It’s very safe to travel in the Balkans. The Great Balkan Ride is a drive-what-you-can rally through some of Europe’s most beautiful and underrated countries. It isn’t even the most challenging Travel Scientists‘ event (that honour, we reckon, goes to the Central Asia Rally). However, some people may still presume that the Balkans is a […]
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Great Balkan Ride 2017: Team Interview 1
We interview Rob and Amy about the Great Balkan Ride 2017. At the end of the Great Balkan Ride, in fact during dinner in Thessaloniki, we interviewed some of the teams about their experience of the event, and their thoughts on the Balkans generally. The first team were Rob & Amy. Rob is a Travel […]
Continue ReadingThe War Childhood Museum in Sarajevo
The War Childhood Museum has received international recognition. Photo by Anida Krečo The Great Balkan Ride begins in Sarajevo and besides meeting everybody at the opening party, there’s a lot for teams to do, see, and eat. Arriving a day or two before the start of the event will give you a chance to learn about the […]
Continue ReadingSarajevo’s Winter Olympic Memories
Sarajevo has suffered greatly in the decades since it was the center of the sporting world. Photo via Creative Commons Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and the start city of the Great Balkan Ride, hosted the Winter Olympics in 1984. Since then, Yugoslavia, the country of which Sarajevo was once part, has broken up, the […]
Continue ReadingThe “Good Old Days” of Yugoslavia… On Film
See Yugoslavia as it was in 1986. The Great Balkan Ride visits places that are, compared to much of Europe, undiscovered treasures. And while nowadays people, our participants included, are coming to appreciate the attractions of the Balkan region, it was even less appreciated in 1986. That was when the American TV series “2 on the town” […]
Continue ReadingThe Big Book of Balkan History
You can read 700 pages in a year, right? Besides the incredible scenery — mountain peaks, tranquil lakes, golden beaches, and more — and of course the warm hospitality, a great attraction of visiting the Balkans is the rich and complex history. There’s no better way to learn about the region’s past than by visiting […]
Continue ReadingHow NOT to Get Help When Lost in the Balkans
How to NOT make friends in the Balkans. Photo by Cameron Strandberg Every year, the Balkan region is hit by spates of dangerous forest fires. This year has been particularly bad, with sustained spells of high heat with no rain. So when a tourist in Montenegro got lost, his method of alerting rescuers did not […]
Continue ReadingThe Great Balkan Recap 2017: Day 1
On Day 1 of the Great Balkan Ride, teams drove from Bosnia’s capital to the mountains of Montenegro. Photo by Theodore Marković Rocky roads roads, majestic mountains, and a few shots of rakija too many… the inaugural Great Balkan Ride was a lot of fun. From Sarajevo all the way to Thessaloniki, we explored an […]
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