The town of Tryavna is one of Bulgaria’s top 100 tourist sites and, as such, it attracts tourists from around the country and abroad with its well-maintained architecture, quaint streets and traditional crafts workshops.

But, as... Full Story

The city of Gjirokastër in the southern part of Albania has several claims to fame. Besides being the birthplace of two of the most important Albanians – communist dictator Full Story

August in Sofia is somewhat of a ghost month. The usual crowds vanish, and hairy and bearded loners populate the streets. Given up on finding a working barber (Gone swimming. Will reopen on September 1), they wander the streets in search of a... Full Story

Visitors to Istanbul usually head straight for the city’s traditional landmarks – the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Topkapı Palace or the enormous Kapalıçarşı bazaar. Typically, not much attention is paid to the medieval walls that still... Full Story

The expression Panta rhei, which embodies the ancient Greeks’ resignation to this world's state of flux, was first used to characterise the thought of Heraclitus, a philosopher born in Ephesus.

And it is no wonder. His native town is a precise... Full Story

Unless you take the other one, in the dead of night, the train arrives in late afternoon and by that time you just want to sit down and sleep against the window. But usually the press of people, all pushing and clamouring to board (grandmothers... Full Story

Ohrid is slowly leaving behind its past, which embraces Medievalism, Revivalism and Communism. So much the better Full Story

During the Ottoman Empire’s decline, merchants of rose oil, silk and linen built one of Bulgaria’s most impressive urban centres

In the middle of Djumaya – the square that marks the historical centre of Plovdiv, stands a high pillar topped... Full Story

Whether from a nostalgia for its existence as an imperial centre or as an escape from reality, the literary obsession of the Serbian capital grows with every passing season.

If a 24-hour bookstore is ever opened on the Balkans, the place where... Full Story