A Balkan Summer

Spectacular Kotor in Montenegro

The magnificent rebuilt bridge at Mostar in Bosnia and Hercegovina

Plitvice Lakes in Croatia

I know: Europe’s Balkan peninsula is hardly a little-known area of the world these days, but it’s definitely one of the earth’s more beautiful corners, and exploring just a few of its countless attractions this year made for an unforgettable summer. Here are pics of few favourite places. Most of these places are written up in plenty of guide books, so I’m not gonna add any more here, but instead simply say that if you get the chance to go – GO! It’s a stunning, stunning region.

MOLDOVA

The beautiful gorge of Orheiul Vechi…

…and one of the amazing cave churches hewn out of the cliffs.

ROMANIA

Bran Castle, famous for its association with historical figure Vlad the Impaler (who became the inspiration for Bram Stocker’s Dracula)

Magnificent Sinaia Castle, 90 minutes from the Romanian capital, Bucharest

Brasov, in Transylvania

One of the many beautiful old buildings in Brasov’s old center

Sighisoara, in Transyvania; truly a fairytale setting

Sighisoara and the surrounding area is famed for the slightly spooky ‘eye’ windows in many buildings’ roofs

Ceausescu’s Palace of Parliament in Bucharest is the second largest building the world, and has to be seen be believed – both inside and out!

BULGARIA

Huge fields of sunflowers are a common sight all across the Balkans during July

Storks nesting on the chimneys of buildings are another uniquely Balkan sight. The birds return to the same nest each year to rear their young.

Rila Monastery, Bulgaria’s most important religious center, is set in a beautiful mountain setting several hours south of the capital, Sofia.

The outside wall of Rila Monastery is completely covered with astonishingly beautiful murals

This anti-government protest, which had been going on each evening for a period of time when we passed through Sofia, was amazingly calm, good natured, and peaceful

MACEDONIA

On magnificent Lake Ohrid

ALBANIA

the old and extremely scenic Ottoman village of Berat clings to a craggy hillside topped by the best and most exciting castle we saw on the entire trip.

Peeping out the top of the old minaret, inside the castle on the crag above Berat

Beautiful Berat

MONTENEGRO

Magnificent Kotor lies on the spectacular Bay of Kotor, often called southern Europe’s most spectacular Fjord

In the amazing old walled town of Kotor

A footpath zigzagging up the craggy mountainside provides a far more interesting (and free) alternative entrance to the castle perched spectacularly on the cliffs above Kotor town

An old stone church, hidden in a valley behind the crags on which Kotor Castle stands

Perast, on the banks for the Bay of Kotor not far from Kotor town

The mausoleum of King Njegos crowns the second highest peak in the rocky Montenegro (‘black mountains’), after which the country is named

The ultra exclusive Aman Sveti Stefan resort charges a cool US$1,500 and up for a night’s accommodation. Ordinary folk can go as far as the little causeway linking to the island, and can even use the beach on the mainland side – for a fifty euro fee!

CROATIA

Dubrovnik is expensive, commercialized and overrun with tourists these days; however without a doubt it’s also one of the world’s most beautiful towns

Dubrovnik at night

The main drag through Dubrovnik’s old walled town, the Placa

The best place to see Dubrovnik is from the city walls, regarded as the finest in the world

VIew from the town walls

Kyaking on one of the beautiful islands near Dubrovnik

Sunset in beautiful Zadar

The unique Sea Organ at Zadar, where the movement of the waves creates a weird, hypnotically beautiful kind of music by forcing air through a series of pipes and out these holes

No, it’s not a disco dance floor, it’s the famous Sun Salutation at Zadar. Like the wind organ, this extraordinary thing is the creation of local artist called Nikola Basic, and gathers the sun’s energy during the day to create a bizarre, shimmering carpet of (computer controlled) lights after dark.

Plitvice Lakes isn’t as gobsmacking as the similarly formed but much larger and more spectacular Jiuzaigou in China, but it’s still an exquisitely beautiful place

The eighteen Plitvice lakes are joined by a series of waterfalls

BOSNIA AND HERCEGOVINA

Mostar’s famous bridge, rebuilt after it was blown up in 1993, during the war

The old fortified town of Pocitelj

Mostar’s beautiful Stari Most at night

The east bank of Mostar town, with the little Crooked Bridge (a replica of the original, destroyed during the war)

Sarajevo: the spot where Gavrilo Princip shot the Archduke Ferdinand and triggered the First World War

Cemetery in Mostar – note all the tombstones read ‘1993’, during the horrific 18-month siege, during which the town was bombarded by Bosnians from the east and Croats from the west

The entrance to Sarajevo’s ‘Tunnel of Hope,’ which was the city’s only link with the outside world during the horrific 1992-1996 siege

A short surviving section of Sarajevo’s Tunnel of Hope

SLOVENIA

Beautiful Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital and one of the loveliest European cities I know

The huge Postjona Caves

The small but exquisitely beautiful Lake Bled has a church on an island in the middle, and a tall cliff on the far bank artfully crowned with a castle

The vast underground canyon inside Skocjan Caves is hard to appreciate from photos – it’s awesome!