Visit the Balkans

A Few Quick Reasons to Visit the Balkans

The Balkans combine to make a region of Europe that is often passed over by visitors.  In fact, there are far few visitors to Eastern Europe annually than to most Western European nations.  The most visited places in Europe tend to be France (Paris), Italy (Rome), Spain (Barcelona), and England (London).  If you ask most backpackers in Europe, they would probably tell you at least a few of those are on their list of destinations.

The truth is, the Balkans, and Eastern Europe in general, have much more to offer than most care to realize.  The Balkans in particular are as rich, if not richer, in history than Western European nations.  The Balkans have seen Romans, Slavs, Greeks, Turks, and Moors, which have each uniquely impacted the region.  The Balkans consist of the former Yugoslavian nations as well as a few more nations, which never saw Yugoslavian rule.

To help inspire you to visit the Balkans, I have come up with several reasons to travel to the Balkans.

1. History – As I mentioned in the introduction, the Balkans are full of history.  You can clearly see this legacy to this day.  Whether it is Turkish architecture or recent damages left by the Third Balkan War, history is everywhere.
2. Cheap – The Balkans and Eastern Europe are considerably more reasonable priced destinations than Western European nations.  In most Balkan nations, you can make your currency go further than a day in London or Paris would cost you.  For example, in Bulgaria you can find a hostel bed for under $10.  In Bosnia,you can easily eat a full meal for $6.  Backpacker friendly prices.
3. Beautiful – The Balkans are beautiful.  There are some truly amazing sites in the Balkans.  You can also get a nice balance of terrain.  If you want beaches you can venture to the Croatian, Bulgarian, or Montenegrin Coasts.  If you want mountains, nearly every country has its version of mountains or hills.
4. Food – The food of the Balkans is not too bad.  For starters, I particularly enjoyed the meat filled pastries, called bureks, which were frequently found in Croatia and Bosnia.  There were of course other foods, but being a street food junky (#streetfood :)) I tend to gravitate towards bakery style foods over restaurants.
5. Untainted – In many ways, the fact that few people visit the Balkans makes them somewhat untainted.  You can quite easily mingle with locals in most of the places that you visit.

 

Leave me a comment!

What do you think of the Balkans? Have you traveled through them before?

 

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