Tour of Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania
DAY 1 | BELGRADE
Airport transfer at the arrival time of the flight to be confirmed
12h30 - 14h30 Free time for lunch
14h30 – 17h30 Walking tour of downtown Belgrade
The word that best describes Belgrade is "surprising". This city so little known by Brazilians enchants everyone who visits it for its history, its gastronomy, the beauty of the meeting of the Sava and Danube rivers seen from the medieval fortress of Belgrade, but mainly for its positive energy and the hospitality of the people who inhabit it. The former capital and largest city of the former Yugoslavia, the current capital of Serbia is one of the oldest cities in Europe and holds a series of secrets that can only be revealed by those who visit it. Come and get ready for one of the most authentic trips of your life!
On this tour we visit the main attractions of the center of Belgrade: the Republic Square, the pedestrian street Knez Mihailova and the fortress of Belgrade.
18h00 Hotel check-in and free time. Guide and driver at the client’s disposal for dinner transfer.
DAY 2 | BELGRADE
08h00 - 09h00 Breakfast at the hotel
09h00 – 14h00 Belgrade panorama tour in old-timer Yugoslav cars with visit to
Belgrade’s beauty lies in the perfect balance between old and new.
There is no better way to experience this than by touring it's many beautiful locations in the most cutting-edge kind of way – by softly gliding the streets and parks on Segway vehicles. Segway tours will allow you to get to know Belgrade, whose parks and quays seem made exactly for this type of smooth ride, which will allow you to enjoy fresh air, won’t interfere with your conversation distract you from the beautiful sights you will be enjoying.
14h00 - 15h00 Free time for lunch
15h00 -16h00 Transfer to heliodrom for helicopter tour
16h00 - 16h30 Panoramic helicopter flight over Belgrade
Get to know Belgrade from the air on an exciting helicopter ride! Fly in modernly equipped helicopters over the Serbian capital and add a third dimension to your trip.
16h30 - 17h30 Transfer back to hotel
18h00 Hotel check-in and free time. Guide and driver at the client’s disposal for dinner transfer.
DAY 3 | NOVI SAD AND BELGRADE
08h00 – 09h00 Breakfast at the hotel;
09h00 – 10h30 Transfer to Novi Sad;
10h30 – 12h30 Novi Sad and Petrovaradin fortress walking tour;
Quiet and surrounded by a fertile plain, the Fruska Gora mountain and the Danube river, the capital city of Vojvodina is a pearl between the cities of Serbia. It is also known as the Serbian Athens The Petrovaradin Fortress is home to the largest music festival in southeastern Europe - EXIT, which has earned a global reputation for its diversity and cutting edge music. On this tour, we will visit some of the main attractions of the city: the Petrovaradin fortress and the city center.
12h30 – 13h00 Transfer to Sremski Karlovci;
Sremski Karlovci is a charming Serbian wine destination where in a wine tasting we will try the Bermet - a herbal dessert wine that is Karlovcc trademark. The Viennese Court released Karlovci winemakers from compulsory military service because of the quality of their wines. Bermet was also included in the Titanic ship wine list. We will visit the wine and honey museum and
Sremski Karlovci town center.
13h00 – 14h00 Wine tasting at local winery;
14h00 – 16h00 Time for lunch in local restaurant by the Danube;
16h00 – 17h30 Transfer to Belgrade
17h30 Free time
19h00 – 19h30 Return to the hotel and free time. Guide and driver at the client’s disposal for dinner transfer.
DAY 4 | Monastery Manasia and Lisine waterfall
07h00 – 08h00 Breakfast at the hotel;
08h00 – 10h00 Travel from Belgrade to Manasija Monastery
10h00 – 11h00 Visit to the Manasija Monastery
Manasija is a Serbian Orthodox monastery founded by the despot Stefan Lazarević between 1406 and 1418. The church dedicated to the Holy Trinity is one of the most significant monuments of medieval Serbian culture and belongs to the "Morava school". The monastery is surrounded by huge walls and towers and, immediately after its foundation, it became an important cultural center. Its School of Resava was known for its manuscripts and translations throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, even after the fall of the Despotate to the Ottoman Turks. The Manasija complex was declared a Cultural Monument of Exceptional Importance in 1979 and is protected by the Republic of Serbia.
