This is a must if you have or haven’t been to the region and explains why the Balkans is really unfinished business. Serbia and Kosovo are at loggerheads and the threat of unrest in Bosnia has resurfaced. But all of this should have been done and dusted years ago. The tour explains why and how a long-term peace has eluded the region. Great food and some stunning scenery to boot.
DATES | 3 – 14 June, 2023 | ||||
DESTINATION | Pristina, Kosovo – Belgrade, Serbia – Sarajevo, Bosnia HZ Led by Nicholas Wood | ||||
DURATION | 11 nights | ||||
INCLUDED |
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COST | Cost: £TBC Single supplement: £TBC |
Nicholas Wood, founder and director of Political Tours, leads this 11-day journey through the Western Balkans – dramatic scenery, great food, and a complex mix of politics await.
As Communism began to collapse across Eastern Europe it took an awful turn in Yugoslavia. Slobodan Milosevic used Serbian nationalism to retain power and five wars ensued from 1991 to 2001. NATO forces intervened twice in Bosnia and then later in Kosovo, and ultimately Milosevic found himself in the Hague accused of war-crimes.
Today, over twenty years later, Kosovo and Serbia are at loggerheads and Serbs in Bosnia threaten a breakaway state. Meanwhile Russia is accused of fermenting trouble. We explore these divides and ask what the key to a longer-term peace could be.
Starting in Pristina, Kosovo and ending in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. You can to find flights from Vienna, Frankfurt and Zurich for both cities.
As with all of our expert-led tours, we ensure that our groups remain small and intimate, and will not exceed 14 people.
As with all of our tours the itinerary focuses on current affairs, and owing to the dynamic nature of politics means that local conditions may lead us adjust the final schedule.
COVID-19: We won’t go to a country unless it is safe to do so- we remain guided by the UK Foreign Office travel advice. For this reason some dates may change depending on the situation on the ground.
Saturday 3 June: Pristina
Sunday 4 June: Pristina
Monday June 5 – Pristina - Mitrovica
Tuesday June 5 – Pristina
Wednesday June 6 – Drive to Belgrade
Thursday , June 7 & Friday, June 8 – Belgrade
Saturday, June 10 – Fly to Sarajevo
Sunday, June 11 – Sarajevo
Monday, June 12: Sarajevo
Tuesday, June 13 – Sarajevo - Mostar
Book Your Tour
What’s Included
All of your accommodation and meals with water are included, as well as local transport (except during your free time).
Flights are not included in the price and need to be arranged by customers themselves or with an agent.
Following the news
Like all our tours the itinerary is focused on current affairs. Events on the ground may change and the final schedule may be adjusted accordingly.
This tour starts in Pristina, Kosovo and ends in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Getting to the Balkans
You can find flights from Vienna, Frankfurt and Zurich for both cities, amongst other options.
COVID-19: We won’t go to a country unless it is safe to do so- we remain guided by the UK Foreign Office travel advice. For this reason some dates may change depending on the situation on the ground.
Group size
As on all our expert-led tours the groups are deliberately small and will not exceed 14 people. Frequently we travel with 10-12 people. Limited spaces are available.
Visa
Some passport holders may require a visa. It is always good to check with the embassy in your country for latest advice regarding visa requirements.
FCO Website – Travel Advice
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office publishes regularly updated travel information on its website www.fco.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo which you are recommended to consult before booking and in good time before departure. Where it considers it appropriate to do so, the FCO may advise against all travel or all but essential travel to particular countries or parts of particular countries. Similarly, the FCO may withdraw any such previously given advice. Where the FCO issues such advice, we may as a result cancel your tour or make changes so as to avoid the area concerned (see clause 10). Alternatively, we may ask you to sign a form confirming you wish to proceed with the tour notwithstanding the FCO advice. It is in the nature of the itineraries we offer that the FCO may have issued such advice in relation to the country or parts of the country we are intending to visit prior to confirmation of your booking. In this case, you will be asked to sign the above form before we confirm your booking.
Medical Requirements
Advice on health requirements may be obtained from your GP, or alternatively from the Department of Health leaflet Advice on Health for Travelers, or the Department of Health in the UK. For further information on vaccination requirements, health outbreaks and general disease protection and prevention you should visit http://www.fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk/destinations.aspx
Currency
The Euro is the currency in all 3 countries. ATM’s are readily accessible, and cards can be used for payments in a wide variety of places.
Weather
Weather in the Balkans is somewhat similar for each of the three countries. Summers are warm but do not get very hot. Winters are long and cold, with below freezing temperatures.
What to wear
Dress is casual and comfortable. Shoes suitable for walking over cobbles are recommended. We suggest taking layers as the weather is different in the various regions. Rain showers are not uncommon too so please ensure you pack a rain jacket.
Men: Will need a jacket and tie for some of the meetings.
Women: You will need smarter dress for one or two meetings.
Electricity
European 2 round pin plug socket, standard 230v.
More on Nicholas Wood
Nicholas Wood is Political Tours’ Director. He set up the company in 2009 after tens years working as a reporter in the Balkans. Most recently he was the New York Times Correspondent for the region from 2003-2008. Previously he worked for the BBC, The Guardian, The Observer, The Washington Post and as a consultant for CBS’s 60 Minutes.
He covered the 1999 refugee crisis in Kosovo, the fall of Milosevic, the 2001 inter-ethnic conflict in Macedonia, the 2004 Kosovo riots, and build up to Kosovo’s independence. Prominent themes in his reporting include European integration and foreign policy, war crimes, justice and post conflict development. (http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/w/nicholas_wood/index.html)
Nicholas is a regular speaker on the region and has given talks at The John F Kennedy School of Government, Havard, and New York University Journalism program (Prague) among other universities and schools.
He lived and worked in Kosovo between 1999 and 2004, before moving to Slovenia. He returned to the UK in 2009 where he now lives with his wife, Karen Wood, who is also a director of Political Tours. Together they have run tours in over 35 countries.
Other Tours
‘As it said on the tin’, the tour gave us a fuller understanding of the political and military situation, and to some extent, the economic and social situation in the three Baltic countries, allowing us to assess Russian and other threats to the region. August, 2017
“The tour leaders: always interesting, fun, informed, one step ahead and responsive to our needs.” Baltics, 2017
“What a team you are! How you produced all those politicians, soldiers and nuclear plants I simply can’t imagine.” August 2017
“I’d never been to the Baltics before this 2017 trip. All three countries have strong concerns about their relationship with Russia. Being there, on the ground, heightened the realism of these issues.” ME
“These trips bring real, usually politically-connected, people to the table. All of us are free to ask whatever we want and to follow up with tough questions. Reading about situations isn’t even close to finding out things firsthand. There is nothing like being on the ground, face-to face, with people who are making or impacting policy.” August 2017
“Our visit to a family was outstanding.” Baltics, 2017
Balkans Reading List
We are compiling an extensive reading list with a wide range of books. It is optional! Please contact us for more details.