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Forum Ferreting Feature

Forum Ferreting: The Best Cities in the Powder Keg of Europe

May 30, 2006 at 12:39 PM | 0 Comments

Online travel forums are filled with gems, if you have the time to dig for them. Luckily we do the dirty work for you in our somewhat regular Forum Ferreting feature.



In light of Montenegro's recent secession from Serbia and the increasing popularity of Croatia--this year it's been upgraded to Cote D'Azur on the Adriatic--the Balkans are on everyone's lips. If you don't head to the beach, however, and instead try to get a more authentic experience in the region's many cities, which ones should top your list? Dubrovnik may be the classic choice, and Sarajevo the option for the slightly more adventurous, but our money's still on Tirana. What's more fun than the occasional power outage?

Sarajevo: I'm afraid I am going to be unoriginal and go for Sarajevo too. A very enjoyable place to hang around for a week or so. In addition to what everyone else said, I love the feeling of being close to the mountains, and the views you come across walking around the hilly suburbs.

Tirana: The most Balkan of all the capitals. Ripped-up pavements, mosques, bazaars, Communist monuments and the wildest colour scheme of any city in the world. The mayor Edi Rama has unleashed artists to repaint hundreds of apartment buildings, even if the residents didn't know about it. Now all the Communist grey has been replaced with lurid pink, orange, green, yellow and purple, often just on one building. Blloku must have more bars and cafes per square metre than anywhere this side of Bangkok.

Sofia: At first look horrible, but after couple of days fantastic, Sofia is a very young city (tons of students) and has lots of night life. The city centre is compact and overall very nice. One can ski/hike on Mt. Vitosha, only 20 mins from the centre.
 

One day, we'll do a comparison of bürek in every Balkan country. That's an assignment that our stomach could fully support.

[Image via ectoformo/Flickr]

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