11h00 – 11h30 Trip to the Cave of Resava
11h30 – 13h00 Visit to the Cave of Resava
Resava Cave is an incredible natural monument about 80 million years old, created before the great ice age by the underground rivers that had opened their way on the limestone terrain. It is one of the oldest caves and at the same time the most beautiful in Serbia. It is 4.5 kilometers long, but only 2,830 meters of the cave system has been explored in detail and about 800 meters are prepared for tourist visits. Regardless of the season, the temperature in the cave is 7 degrees, while the humidity ranges from 80 to 100%. The interior of the Resava cave is full of numerous chambers, canals, galleries, columns, stalactites, stalagmites, curtains, and stone waterfalls. Colorful ornaments can be seen at the entrance, located 485 meters above sea level.
13h00 – 13h30 Travel to Lisine
13h30 – 16h00 Time to have lunch at the foot of the Veliki Buk waterfall and explore the area
Veliki Buk is a waterfall in eastern Serbia, on the slopes of the Beljanica mountain. The waterfall is located on the Vrelo River, a tributary of the Resava River. It is located about 380 meters above sea level, close to Resava Cave. A small lake is formed at the base, surrounded by blocks of swamp. Together with the source of the Vrelo River, it is under the protection of the state, as a natural monument "Waterfall Lisine" and as an object of Serbian geographic heritage. The Veliki Buk Waterfall was considered the highest waterfall in the country, 25 meters high, until the '90s, when taller waterfalls were discovered in Stara Planina.
16h00 – 18h00 Travel to Niš
18h00 Arrival in Niš, check-in at the hotel, and free time. Guide and driver at the client’s disposal for dinner transfer.
DAY 5 | NIŠ
08h00 – 09h00 Breakfast at the hotel;
09h00 – 13h00 Time to explore Niš
Niš was the military, commercial and administrative center of several states and empires to which, in its long history, it belonged. Today the third-largest city in Serbia, Niš was formerly called Naissus and is the birthplace of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great and Constantius III. Due to his strategic geographical position, Niš has always attracted many conquerors. Throughout history, the Dardanians, Thracians, Illyrians, Celts, Romans, Huns, Avars, and later Byzantines, Serbs, Bulgarians, and Turks lived there. On several occasions, the city was occupied by Hungarians and Austrians. The liberation of the Turks took place in 1878 and has since been part of Serbia, with minor interruptions during the First World War and the Second World War, when it was occupied.
13h00 – 15h00 Free time for lunch
15h00 – 18h00 Travel to Skopje
18h00 Arrival in Skopje, check-in at the hotel, and free time.Guide and driver at the client’s disposal for dinner transfer.
DAY 6 | SKOPJE
08h00 – 09h00 Breakfast at the hotel;
09h00 – 12h00 Tour through the center, bazaar, and Kale fortress
Skopje is the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. It is in the Povardarie region and is the largest and most diverse city in the country. Skopje has been occupied by many different peoples since its founding. This is evidenced by the various Byzantine churches and monasteries around the city, also by some Roman sites, such as Scupi and Skopje aqueduct. However, the group that left the biggest mark in Skopje was the Ottomans. The Ottomans ruled Macedonia for hundreds of years and built a large number of mosques and other buildings. Today, Skopje is becoming a modern city. Home to about a quarter of the country's total population, it is also home to many different types of people. In addition to the Macedonian majority, many Albanians, Turks, Romans, Serbs, Bosnians, and others call Skopje home.
12h00 – 14h00 Free time for lunch
14h00 – 17h00 Visit to the Archaeological Museum and the Mother Teresa Memorial House
The Skopje Archaeological Museum is a huge Italian-style marble building built by the government to increase national pride. Inside, there are three floors showing the cream of Macedonia's archaeological excavations under the glow of hundreds of small lights. Highlights include Byzantine treasures; sophisticated 3D reconstructions of the first faces of Macedonia from skulls; a replica of an ancient Christian basilica, showing the life stages of mosaic conservation; and a real Phoenician necropolis.
The Mother Teresa Memorial House is an extraordinary retro-futuristic memorial and the most exclusive church you will see in northern Macedonia. Inside the building, there is a small museum on the first floor, displaying memorabilia related to the famous Catholic nun of Calcutta, born in Skopje in 1910. On the second floor, there is an impressive chapel, with glass walls forged in filigree (the traditional reverence of North Macedonia). Dove silhouettes are worked on the filigree to symbolize peace, as a tribute to Mother Teresa.
