The Most Beautiful Places in the Balkans

This city on the Adriatic coast is the perfect combination of natural and man-made beauty. In the year 305, the Roman emperor Diocletian chose it as his retirement home, building a palace that is now simply a part of the fabric of the city’s historic center. Your options for sightseeing are varied and equally gorgeous. You can stroll along the Riva on the waterfront, hike up one of the neighboring hills to get a view over the city, or relax on the beach and watch the water lap onto the stony beaches. Recommended by Lani Seelinger.

No surprise that these amazing cascading lakes have been an attraction for more than 200 years – their waters in different shades of green and blue attract more than a million visitors per year nowadays. Besides marveling at the lakes, don’t forget to keep your eyes open for the orchids – more than 50 species of these beautiful flowers grow in Plitvice National Park.

Known as the ‘City of Stone’, Gjirokastra in Southern Albania is UNESCO listed because of the Ottoman style houses that you can find throughout the city. While only having just under 20,000 inhabitants, Gjirokastra is home to a sizeable Greek minority, in addition to being the birthplace of two of the most internationally well-known Albanians, Enver Hoxha, the communist leader, and Ismail Kadare, the novelist and once-dissident. Although the area has been inhabited since at least the Bronze age, most of the buildings are from the 17th and 18th centuries. Recommended by Lani Seelinger.

Once the capital of Bulgaria, the town of Veliko Tarnovo has preserved much of its past glory and mixed it with a vibrant contemporary art and lifestyle scene. Its streets and houses stacked on hills make it a picture-perfect destination with a bunch of vantage points where you can sip your coffee with a view. Stay for the night to see the sound and light show on the historical Tsarevets Hill, where a centuries-old castle has been restored.

In typical Balkan fashion, Subotica has no majority ethnic group, but is instead made up of a healthy mix of Hungarians, Serbs, Croats and several others. It is the seat of the Vojvodina region in Serbia, which is largely Hungarian, so it is the home of several famous Hungarians, like the writer Dezso Kostolanyi, or the original Dracula, actor Bela Lugosi. The city has a long and complicated history of many empires moving in and out, but the notable Art Nouveau architecture comes from the period of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Recommended by Lani Seelinger.

Welcome to the southernmost fjord of Europe where you can still feel the architectural influence of the Venetians who ruled over Kotor for a long time. Climb the steps to the fortress San Giovanni for a panoramic view of the Old Town and the bay, or get on a boat and sail your way between green coasts and unreal blue waters.

Translyvania gets a dark reputation because one of its legendary residents, but you’ll change your mind about the region once you’ve seen the delicately gorgeous Peles Castle emerging out of the forests and mountains. The Neo-Renaissance style is far more Da Vinci than Dracula. Built by the Romanian monarchs in the 1870s, this was also the first castle to be fully fitted for electric power. Only a short drive away from the charming Romanian city of Brasov, this is well worth a trip out, and you can swing by Dracula’s Bran Castle on the way. Recommended by Lani Seelinger.

They say that once Ohridused to have 365 churches, one for each day of the year. Even though the number is not as high today, the small UNESCO-listed Macedoniantown spread on the coast of the Ohrid Lake is still considered a religious hub in the country. The area is adored by Macedonians and visitors from the neighboring countries, but it’s still a lesser known destination for European travelers from further afield.

This Serbian Orthodox Christian monastery in Kosovo houses the largest Orthodox church in the Balkans and is worth a visit just to try to understand the complicated religious and ethnic history of the region. However, the main reason for its inclusion on the UNESCO list is the frescos that decorate the interior of the church. They make up the largest surviving collection of Serbian medieval art, and they depict scenes from the Bible, members of noble families, and a plethora of Orthodox saints, among other things. Recommended by Lani Seelinger.

Berat is another UNESCO-listed town with turbulent history and impressive remains of its past – the Berat Castle and a mix of churches and mosques that demonstrate in the best way the religious and cultural diversity of the Balkans. Its identical black and white houses with windows like a thousand eyes are lined on the banks of Osum River and make for an impressive backdrop for a photo.

Another example of a city with numerous visible influences, the best way to encapsulate the feeling of Ljubljana is to imagine a former Hapsburg city on the Mediterranean. The best way to enjoy the laid-back yet lively feel of the city is to sit in one of the cafes on the waterway in the center and take your time with a nice glass of Slovenian wine. Many of the buildings throughout the city are the work of noted Slovene architect Jože Plečnik. He did not, however, design the Vienna Secession-style Dragon Bridge, where you can find four of those winged symbols of the city. Recommended by Lani Seelinger.

Kosovo is one of the least visited places in the Balkans, but it nonetheless boasts preserved natural sites and fortresses with amazing panoramas such as the one in the town of Prizren. After ambling around the remains of the stronghold, go down back in the town and explore the local cuisine or just sip coffee for hours and people-watch by the river.

Sibiu has a medieval charm that makes it appear frozen in time. With its collection of art galleries and unusual museums, such as the Hunting Museum or the Pharmacy Museum, and its towers accessible for visitors to climb and watch the town life from a bird’s-eye view, Sibiu is the best cultural stop in Romania’s Transylvania.

Tara National Park is a perfect escape for those searching for untouched nature. The highlight of the Serbian natural site is the Drina River Gorge with the River Drina making its way between towering cliffs and attracting rafting enthusiasts from around the world. Tara is also home to two artificial lakes perfect for leisure sailing or kayaking.

While much of Montenegro is covered in mountains, Durmitor is the center of mountain tourism in the country, be it for hiking, skiing, or simply going to enjoy the views. Numerous lakes dot the landscape, and in the autumn the whole park lights up with the changing colors of the leaves. One part of the park to check out is Tara River Canyon, which is the second biggest in the world after the Grand Canyon. You’ll certainly not run out of scenic outlooks when you’re driving around Durmitor. Recommended by Lani Seelinger.

Mostar is one of those towns that owe their fame to a beautiful bridge, Stari Most (Old Bridge). Although it was destroyed during the Bosnia war in the 1990s, it has been restored and it is still the symbol of the Mostar, spanning the Neretva River.

This small city on the Black Sea is another good example of how nature and culture can come together to create truly wondrous sites. Nessebar has been inhabited for about 3000 years by various cultures and empires, and their remnants are sprinkled across the city in the form of buildings from different eras and architectural styles, especially a large collection of Eastern Orthodox churches. Its position on the coast, of course, with one half of the city jutting out on a thin peninsula into the sea, also contributes to its status. Recommended by Lani Seelinger.

If you are searching for a real-life fairy tale, head to Lake Bledin Slovenia. Take a traditional pletna, a local gondola, to cross to the small island in the lake, and then walk up the 99 steps to reach the church that sits atop it. The morning mist at the lake is one of the most famous sights from Slovenia.

Türkiye’s best surfing destination is its largest island, Gökçeada. The winds and waves near its coasts have made it a popular windsurfing, kitesurfing, and surfing destination in southeastern Europe. If you take the ferry to the mainland town of Çanakkale, you can visit the nearby remains of Troy.