Did you know that Albania has at least two “blue eyes”? The Blue Eye of Saranda in the southern part of the country is the most famous one, but the Blue Eye of Kapreja/Theth is rapidly gaining in popularity. A few weeks ago we made a hiking tour to this breathtaking place with a group […]
Balkans
5 WEEKEND TRIPS TO NORTH ALBANIA
Although Montenegro is a wonderful country, many expats and inhabitants of Podgorica have been asking me how and where to spend a nice weekend in North Albania. No wonder, the distance to the Božaj/Hani i Hotit border is 20 km only. Although the border crossing is still under reconstruction at the moment, new control points […]
PELOPONNESE: EXPLORING MANI
When I read some information about Mani, the southernmost part of the Peloponnese, I was struck by similarities in history, landscape and culture between Mesa Mani (also called Inner or Deep Mani) and Montenegro/North Albania, although there is a distance of 1000 km between these two regions. A good reason to make a trip around […]
PELOPONNESE: THE CASTLES OF METHONI AND KORONI
As May is said to be a perfect month to explore the Peloponnese, we traveled this large Greek peninsula by camper and convinced ourselves of its extraordinary beauties. One of the most attractive regions appeared to be Messinia, a land full of contrasts in the southwest corner of the Peloponnese. We didn’t only discover vast […]
7 HIGHLIGHTS OF HERZEGOVINA YOU SHOULD NOT MISS
In the last few years, I have been criss-crossing many countries of the Balkans, but one of the regions I like most is Herzegovina, the most southern region of Bosnia & Herzegovina. Although situated close to Montenegro and in the direct hinterland of the Dalmatian Coast, most tourists have not discovered it yet. It might […]
ALBANIA BY CAMPER
Apart from Montenegro, there is another country in the Balkans that is very interesting and attractive for adventurous camper tourists: Albania. During the last decade, many good camping sites have been opened in all parts of Albania. Parking lots or camper sites in front of hotels, restaurants or gas stations are another possibility. But maybe […]
DECEMBER IN TIRANA
If you decide to spend a weekend in Tirana these days, you will experience a lot of surprises. We wanted to escape Podgorica – where “our” (catholic) Christmas is not celebrated at all – and we thought it a good idea to visit Tirana. The last time we were in Tirana was 4 years ago […]
THE CURSE OF LOKRUM
As we are spending our summer holidays in Slano, it was quite easy for us to make a day trip to Lokrum, also called the „Island of Peacocks“, only a 10 minutes boat ride away from Dubrovnik. Paul and I had both visited the island several decades ago and we were really curious what we […]
IMPRESSIONS OF HVAR
As I heard that June should be a perfect month to visit Hvar, we traveled to Croatia last week with the intention to spend a few days on this beautiful island. What does Hvar offer to its visitors, apart from an extremely mild and sunny climate? According to brochures and websites, we could expect untouched nature, […]
MY 5 FAVORITE CAMPSITES IN THE BALKANS
Are you traveling the Balkans by camper van this summer? In that case you might need some tips about “special” campsites. We have accompanied two camper groups from the Netherlands through Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia last month and this seems to be a good reason to share our experience and give some recommendations. MONTENEGRO Ethno-village […]