Pamporovo, Bulgaria

PAMPOROVO, the "Gem of the Rhodopes", has been undergoing intensive development in recent years, mostly in the form of massive luxury hotel and apartment complexes that are springing up at an astonishing rate. One of the most popular destinations for package tours, it's become known as the "Sunny Beach" of winter tourism and is frequently overrun with groups of English and Irish tourists on cheap holidays who party rowdily most nights. That said, it's a stunning location, and is still a user-friendly ski resort where mild weather and good snow-cover make skiing conditions near perfect from mid-December to mid-April, with a range of classes and pistes to suit everyone from absolute beginners to the pros. Over summer it is marketed as a mountains-and-lakes resort, with a number of organized walking and cycling tours on offer – though hikers would do better elsewhere – but in May and from September until the start of the skiing season Pamporovo is pretty forlorn, with only a few hotels and facilities open.