Balkanology Blog

From Skopje to the sea by train

2009-07-01T20:25:00.002+01:00

The "Balkan Travellers" website reports that two summer-only train services Skopje to the seaside beging operating this week. A daily overnight service from Skopje to Bar on Montenegro's Adriatic coast will run until 31 August, while a train to Varna on Bulgaria's Black Sea will run on Saturdays only until 4 September. For those of you puzzling over rail maps of Southeast Europe: both trains travel via Niš in Serbia.

Photos of Székely Land (Romania)

2009-06-07T14:51:00.004+01:00

Last month I had the chance to spend a week in a part of Romania that I hadn't previously visited, the Székely Land. This part of Transylvania is much less well known to foreign tourists than the Saxon lands - the only travellers I saw were from Hungary. Although the Székely cities don't have the mediaeval architecture that makes Sibiu and Sighişoara so appealing, the countryside is well worth exploring. In contrast to the sad decline in the number of German speakers living in Transylvania, the Hungarian speakers of the Székely Land are very much still around, and this gives the area a slightly different atmosphere to the rest of Romania.

Photos from my trip can now be seen in the Székely Land Gallery.

New and updated guidebooks: Montenegro, Albania, and more

2009-03-02T16:42:00.009Z

Despite recurring reports of the death of the print guidebook, spring 2009 has seen plenty of activity among publishers of guides to the Balkan Region. Some of the books listed below are already in the shops, others are due to be published in the next few months and are available for pre-order. I haven't yet got my hands on any of them, so the following listings are not necessarily recommendations.

Montenegro

Travellers to Montenegro will soon be spoilt for choice as the Adriatic country moves further towards mainstream destination status. Two brand new guidebooks make their debuts in April 2009, Rough Guides and Lonely Planet shadowing each other as closely as ever: their guides have identical official publication dates. In keeping with the usual pattern, the Rough Guide has more pages than its LP competitor. Rough Guide author Norm Longley has also been responsible for the excellent Romania and Slovenia guides. There are now at least five English language guidebooks dedicated entirely to this small country (for the full list see the Montenegro Books page).

Albania

Albania trails some distance behind Montenegro when it comes to being perceived as a "normal" tourist destination, but it is certainly moving in that direction. Until recently the successive and ever-improving editions of the Bradt guide had the field to themselves (in the absence of an update to the 2001 Blue Guide, still worth referring to for its incomparable level of detail). Now Thomas Cook is publishing "Travellers Albania". The same publisher's CitySpots series already covers Tirana, and the new guide extends to the whole country. See the Albania Books page for the full list of guidebooks.

Western Balkans

The new guides to Albania and Montenegro will be of interest to travellers concentrating on a single country, but are probably too bulky for the many people who visit these countries as part of a longer trip. Those travellers will no doubt be interested in the second edition of Lonely Planet's Western Balkans guide, which will hopefully take account of the many changes in the region since the first edition appeared three years ago. Details are still sparse - all I know right now is that it is just 12 pages longer than the first edition. Presumably the same countries are covered - I wonder if Kosovo, barely touched on in the original edition, will get its own section?

Other updates

The roster is completed by two other updates from Lonely Planet: their guide to Croatia has moved on to its fifth edition in a relatively short space of time, while the venerable Turkey guide is on edition number eleven.

Rare snow in Dalmatia

2009-02-19T21:06:00.002Z

Many parts of the Balkans have already experienced some particularly harsh weather this winter, but this week has brought something exceptional: snow on Croatia's Adriatic Coast. News reports say that the residents (especially children) of Sibenik, Split and Dubrovnik are enjoying the novelty - when they aren't attending hospital as a result of slips and slides on the unfamiliar treacherous surface. Dubrovnik Airport is apparently closed.

Read more here and enjoy some evocative photos of Zadar in this gallery.

Flights from Liverpool to Dubrovnik ... and more

2009-01-07T19:51:00.003Z

Following its announcement of a new route from London Gatwick to Dubrovnik last month, budget airline Easyjet yesterday launched another connection from England to the southern Croatian airport. Flights from Liverpool to Dubrovnik will operate three times weekly (Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday) from early June.

It seems that the Dalmatian coast will be busy with Easyjet customers in summer 2009. As well as the new UK routes, the airline will fly to Dubrovnik three times weekly from Berlin and twice weekly from Geneva.

Easyjet is also making it easier to reach Greece from the English regions: over the summer they will fly twice weekly from both Bristol and Manchester to Corfu, and from Manchester to Athens.

