Nis

As our bus crossed the border from Bulgaria and ploughed onwards through Serbia, I fell in love with the country a little more with each passing mile. I watched stout old ladies in their headscarves and voluminous gathered skirts picking fruit from trees in their gardens, elderly men enjoying a glass of home made rakija while sitting on the steps of an almost tumbledown cottage, a hawk hovering over a field of gently swaying corn; for mile after mile, Serbia unraveled itself in a series of picture postcard images. This was the countryside, though, and we were heading for the city of Niš ... more

Nis, the largest town in Southern Serbia is located between Belgrade and two other capital cities (Skopje and Sofia), despite being the countries 3rd biggest city the town has a "family feel" to it with everyone seemingly knowing everyone. It is easy to get to from Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kosovo and of course other towns in Serbia by bus, train, car or hitchhiking. Nis doesn't have the nightlife of Novi Sad or Beograd and I thought things started to close rather early but there are still enough sights to keep the tourist interested for at least a day. The town is split by the Nisava Valley and ... more