Novi Sad

Novi Sad

Nestled gracefully along the banks of the Danube, Novi Sad, Serbia, is a city that makes you feel at home. A place where history hums quietly through pastel streets and the café culture feels like a warm embrace. Known as ‘the Serbian Athens‘, this city has long been a cradle of art, music and literature, it feels like the soul of the Danube.… Read the rest

Petrovaradin Fortress

Petrovaradin Fortress

Rising proudly above the wide blue sweep of the Danube, Petrovaradin Fortress commands both the skyline and the imagination of Novi Sad, Serbia’s cultural heart. Locals call it the Gibraltar of the Danube – a stone sentinel that has watched over the river for centuries.… Read the rest

Belgrade Fortress By Night

Belgrade Fortress By Night

There’s something magnetic about Belgrade in the summer and the Belgrade Fortress by night might just capture that magic in a moment. As the heat softens by late afternoon, the air turns honey-warm, and the city slowly drifts into a golden reverie.… Read the rest

Walking Belgrade

Walking Belgrade

Belgrade’s Old Town is quite contained and so walking Belgrade is an easy task. This beautiful city, crowned by its fortress and hugged by the Danube and Sava Rivers is a delight of old and new. A tapestry of styles, stories and scars that reflect the city’s long and complicated history.… Read the rest

Belgrade Fortress

Belgrade Fortress

At the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, high above the shifting currents and sprawling city below, stands Belgrade Fortress, a living manuscript of stone, war, resilience, and renewal. To walk its grounds is to step across millennia, from Roman ramparts to Ottoman fountains, from medieval towers to 20th-century monuments.… Read the rest

Walking Heraklion

Walking Heraklion

Walking Heraklion (also Irakleio), you’ll discover a pleasant old town with plenty of history mixed with gelato shops and fountains. The old town proper, delineated from the newer parts of the city by the old Venetian Walls, is very walkable with many streets having been pedestrianised and cars limited within the old town walls.… Read the rest

The Fortezza, Rethymno

The Fortezza, Rethymno

Rethymno’s Fortezza tops Paleokastro (‘old castle’), the steep hill that presides over the city and the site of Rethymno’s ancient acropolis. The fortress and the city are immersed in Venetian and Ottoman history which is still evident today despite German occupation during WWII.… Read the rest

Nevyastata Eco Trail

Nevyastata Eco Trail

Nevyastata is a scenic forest walk eco trail located in the Rhodope Mountain Range in Bulgaria’s south west.

After heading south from Plovdiv this morning, we have already explored Asen’s Fortress and the picturesque Bachkovo Monastery, plus enjoyed a hearty lunch at The Salt Spring along the bubbling Chepelare River.… Read the rest

Asen’s Fortress

Asen’s Fortress

We arrive at Asen’s Fortress in Asenovgrad shortly before it opens and there is not much to see from the car park. However, from the road, the approach to the Fortress reveals an imposing stronghold dating to Thracian times (around 500 – 300BC).… Read the rest

Tsarevets Fortress

Tsarevets Fortress – the Gate at sunset

Arriving through the cobbled streets of Veliko Tărnovo the first site we behold as we check into our accommodation at the Yantra Grand Hotel is Tsarevets Fortress. Tsarevets, the hillside fortress of this medieval capital, spans the horizon, across the river and over the green gorge, laid out before our eyes.… Read the rest