Archived:Attractions

Czech Republic

Prague

WP|LP

• I don't think we need to enumerate the merits really - clearly an awesome place (and one that I have not been to)
• Have been there, thought it was over-rated. Probably lovely if you have a month, but if you only have a day, it suffers from the usual capital city problem of being very large and not very serendipitous. BW
• Old Town / New Town
• Lots of architecture / museums

Hungary

Budapest

WP|LP

• Again, somewhere Simeon, Ben and I have been before
• Chain Bridge
• Buda Castle
• Lots of other things...

Italy

Trieste

WP|LP

• Looks like Venice but with half the tourists and a tenth the pigeons
• Castles, cathedrals, all the usual jazz
• Doesn't look a lot like Venice, in fact. The castle is mainly good for the gardens, but the cathedral is pretty nice. Also a Syriac Orthodox church that is well worth a visit. It's a small city, pretty and made for walking. The Observatory is housed in an antique castle. If you are in the region, visit Udine. - Simeon

Slovenia

Ljubljana

WP|LP

• Looks rather awesome
• Ljubljana Castle (contains an extremely interesting presentation on Slovenia's industrial history - Simeon)
• Lots of interesting bridges
• Nice scenery
• Wonderful breakfasts

Lakes Bled and Bohinj

Bled: WP Bohinj: WP

The Skocjan Caves

WP

• Some badass karst scenery

Croatia

Zagreb

WP|LP

• Not convinced as to the merits
• Beautiful Autro-Hungarian city
• Churches, museums, and a funicular railway

Plitvice Lakes

WP More karstic scenery, spectacular lakes and waterfalls.

Dalmatian Coast

It seems unlikely that we'll be able to get to any of the islands, but the coastline here is pretty spectacular and the coastal highway appears to go right along it down to Split and then Dubrovnik.

Split

WP|LP

• Roman and Venetian heritage and architecture
• Old town, city walls, etc
• Diocletian's Palace

Dubrovnik

Will be a pain to get to. Unconnected with the northern end of Croatia, so would mean getting a ferry or ducking in/out of Bosnia. WP|LP

• Has the best preserved Old Town evar. By law it has to be kept so that film crews can use it as a historical location.
• City walls, churches, etc.
• Glorious views of the Adriatic and Dalmatian Archipelago.

Bosnia

Sarajevo

WP|LP

• Bosnia!
• Latin Bridge - where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated
• Lots of Ottoman buildings
• Baščaršija bazaar

Mostar

WP|LP Probably a passing-through point, but that is quite a bridge.

Serbia

Belgrade

WP|LP

• A city razed to the ground 44 times since it was first built
• Plenty of nice scenery to see on the way there
• Various national museums
• Some surviving interesting sights from history
• The remains of a fortress

Cacak

WP|LP (so boring that LP doesn't have an entry)

• Doesn't look very exciting

Niš

WP|LP

• Skull Tower
• Niš Fortress
• A Nazi concentration camp
• Some sights on the road between there and Sofia
• Lonely Planet suggests that the only thing worth seeing is the Skull Tower, and that it is mainly used as a stop on the way to Sofia/Salonica/etc.

Monasteries

Everywhere. Thousands of them. Zica is a good example.

Kosovo

Pristina

WP|LP

• Probably enough to see for a quick stop, but I don't think there is all that much there, other than ticking the Kosovo box. Might not be such a bad thing, missing it out due to Kosovo/Serbia issues.
• Might be a laming-out thing, missing it due to Kosovo/Serbia issues >:(

Macedonia

Skopje

WP|LP

• Old Bazaar
• Lots of interesting Churches
• Stone Bridge

Ohrid

WP|LP The Slavic Jerusalem, birthplace of Cyrillic

• Loads of picturesque churches
• Lakes & Forests

Bulgaria

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Tourist_Sites_of_Bulgaria

Sofia

WP|LP

• Everything we saw last time...
• Palace of Culture - Soviet Magnificence
• National Historical Museum
• National Museum of Military History - Soviet military hardware, where it was left, with signs stuck next to everything (We have been there and we can report that it is awesome and that the staff outnumber the visitors - Simeon)
• Alexander Nevsky Cathedral - Looked interesting, but we only walked past it last time
• Lots of Soviet stuff

Marvellous Bridges

Another limestone formation in southern Bulgaria. Between Plovdiv and Xanthi.

Belogradchik

WP|LP

• Epic castle/rock formation img

Greece

Salonica / Thessaloniki

WP|LP

• The Aegean coast - plenty of places to see on a trip to/from Istanbul
• A view of Mount Olympus, throne of the gods!
• Aristotelous Square
• White Tower

Mount Olympus

WP|LP

• Home of the Gods

Mount Athos

WP

• The other Holy Mountain
• Visiting procedure is a bit lol, we won't get in. But we may be able to see it from the coast road with only minor detouring.

Turkey

Istanbul

WP|LP

• Topkapi Palace
• Hagia Sophia
• The Blue Mosque
• Grand Bazaar (flying carpets!)
• The Bosphorus, and Asia!