Turkish Airlines flies from Istanbul to Podgorica

In July 2010 Turkish Airlines began flying from Istanbul's Ataturk Airport to Podgorica in Montenegro. The flight will operate three times weekly all year round (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday). As well being of interest to local residents, this flight may prove useful to some tourists wishing to travel between the Adriatic coast and Turkey without undertaking the long overland journey. The cheapest one-way fare I could find was €154, while promotional return fares are available for around €190.

This development means that Turkish Airlines now flies to all capital cities in Southeast Europe.

Guidebook updates 2010

It's time for one of my regular roundups of new and updated guidebooks to the Balkan region. There haven't been as many completely new guidebooks this year as in 2009, but several publishers have been active in producing updated versions of their existing books.

I've already mentioned Cicerone's new guide to walking in the Bulgarian mountains in a previous post. Cicerone have also issued a new edition of Rudolf Abraham's Guide to Walking in Croatia. As well as describing treks in the mountains of mainland Croatia, the new version promises additional coverage of walks on the Adriatic islands.


Bradt Guides continue to outdo other publishers with their extensive range of guides to individual Balkan countries, with their Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia reaching their third, fourth, and third editions respectively. Bradt have also published a new guide to the Peloponnese region of Greece.


I mentioned Lonely Planet's updated guide to Romania in an earlier post. Their guides to Slovenia and Greece have also been updated in 2010.


Rough Guides have similarly been busy updating their range. Their mammoth guide to Turkey has reached its seventh edition, while Slovenia and Croatia have also been updated.


Finally, In Your Pocket continue to provide unrivalled coverage of the main cities of the region in the form of free downloadable guides. This year has seen the addition of Podgorica to the IYP range, while Tirana and Pristina are among those cities with updated IYP issues.

New photos of Croatia: Zadar, Rab, and more

I've updated my Croatia galleries with some new photos. You can find photos of Zadar, Ugljan, and Dugi Otok in the "Around Zadar" gallery, while the "Kvarner and Istria" gallery now includes Rab Island and a mixture of old and new photos of Pula.

Albania Minibus Schedules

Formal bus stations and printed or online timetables are almost unknown in Albania, so getting hold of timetable information can be tricky. The recently created website "Albania Minibus Schedules" is a very useful list of bus and furgon (minibus) routes and timetables. Naturally it is entirely unofficial, but it's very useful for getting a reasonable idea of frequencies and departure points on particular routes. The page is editable, so if you have been in Albania recently you can contribute with up to date information.

New direct flight from Croatia to Greece

Travelling from Croatia to Greece just got (a little bit) easier. Many travellers have been surprised to find that there are no scheduled direct flights between these two countries. That situation has now changed - at least if you happen to be travelling on the right day of the week and at the right time of year.

Croatia Airlines are now operating a direct flight from Zagreb to Athens three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday). The timetable allows same-day connections via Zagreb to and from other major Croatian destinations such as Split and Zagreb. Currently the route is scheduled to operate until October 3rd.

The airline says that return fares will be available starting at €164 - although you will probably need to move fast to snap up a price as low as that any time over the summer months. Don't expect to find cheap one-way fares, budget airline style - as far as I can see a one-way ticket will typically cost just as much as a return. And don't assume that this is the cheapest way to fly from Croatia to Greece - it may work out cheaper to change planes somewhere else, such as Budapest.

More details from Croatia Airlines

More about travelling from Croatia to Greece

Lonely Planet updates Romania ... but not Moldova

Lonely Planet this month published the fifth edition of their guide to Romania. Previous editions have distinguished themselves from competing guides by including a chapter about the Republic of Moldova, but the newest version covers only Romania. If you are planning to visit Moldova as a side trip you can purchase and download the relevant chapter of LP's Eastern Europe guide from their online shop. Or take a look at LP author Leif Pettersen's online guide, which still covers both countries.

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Easyjet flies from Switzerland to Kosovo

Easyjet has announced that it will link Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, with two Swiss cities starting in June. Flights from Geneva will operate on Wednesday and Saturday while flights from Basle will leave on Thursday and Saturday. Fares start at 30 euro one way, but you may need to move fast if you want to snap up a flight at that price - especially if you are looking for a Saturday flight in summer.

The mountains of Bulgaria: a new hiking guide

Keen hikers hoping to explore Bulgaria's mountain ranges may be interested in a new guidebook that has just been published by Cicerone. "Walking in Bulgaria's National Parks" describes 12 treks in the Pirin, Rila, and Central Balkan national parks, with detailed information about the plant and animal life likely to be encountered along the way.

Julian Perry, the book's author, also maintains a blog about Hiking in Bulgaria, where he has recently been keeping readers up to date on the exceptionally icy weather that has gripped the region.

A rare Macedonian mention

The Republic of Macedonia rarely appears in the travel pages of English-language newspapers, so it was nice to see a full-scale article about Lake Ohrid in last Saturday's Guardian. The writer of "A dive into Macedonia's past" recalls childhood visits to her grandmother (who came from Ohrid), enjoys a swim in the 26C water of the lake, and hires a boat to visit the springs at Sveti Naum.