Anyone been to Serbia, Bosnia and/or Montenegro? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Phanuthier · 07-22-2007, 11:27 PM

I'm looking to do a trip through Eastern Europe next year, and was looking at doing a loop around Croati-(Bosnia)-Montenegro-Serbia-Hungary, or I may just go Croatia-Hungary. Anybody been to Montenegro, Serbia and to a lesser extent, Bosnia, and is it tourest friendly? I'm of asian decent, and I'll be travelling with a German if that helps (I read Serbia may not be kind to asians)

Just looking for a little first hand experiance here

HOOT · 07-22-2007, 11:41 PM

Ya went to Sebria last fall for a hockey game, nothing much but a big mall and alot of mullets

Phanuthier · 07-22-2007, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOOT

Ya went to Sebria last fall for a hockey game, nothing much but a big mall and alot of mullets

I think you mixed up Serbia with Siberia

FlamesAddiction · 07-23-2007, 12:14 AM

Probably don't have to mention too much about Croatia. It's all about the tourists these days. Plently to do and see.

There are some touristy areas in Bosnia. Mostar is a very old and historical town. Don't expect any luxury though. Sarajevo is also nice, but from what I've heard, it is still recovering from the war. There is a multicultural aspect with the different types of building. There is also quite a bit of archaelogical activity in the area with the Visočica pyramiad discoveries. I believe they give guided tours.

As far as Serbia goes, there are also some nice historic cities as well. It is still a little weary of foreigners though (the whole NATO bombing situation is still in some people's minds from what I hear). There has been a large immigration of Chinese to Belgrade, and from what I've heard, there is some animosity.

Vojvodina would be an interesting region to visit. It's an autonomous state within Serbia. It supposedly has the largest number of indigenous ethnic groups (26 groups and 6 official langiuages) of any area in Europe. It's home to Serbs, Hungarians, Roma, Slovaks, Croats, Muslims, Romanians, and more. I can't speak for how tourist friendly it is.

Mango and Table5 are both familiar with the Balkans I think.

Dion · 07-23-2007, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOOT

Ya went to Sebria last fall for a hockey game, nothing much but a big mall and alot of mullets

HOOT · 07-23-2007, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

I think you mixed up Serbia with Siberia

Damn it! It was late, I had a few drinks...what can I say

Kybosh · 07-23-2007, 09:39 AM

Myself and a friend were in Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia in May. We found the entire region to be quite friendly. I hadn't heard of any problems with prejudices against asians there. We also met a couple of guys from Hong Kong in Zagreb and they didn't seem to have any problems.

Montenegro is much like Croatia in that it is tourist friendly (they just don't really like the Croatians and vice versa). Bosnia was a little different and had some obvious remaining war damage. Don't expect too much luxury in places like Mostar (very old city) but Sarajevo was relatively modern. All in all, I really enjoyed my time there.

One thing I will suggest is that, as far as accomodations are concerned, stay in Sobes/Zimmer/Rooms. When you get off the bus or ferry you will be greeted with many people asking you to come stay with them (except for in the cities like Ljubljana/Zagreb/Sarajevo). Most of the places we stayed were pretty nice and really cheap. Just agree to a price after seeing the room and you should be good to go! You have many stories to tell after travelling this way.

simmer2 · 07-23-2007, 10:19 AM

I've been to Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro. First thing is do what Kybosh said with the rooms. It's a really affordable way to travel and you get to meet some interesting people.

Croatia - Croatia is unbelievably pretty. Make sure you go to Plitvice National Park. Check out some of the islands too. I stayed on Korcula and it was pretty outstanding. I think a lot of the islands are amazing though. Quite tourist friendly as well.

Bosnia - I went to Mostar and Sarajevo. I was travelling with a Bosnian so that helped but in general most people speak English and people are quite friendly. They are really excited to see that you are visiting their country. Bosnia has had a fairly ugly recent past so appreciate that there will be a lot of reminders of the war around.

Montenegro - I only went to Kotor but that place was kinda cool. Not many tourists, really pretty spot. Once you travel to all these spots you really notice how much they don't like their neighbours.

Anyways, hope that helps.