Timeless Macedonia on video

2008-12-30T15:47:00.001Z

The Macedonian director Milcho Manchevski, best known for the feature films Before the Rain and Dust, has directed a short promotional video that aims to encourage tourists to visit the Republic of Macedonia. The video will air on CNN and other television channels, and can also be viewed on the Macedonia-Timeless website.

Easyjet flies from London Gatwick to Dubrovnik

2008-12-28T14:43:00.002Z

Earlier this month Easyjet announced the launch of a new route from London Gatwick to Dubrovnik. Flights will start on 1st May 2009 and will operate four times weekly (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday).

At the time of writing one-way fares of £34 including taxes are available on a variety of dates in May and June. Not surprisingly, cheap fares in July and August are a little harder to come by, but early bookers should still be able to find some reasonable deals.

Train timetable changes in the Balkans - December 2008

2008-11-23T18:46:00.005Z

Once again we have reached the time of year when railway operators across Europe introduce new timetables. The next round of changes will take effect on 14 December 2008.

According to an announcement on the Serbian Railways website, a second daily train is being introduced on the Belgrade-Skopje-Thessaloniki route. Or rather reintroduced, as this restores the situation prior to December 2007. Any improvement to the poor public transport connections between the Republic of Macedonia and Greece is very welcome.

The IC "Avala", which currently runs from Vienna via Budapest to Belgrade, will now operate on the route Prague-Bratislava-Budapest-Belgrade. There will thus be no direct daytime Vienna-Belgrade service, although it will still be possible to travel between these cities by day with a change in Budapest, and the direct overnight "Beograd" service is retained.

The overnight train from Niš (Serbia) to Podgorica and Bar (Montenegro) will now leave Niš in the morning, at least during the winter - it is not clear what will happen in summer.

These are the only major developments in Southeast Europe that I have noticed so far. There are also numerous minor timing alterations.

Sadly there is no sign of any improvement in the rail links between Italy and Slovenia. Since TrenItalia withdrew their leg of the "Casanova" service earlier this year, the only direct train has been the "Venezia Express" from Venice to Budapest, which passes through Ljubljana at an inconvenient hour of the night. This seems a very strange state of affairs between neighbouring countries within the Schengen zone.

As happens every year, the various online train timetables are struggling to deal with the changeover - apparently this is too great a challenge for the current state of computing technology. So for the next few weeks, care will be required when using online timetables to plan journeys in advance.

It's a long way from Split to Dubrovnik ... if you believe Google Maps

2008-11-10T11:20:00.008Z

Fellow blogger Stuart Pinfold has drawn my attention to the eccentricities of Google Maps in giving driving directions between certain points in Southeast Europe. In his post on the topic he points out that Google Maps comes up with a slightly overcomplicated route between Dubrovnik and Mostar. Instead of the conventional 150-kilometre drive that less creative mapping software might recommend, Google suggests a more adventurous approach: a ferry to Italy, some driving, another ferry to Greece, and more driving through Greece, the entire length of Albania, Montenegro, and finally Bosnia. At 1541 kilometres it's a mere 10 times longer than the usual route - and so much more interesting. I've always encouraged travellers to venture away from the beaten path and explore less well-known parts of the Balkans, so it's nice to see Google doing the same. Not only that, but it adds a sense of history by persistently referring to Dubrovnik as Ragusa - admittedly not a name that appears very often on Croatian road signs.

I tried a few test routes of my own in Google Maps to see if this was just an aberration. Surely the straightforward coastal drive from Split to Dubrovnik wouldn't cause any problems? Sure enough, Google's answer does involve a drive along the Adriatic Coast - unfortunately it is on the other side of the Adriatic, between Bari and Pescara.

I guessed that the small strip of Bosnian territory between Split and Dubrovnik (the "Neum Corridor") might be causing a problem, so I tried an even simpler request: directions from Split to Zagreb, a route that lies entirely within Croatia. The result was even more surprising: "We could not calculate directions between split, croatia and zagreb, croatia."

So the problem runs deeper than the Neum corridor; there seems to be a more fundamental problem with Google's Croatia database. But maybe it's just Croatia that is flawed and everywhere else in the Balkans is OK? I asked for directions between two neighbouring capitals, Belgrade and Podgorica. At first everything looked fine: as I expected, the results show a blue line heading southwest from Belgrade and continuing along major roads to Podgorica. But wait a minute - what is that thick blue line southeast of Belgrade? Closer inspection of the driving directions reveals the problem: Google wants us to head southeast for 150km, turn around, and drive back to the outskirts of Belgrade on the same road before finally taking the correct road towards Montenegro.

