The Balkans region.... Anyone done any...

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Kosovo is Serbia.

Northern Serbia is shit; get yasel to the south and Rafailoviki (Montenegro).
Or just don't go at all.

Just jump in a 9.5 hr taxi from Novi Sad; it's what I did .
 
I'm looking at doing a road trip around some of the Balkans towards the end of summer, anyone got experience of hiring a car and driving over there? Went around Slovenia last year and it was great, Ljubljana was a lovely city for a couple of days and then went up to Lake Bled and Lake Bohinj which were absolutely stunning!
 
shaun61 said:
... touring about using trains and buses?
Slovenia
Croatia
Serbia
Bosnia/Hercegovina
Montenegro
Kosovo

Any helpful hints welcome ta.
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Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro. All easily done as one trip. Buses are spot on but you can get to each country through an organised trip.

James said:
I'm away to Podgorica, Kotor, Dubrovnik, Mostar, Sarajevo and Budapest next week. Can't wait. Weather looks topper as well. :cool:
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Take the first and last out and throw Split into the mix and that's what we did.
 
Locke's SAFC said:
Been to all of those mentioned except Kosovo. All worth a visit, the best of them being Serbia and Bosnia, but Belgrade dangerous late at night. Belgrade and Sarajevo top class.



As an aside I'm currently in Istanbul, and the only place I've ever been where I've been mugged. 'Happened yesterday. Being a lad out of a mining village in East Durham I tend to trust people naturally and got a right old going over yesterday as a result. 'Was getting a taxi back to where I'm staying and the driver is all we're mates and I fell for it like a right dick. Wanted to talk about England and so on, and in turn we're talking about Istanbul, and I'm in the back thinking get in there, sun's shining, having a bit crack with the locals, life's good, it's only about half four so plenty of time for a beer and see what happens. It was red hot here yesterday so felt a bit dehydrated and wasn't quite feeling on form. So, all the way back he's reeling me in with the mates routine, talking about football and so on, and then the taxi stops. And, I've never seen anything like this. It was clearly a well rehearsed routine that he'd done many a time. He said 80 lira. I gave him a 50 with more to follow and like a fuckin' magician he said that's a five and showed me the five, and I'm a bit dehydrated not sure what I've given him, and did the same again and again he showed me a five, and I'm thinking what the fuck but it was that quick I'm thinking I must have given him a five, honestly like a fuckin' magician pulling rabbits out of a hat. At this point, I'm thinking he's right I must have given him a five. This went on a for a few minutes, fives and fuckin' fifties, being dehydrated I'm f***ing confused. And, then he starts screaming at me I want all your fuckin' money! And I'm looking at him thinking what the fuck is going on, and being numb I still don't realise at this point I'm being mugged, part of it is dehydration, but part of it was he was he done me good and proper with the mates routine. And, then it dawns on me, the fucker's after me money. But, it still doesn't dawn on me he's taken about 30 quid off me with that magician's trick. So, I'm in the front next to him in the middle of nowhere and thought fuck it chance your arm so I told to him to fuck off you're getting nowt and he bottled it and I got out. It was only when I got to the pub and opened me wallet thirty quid lighter I realised that trick he'd pulled, never seen owt like it so fuckin' quick you thought he must be right. To be fair to him, I think he's done me a favour, because I was swanning around like I was at Crimdon beach without a care in the world, but this place is dangerous. There are about 4 or 5 English lads drinking on the corner of Taksim Square, where the Leeds lads got stabbed/killed, every night, one from South Shields, one from Leeds, and a couple of others, and they don't give a fuck, but there are swarms of Turks sat around and I wouldn't want to be there late at night. He's done me a right old favour as on me guard from now. Could have been a lot worse than 30 quid.

To be fair, on the other hand, on the morning of the same day, I got a taxi over to the same place and it was about an half an hour drive due to traffic. The Turkish lad bought me a water as we were stuck in traffic, and when we got there he said on the house don't worry about it and that's his livelihood.

The two sides of Istanbul and Turkish people.
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Felt totally safe in Istanbul. Taxi drivers were twats sometimes like. Even Uber isn't trustworthy over there.
 
I like Slovenia the most from the Balkan countries. Ljubljana has some great architecture and great bars / restaurants along the river. The Bled area has stunning scenery. You can also use it as a base to get to other areas as the trains are decent and good value.
 
Iballistic George said:
Was there in 93 dodgy as owt. Tracer fire flying lighting up the night sky.
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Did 92,94,95 and 97. It never got much better until the 97 tour

shaun61 said:
Don't give a shiny one about footy, which cities etc?
Sarajevo, Mostar, Zagreb, Banja Luka???
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Been to all 4 of those, got shot at in 3 and shelled in 2 of those lol
 
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Lexingtongue said:
Felt totally safe in Istanbul. Taxi drivers were twats sometimes like. Even Uber isn't trustworthy over there.
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Most of them are friendly and helpful and want to talk to you, but there is definitely a minority who want to rob you or don't like you because you're English.

I've spoken with a couple and without saying it in as many words pretty much gave it away that some of them think of the English as right-wing Muslim haters. It probably doesn't help the way I dress and me head is shaved. Because of the actions of some English football fans abroad, and most of us look and dress the same, we're tarred with that same brush.

I've tried it out a couple of times. A couple of times I've said I'm Scottish and the reaction was completely different to saying I'm English.

It does feel edgy, the type of place where wrong place, wrong time you're royally fucked. Probably no different to London to be fair.

The lad from South Shields and the lad from Leeds didn't give a fuck about it - drinking in pubs with gangs of Turkish lads sat around aside - and they were dressed more or less like a typical English lad, but I've seen enough to be cautious, because if anything happened there's nothing I could do about it, including going to the police, and they know that too.
 

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