for you.

To link to this article in your web site, place the following HTML code in your web page:

<em>Read the article </em><a href="http://www.BulgariaProperties.net/Borovets - Pearl of the Rila Mountains.html" target="_blank"><strong>Borovets - Pearl of the Rila Mountains</strong></a>