5 THINGS TO KNOW WHEN TRAVELING TO BALKAN


About two months ago I visited Romania and Bulgaria. Previously I had visited Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, and Turkey, which can all be considered as parts of the Balkan Peninsula. The area is quite different from Western Europe and if you've never traveled there you might want to know a few things. So, here we go.


1. Learn basics of the language

This is a great piece of advice no matter where you are traveling to but it's even more important when traveling to the Balkans. In there, people don't generally speak English very well which might cause some difficulties on the way. Of course, people who are working in the travel industry are able to speak English, but if you try to talk to the locals - it might be hard to understand each other.


So, before traveling, try to learn some basic words and phrases like "Thank you", "Hi", "See you", "You're welcome", "Good morning", and so on. It might be helpful to learn some sentences as well, for example, "Where's the toilet?", "My name is...", and "What's the time?".


2. Be careful with the taxis and traffic

When visiting Bulgaria, we learned that you shouldn't take a taxi from the street. You can find numerous articles about the issue of fake taxis there. It's not unusual to be robbed by a "taxi" driver. We managed to take only actual taxis since we asked the hotel receptionist to call one for us everytime we needed one. So, be careful.

Also, the traffic is really really dangerous and you should keep your eyes open when moving around in the city. People tend to drive at high speeds and car crashes aren't unusual.





3. Don't stay in one place


The Balkan Peninsula is an amazing place to visit different types of areas. For example, in Romania, you can ski in the Carpathian Mountains, have a city holiday in Bucharest, explore the hidden treasures of Transylvania, or spend a few days by the Black Sea. If you stay in one place, you probably won't get an accurate image of the Balkans.


4. Traveling is slow

The train connections in Balkan are not great. Therefore, you mostly have to use buses if you want to get from spot A to spot B. Various bus companies organize trips around Balkan and it's pretty easy to book a bus trip. You should do this in advance since the booking might be only in the local language which might cause some difficulties.


5. You don't need a big budget

Traveling to the Balkans is cheap in comparison to traveling to Western Europe or the USA, for example. It's not expensive to stay in a pretty nice hotel so treat yourself! Also, the food is affordable - a dinner for four including drinks and dessert can cost about 40€.



If you have any questions please contact me!
-TH

Comments

  1. Such a beautiful and adorable place it is, thank you for sharing this piece of nature's beauty with us.
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