FROM THE MEDIA

Travel

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO NEW WAVE SKI RESORTS

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Is eastern Europe a joke?

Not all the resorts in eastern Europe deserve to be a joke among skiers. Bansko (00 359 7443 8911; www.banskoski.com ), a Unesco World Heritage area in Bulgaria's Pirin Mountains, has had a complete overhaul thanks to an injection of foreign capital. The new base development with modern, high- quality accommodation compliments the original, largely unspoilt traditional Bulgarian village located 12km away. The resort is adding a new ice rink, horse riding, bowling and sleigh rides to compliment lift and slope upgrades on the mountain.

To the south, the Serbian ski resort of Kopaonik may soon be back in the brochures as the formerly politically incorrect destination, which was bombed by Nato in 1999 but now has a democratic government, has notched up several years of stability.

Serbia's national tourism promotion body is currently pushing modern and well-designed Kopaonik with its 25 lifts, by far the largest of Serbia's winter resorts. The resort was popular with the British for nearly 20 years until the 1999 pull-out, and a spokeswoman for leading operators Thomson and Crystal stated that during that period visitor numbers were "quite high".