Featured Destination
Serbia
EXIT Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia: Overnight Exile in the Fortress
Located roughly in the middle between Bulgaria's Black Sea and Croatia’s Adriatic coasts, which are both shaken by high-energy rock parties each July, Novi Sad hosts one of the most significant summer festivals on the Balkans – EXIT. As fans from all parts of the region start to gather in the town for for this year’s event, scheduled to take place between July 10 and 13, Mila Popova recounts about the time she spent at the festival last summer.
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Balkan Cuisine
Serbia
Serbians' Buttery Pride
Like all nations, the people of the Balkans also have their culinary obsessions: the Turks put aubergines over everything, the Greeks – oregano, and the Bulgarians – a herb known as tshubritsa (a kind of savory), thus making the meaning of the saying "Every meal – with savory" literal (the proverb is normally used in reference to people who stick their nose in everything). Full Story
Routes Less Travelled
Greece
The Dönmeh: the Judeo-Islamic Mystery of Thessaloniki
Neither Muslims nor Jews, but rather a bit of both, Thessaloniki’s Dönmeh were the most influential group in the city over a period of almost 400 years. The rumours that the founder of modern Turkey, Kemal Atatürk, was one of them remain unconfirmed. But spending a few days in present-day Thessaloniki makes one wonder whether the city has really managed to rid itself of the influence of the eclectic, and often purely extravagant, tastes of the now extinct sect. Full Story
Kosovo
Clay Faces and Hope for the Future Illuminate Kosovo
Macedonia
Tito, Teto and Some Troubled Tourism Await You in Tetovo, Macedonia
Urban Browser
Serbia
Subotica: Off the Highway, Beyond the Lakes
For some, Subotica is just a town off the Belgrade-Budapest highway. For those who haven't stopped there, that is.
“Shalom, shalom! Dear All, Invitation/ Meghívó / Pozivnica”– thus begins an invitation of Subotica’s library. For most, this town – in northern Serbia’s Vojvodina province, is just a point along the Belgrade-Budapest highway, best bypassed with 120 kilometres per hour. Full Story
Curiosity Chest
Serbia
Mocasins, Trainers or... Borosana?
From Belgrade to Zagreb, and from Kopaonik to Opatija to Dubrovnik, if there is one thing uniting Serbia and Croatia since the disintegration of the Yugoslav federation, it would be the Borosana shoes – an orthopedic, open toe and heel model Full Story
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
If there were three places in Bulgaria where one would never consider spending a week of vacation, those would probably be Pernik, Karnobat and Shumen. The last one, however, does not deserve its wretched reputation.
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Bulgaria in 3 Days: Sofia and Mount Vitosha
Hidden Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Genghis Khan’s Descendents Swap Central Asia’s Altay for Bulgaria’s Balkan Mountain
Picture this: In the foot of the Balkan Mountain, in Central Bulgaria, tourists gather for an authentic taste. But not of the quant villages scattered in the skirts of the mountain. Rather, for an authentic taste of Mongolia.
The recent move of six Mongolians who set up their yurts on a meadow near the town of Sopot created an exotic island where visitors can experience the tastes, smells and images of Mongolia, the land of Genghis Khan.
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Kabiyuk, The Horse "Factory" Bulgaria Inherited from the Ottoman Empire
Useful reads
Serbia
Three Contemporary Serbian Authors Worth Reading
Milorad Pavic | David Albahari | Alexandar Hemon
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Music Box
Bulgaria
Experimenting with Eastern Orthodox Chants
Milen Ivanov/Daniel Spasov | Thou Art Blessed, Lord |Kuker Music, 2007 Full Story
Balkan Coasts
The (Possibly) Last Outpost of the Bulgarian Black Sea’s Old Charms
Bulgaria
Only 30 kilometres from the Turkish-Bulgarian border, Ahtopol is considered to be one of the last spots that have preserved the old charms of Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast. Full Story
Samothrace: Nike Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Turkey: All's Quiet Between Çanakkale and Babakale
Balkan Mountains
Meteora, the Second Sky Over Greece
Greece
The unearthly view of the 700-metre high stone pillars, crowned by monasteries, is a James Bond film décor and an inspiration to the musicians of the neo-metal band Linkin Park who named one of their albums after this place. Full Story
Bulgaria: Strandzha's Mysteries
Turkey: Guarding the Gardens of Eden
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Photogalleries
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A Perfect Shot
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
Annoyances in the Balkans
Balkans
Relentless Homophobia Rages in the Balkans
Be IN-tolerant! Be normal!, appeals a poster (pictured above) that recently flooded the streets of the Bulgarian capital, Sofia.
As the first gay pride parade in Bulgaria is about to take place, amid strong opposition by nationalistic organisations and a large part of society, the high levels of persistent homophobia in the country and the Full Story
Insiders' Advice
Is it easy to drive in the Balkans? Depends. If you are looking for adrenalin, this is a cheap way to get it. Expats say the best tactics is not to get annoyed.
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How to pick the right time to go? Winter is beautiful in the high mountains, the problem is, it can be so cold! Then again, who cares how cold it is - the locals have a cheap cure: heavy red wine. Sometimes warmed up.
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You can't trust local maps. Nor some international travel guides. One of them, for instance, says, that Neretva River in Bosnia and Herzegovina flows FROM the Adriatic towards the inland of the Balkans, never reaching the sea. OK, how about the Neretva delta and channel in Croatia?
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The Big Book of Travelling
United States
The Rise of Burlesque in New York: Tassels and the City
Burlesque – the more audacious relative of commedia dell'arte, is in revival. A reality in “upside down style”, this creative, witty and softer version of striptease is back on stage, following an absence of nearly 80 years. In New York, Anjeza Bojku scoped out several burlesqee venues for BalkanTravellers.com. Full Story
Thailand
A Short Guide to the Peculiarities of Thai Food
Travel News
25 June 2008 | Between June 26 and 28 and July 10 to 13, a new crossing point will be function on the border between Serbia and Romania.
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Blog
Christopher Deliso : The Hurricane Christopher Deliso : Macedonia's Village Tourism Christopher Deliso : Big Railroad Blues