At this point I gave up.

As far as I know ViaMichelin is more reliable in providing driving directions in the Balkans. Certainly it acquitted itself well on the examples above. However it's possible that similar horrors lurk within the databases of ViaMichelin and other non-Google mapping websites - if you know of any, let me know.

Through the Balkans by motorcycle - a trip report

2008-11-08T17:04:00.003Z

Not MY trip report, I hasten to add - I haven't suddenly taken up motorcycling. But I thought that readers of this site might be interested in a new travelog by Jayne Cravens about her journey through Eastern Europe, including several Balkan countries, in September 2008. The descriptions of road conditions and campsites should be particularly useful to anyone planning a similar journey, while motorcyclists and non-motorcyclists alike should enjoy the many stories of the random acts of kindness that add so much to the experience of visiting the region.

Belgrade: the best nightlife in Europe?

2008-11-08T11:42:00.002Z

Belgrade's reputation for nightlife seems to be growing unstoppably at the moment. An article in the Times this week claims that you can find "Europe's best nightlife in buzzing Belgrade", and points out a selection of highlights from the city's "ever-changing cobweb of clubs and bars".

New photos of Croatia

2008-11-04T20:34:00.002Z

Following a recent trip to Croatia, I have significantly expanded the Croatia Photo Galleries. A variety of places that I had not previously visited are included, among them the islands of Korčula, Mljet, Vis, and Šipan. I haven't forgotten about inland Croatia either - there are new photos of Osijek, Imotski, and the Samobor hills.

In the coming months I will be rewriting and expanding the Croatia pages on Balkanology to reflect my most recent experiences there.

Bulgarian bus timetables - now in English

2008-11-03T20:12:00.002Z

The "Avtogari.info" website, a database of interurban bus timetables in Bulgaria, has been around for quite a while. Until recently it was available in Bulgarian only, which made it difficult for many travellers to use - particularly given the difficulties of inputting place names in Cyrillic characters. Things have just got a whole lot easier with the launch of an English language version of the site - very useful for anyone planning to travel around Bulgaria by public transport.

A guide to Montenegro in your hands

2008-10-19T14:53:00.002+01:00

For several years Bradt has been the only publisher offering a general-purpose guide to Montenegro in English. While browsing recently in the excellent "Algoritam" bookshop on the main street in Dubrovnik I noticed that they now have some welcome competition. "Montenegro In Your Hands" was published in June 2008 by the same team that brought us "Serbia in Your Hands", and follows a similar format.

Books about Montenegro
Books about Serbia

Bus timetables in Slovenia: help is at hand

2008-08-23T18:58:00.002+01:00

Until recently the best place to look for bus timetable information for Slovenia was the website of Ljubljana Bus Station. However this naturally has the drawback of only including routes that pass through Ljubljana. Information about other routes was scattered in the websites of Slovenia's numerous transport companies.

I've recently learned about www.vozni-red.si, an initiative of the Mountain Wilderness organisation to promote public transport. Using data from the Ministry of Transport, the site for the first time brings together the schedules of all domestic bus routes in one place.

You can input any two towns to find bus connections between them. Pay attention to the footnotes beneath the schedules as they often contain important information (vozi = runs, ne vozi = does not run, vsak dan = every day, vozi ob delavnikih razen sobote = runs on working days except Saturdays; for more vocabulary including the days of the week see the site's help page).

A few examples of schedules that previously were quite difficult to find:
Kranjska Gora to Bovec (over the Vršič Pass)
Bovec to Kobarid (in the Soča Valley)
Koper to Piran (along the Adriatic coast)

Veliko Turnovo

2008-08-23T13:57:00.002+01:00

Today's Guardian looks at Veliko Turnovo, which it describes as "Bulgaria's best kept secret". I have no argument with most of the content of the article, but I think the "best kept secret" line is misleading and likely to lead to disappointment. I like Veliko Turnovo and often recommend that people visit it, but I would never describe it as a "hidden treasure". It may not attract the mass-market tourism of the Black Sea coast or the ski resorts, but it's still quite a touristy place.

More about Veliko Turnovo on Balkanology

The mountains of Montenegro ... and more

2008-08-11T16:50:00.002+01:00

Now that Montenegro airlines fly directly from Gatwick to Tivat, the country has become more accessible for travellers from the UK. Although the spectacular coastline will inevitably be the focus for many visitors, the country's less touristed inland mountains also deserve attention. A recent article in the Times looks at some of those inland attractions, including the primeval forest of Biogradska Gora. (The accompanying photo was apparently taken in Durmitor National Park, which is not mentioned in the text).

