Borovets, Bulgaria

Winter wonderland for your wallet. Borovets ski resort in Bulgaria

This frosty scene shows Borovets, Bulgaria's oldest winter resort, established in 1896. It's a budget-friendly skiing alternative to the more expensive resorts in the Alps, especially for beginners and those looking for fun on the slopes without shelling out the big bucks.

The resort area was once used by Bulgarian royalty as hunting grounds. Borovets covers the foothills and ridge-spine of Musala Peak, the highest mountain in Bulgaria and the Balkans, in the eastern Rila Mountains, only a few dozen miles south of the national capital, Sofia.