Featured Destination
Kosovo
Kosovo: Tea and Tito in Mitrovica's North
It's known as "Bosnian Mahalla". Home to many of northern Mitrovica's Bosniaks, the neighbourhood in the city in northern Kosovo is also frequented by Albanians and Serbs, making it an ethnic mixing bowl.
On the surface, life feels tranquil. At the stores, you can buy chocolates as well as traditional specialties such as ajvar (hajvar) and lutenica. New buildings have sprung up, financed by the Serbian government. Landmarks include a Jugobanka branch office and, above all, the locally famous Shera's Café.
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Epicure
Macedonia
Ohrid Summer Festival Promotes Pepper and Aubergine Relish, Ajvar
2 July 2009 | This year, one of Macedonia’s biggest cultural events – the Ohrid Summer Festival, will not only bring a month filled with music, art and theatre to the city of Ohrid, but will also promote a Macedonian culinary delight – ajvar.
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Routes Less Travelled
Greece
Mount Athos in Northern Greece: Women… Well, They Can Light a Candle on Internet!
Oblivious to modernity, Eastern Orthodox Christianity’s spiritual home, Mount Athos, lives somewhere in the tenth century. Feminist movements, secular demands and technological developments make occasional dents in the all-male monastic stronghold but major changes are unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future. Full Story
Albania
Albania: Monastery at Mesopotam, Photographed by Massimiliano Fusari
Macedonia
Tito, Teto and Some Troubled Tourism Await You in Tetovo, Macedonia
Urban Browser
Turkey
Ani Fades Away in the No Man's Land between Turkey and Armenia
We pass by Ocakli, the last Turkish village before the border with Armenia. The mythical Armenian capital Ani, which at the end of the ninth century outshined Constantinople, Cairo, and Baghdad with its splendour, lies somewhere before us. Chronicles called it "City of 1,001 Churches" and a replica of Istanbul’s Saint Sophia used to stand in its centre.
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Tryavna, Central Bulgaria: A Picturesque Study in Contrasts
Albania
Gjirokastër: Albania’s Town of the Stones
Curiosity Chest
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Controversial Church Relocated in Bosnia and Herzegovina
12 June 2009 | A Muslim-Orthodox rift in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has come to a peaceful, but controversial, end after an Islamic community paid to move an Orthodox church from the site of a mosque destroyed in the BiH conflict.
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Bulgaria 3/7/14
Bulgaria
Bulgaria in 5 days: Shumen, South of Nowhere
Patriotic ruins, a Coca Cola-branded mosque, a “stud factory” and a capsule, containing a message for future generations: these are only part of modern Shumen’s surprising charms. Full Story
Bulgaria
Bulgaria in 3 Days: Sofia and Mount Vitosha
Bulgaria
Go Green in Bulgaria: 23 Eco-Hotels and Guest Houses to Choose From
Hidden Bulgaria
Bulgaria
From Sofia to the Village of Lakatnik in an Old Locomotive
About a century after Ivan Vazov wrote his short story “To Zhaluysha with Iron Train Cars,” in which he remarked on the great strides in railroad progress and development, present-day journalist, writer and photographer Stefan Galibov also took a train journey Full Story
Bulgaria
Along Suleiman the Magnificent's Bridge in Svilengrad
Bulgaria
Scenic Waterfalls Surround Bulgaria’s Medieval Capital
Balkan Coasts
The Blue Eye Water Spring in Southern Albania Beckons with Coolness
Albania
Once reserved for the communist élite, the Blue Eye water spring in southern Albania now beckons all visitors, regardless of their political leanings, with its cool waters and the shady grounds that surround it.
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Balchik: Here Queen Marie Left Her Heart. In a Jar
From Opatija to Ioannina
Balkan Mountains
Treasure-Hunting in Bulgaria’s Eastern Rodopi Mountains: Ancient Sites and Whimsical Rocks
Bulgaria
While Bulgaria’s seaside and mountain resorts continue to attract the bulk of both domestic and international tourists, more unconventional destinations around the country are also starting to become popular with travellers. Full Story
Meteora, the Second Sky Over Greece
Roman Ruins and a Rural Paradise in Bulgaria’s Western Rodopi Mountains
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Photogalleries
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A Perfect Shot
In Homo Urbanus Europeanus, exhibited May 9-24 in front of the National Theatre in Sofia, Jean-Marc Caracci presents his photographs of people in the urban environment of European capitals.
RED&WHITE SOFIA. On the 1st of March Bulgarians say goodbye to the winter. They buy each other red&white threads to carry around until they see a stork and spring can begin. Photography by Lode Desmet
BULGARIA D'OR: The Bulgarian countryside, patinated with the noble golden dust of the autumn. Photographs by Lode Desmet
360 degrees Bulgaria, an exhibition by photographer Alexandar Ivanov, is on display at the Sea Garden in Varna until August 28. It will be shown at Plovdiv’s Central Square from Sept 5.
The exhibition Photographs of a Trip Through Bulgaria by Hungarian photographer András Balla can be seen in Sofia's Hungarian Cultural Institute, at Aksakov 16 Street, until August 22
Instant Spring in Sofia | Photographs by Lode Desmet
Off-the-season Beauty of Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast | Photographs by Adelina Iliev
Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea Coast
Photographs by Albena Shkodrova
excellent smugs
Travel News
3 July 2009 | Starting today, the ancient amphitheatre of Epidaurus begins its summer programme of theatre performances every weekend, to the delight of Greeks and foreign visitors.
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Blog
Morelle Smith : The Silence of Lorna Christopher Deliso : Lonely Planet Western Balkans guide is here! Christopher Deliso : Macedonia's New CNN Tourism Ad Gets Domestic Criticism