17h00 Return to the hotel in Skopje. Guide and driver at the client’s disposal for dinner transfer.
DAY 7 | OHRID
08h00 – 09h00 Breakfast at the hotel and check out.
09h00 – 12h00 Travel to Ohrid
12h00 – 15h30 Time to explore Ohrid and have lunch
Ohrid is a city of vast history and heritage in southwest Macedonia, on the bank of the lake of the same name. It became a UNESCO heritage site in 1980. Nestled between high mountains up to 2,800 m and Lake Ohrid, it is not only a place of historical significance but also of exceptional natural beauty. Ohrid is the jewel in the Macedonian crown.
15h30 – 19h00 Travel to Berat
19h00 Arrival in Berat. Check-in at the hotel. Guide and driver at the client’s disposal for dinner transfer.
DAY 8 | BERAT
08h00 – 09h00 Breakfast at the hotel and check out
09h00 – 13h00 Free time to explore Berat with a visit to the fortress and the Onufri museum
Berat is a city and municipality located in south-central Albania and also one of the largest continuously inhabited cities in the world. In July 2008, the old town, called Mangalem district, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The name of the city in Albanian is "Berat" or "Berati", probably derived from the ancient Slavic Belgrade, which means "white city" in the southern Slavic languages.
Onufri is the author of some of the most important and wonderful religious paintings in Albania - he was considered the master of Albanian religious art. There is no better place to see its unforgettable shades of color than in the churches of Berat and the museum dedicated to this artistic legend.
13h00 – 15h00 Free time for lunch
15h00 – 17h00 Wine tasting at Çobo winery
The Çobo family has a long tradition of wine production that dates back to the early 1900s. When a communist government was established in Albania in 1945, that family tradition ceased to exist, as private companies were not allowed under the new regime. Fortunately, these precious traditions have been kept alive in the stories and memories of elderly members of the Çobo family. When the communist government fell in the early 1990s, the family resumed its private production of wine. Currently, the Çobo winery produces 100,000 bottles annually, and the family has the capacity to increase production to meet demand without compromising wine quality. Çobo wine is rapidly attracting worldwide attention and has been represented in several wine exhibitions
17h00 Return to the hotel. Guide and driver at the client’s disposal for dinner transfer.
DAY 9 | GJIROCASTRA AND BLUE EYE
07h00 – 08h00 Breakfast at the hotel and check out
08h00 – 11h00 Travel to Gjirokastra
Defined by its castle, roads paved with limestone and shale, stately slate-tiled houses and views of the Drina valley, Gjirokastra is a magical mountain town beautifully described by Albania's most famous author, Ismail Kadare (b. 1936), in Chronicle in stone. There have been settlements here 2500 years ago, although today there are 600 "monumental" houses from the Ottoman era in the city that attract visitors. For the Albanians, the city is also synonymous with former dictator Enver Hoxha, who was born here and ensured that the city remained relatively well preserved under his government, although it is not celebrated in any way here today.
11h00 – 13h00 Time to explore Gjirokastra and visit the fortress
13h00 – 14h30 Free time for lunch
14h30 – 17h00 Travel to Saranda including a visit to the Blue Eye
Perhaps the most stunning spot in Albania, the Blue Eye is located about a 30-minute drive from the coastal town of Saranda, on the road to Gjirokastra. Surely, the surprise factor contributes to the beauty of the whole experience. The Blue Eye is a source of water and a natural phenomenon that occurs near Muzinë, in the county of Vlorë, in Albania. A popular tourist attraction, the clear blue water of the river bubbles into an impressive pool over 50 meters deep. Divers descended to fifty meters, but it is not yet clear how deep the karst hole is.
Saranda is the unofficial capital of the Albanian Riviera, and in the summer months, it seems that half of Tirana moves here to enjoy the bustling beach, and the busiest nightlife along its crowded promenade. What was once a sleepy fishing village is now a thriving city, and although Saranda has lost much of its uniqueness in the past two decades, it has retained much of its charisma.
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17h00 Arrival in Saranda, check-in at the hotel, and free time. Guide and driver at the client’s disposal for dinner transfer.