Meanwhile in "A touch of the Riviera in Croatia" the Independent looks at the two sides of Croatia's Hvar Island - glitzy Hvar town on the south coast, and the more down-to-earth Stari Grad in the north.

Venturing further off the beaten path, the Sydney Morning Herald carries an article about Albania. The author is very enthusiastic about quirky Tirana, but apparently not enthusiastic enough to explore Albania beyond the capital. Even so, it's nice to see Albania appearing in the Australian travel pages - a rare, perhaps even unique event.

British Airways cancels flights to Sarajevo

2008-08-03T15:40:00.003+01:00

Less than two years after launching the route, British Airways has announced the suspension of its direct flights from London Gatwick to Sarajevo. This is one of a number of cutbacks made by the airline due to "the difficult trading environment". The last flight to the Bosnian capital will be on October 21.

More about Mostar and Sarajevo

2008-07-26T17:43:00.004+01:00

Over the last few weeks I have expanded and updated the Bosnia section of the site. The Sarajevo page now includes more pointers to outlying sights such as the Jewish Cemetery, Bukovik Mountain, and Bjelasnica. I have also added a note about Stolac to the Mostar page.

Developing the Balkans' Golden Triangle

2008-07-20T10:34:00.005+01:00

In today's Independent Sankha Guha reports on an initiative of the United Nations Development Program to encourage cross-border tourism in the former Yugoslavia. The plan is to promote a so-called "Golden Triangle" of World Heritage sites of Dubrovnik (Croatia), Mostar (Bosnia), and Durmitor (Montenegro).

It's questionable whether Dubrovnik needs any more publicity, but presumably the plan is to use it to entice tourists to visit the less well-known inland destinations. As the article makes clear, the people behind the plan have some serious problems to overcome: as if it's not bad enough dealing with the legacy of political tensions, they also have to worry about the impression made on visitors by terrifyingly kitsch Tito-era hotels.

Dubrovnik

Mostar

Durmitor

Berat and Stari Grad added to World Heritage list

2008-07-09T21:56:00.002+01:00

This year's round of additions to the UNESCO World Heritage list includes two locations in Southeast Europe.

The historic centre of Berat (Berati) in Albania has been added to that of Gjirokastra, which has been listed since 2005. UNESCO describe Berat as an example of a well-preserved Ottoman town that "bears witness to the coexistence of various religious and cultural communities down the centuries".

The other addition is the Stari Grad Plain, on the island of Hvar in Croatia, described as "a cultural landscape that has remained practically intact since it was first colonized by Ionian Greeks from Paros in the 4th century BC".

Berati Photo Gallery

Learn to sail in Croatia

2008-06-29T15:04:00.002+01:00

Today's Independent has an article about a family sailing holiday in Lumbarda on the Croatian island of Korčula.

A weekend in Pristina

2008-06-22T12:54:00.003+01:00

The Guardian marks the introduction of Kosovo's new consitution by adding an article about Pristina to its "Instant Weekend" city break series.

Southeast Europe is a low-crime region, says the UN

2008-06-16T12:28:00.004+01:00

A recent report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) refutes the persistent stereotype of the Balkans as a region of where all kinds of criminals and gangsters run riot. The report says that levels of crime against people and property are lower than in Western Europe, and murder rates have fallen significantly in the last ten years.

Of course it's not all perfect: organised crime and corruption continue to pose significant problems: "victim surveys indicate that, on average, South East Europeans are more likely to face demands for bribes than people in other regions of the world". But even in this area the UNODC believes that progress has been made, and is optimistic about further improvements.

Of course none of this is directly related to travel, but it does tend to confirm the anecdotal evidence of most travellers that Southeast Europe is certainly no more dangerous, and possibly safer than Western Europe.

Read more: UNODC Report

A night in Albania

2008-06-15T11:31:00.002+01:00

Following yesterday's article on Montenegro, today's Independent features neighbouring Albania. I was a little disappointed to find that the writer of "The beaches are clean in Albania... and they're almost empty!" spent only one night in the country. It seems a rather slim basis for a travel article, but given the general lack of coverage of Albania I suppose it's better than nothing. On the positive side, it seems the author greatly enjoyed his visit to Saranda and Butrint and left wanting to go back.