British couple Rob and Trish MacCurrach will take you to the annual hay making festival on Rajac Mountain. This is both a festival of mountain culture with grass scything events and a colourful  home coming for Serbs. After 3 days spent in central Serbia including a day at the festival and a day visiting the Ovčar-Kablar gorge, we will spend 3 days walking in the little visited and remote flowered meadows of the Western Serbian mountains. Accommodation is authentically simple and rural; the food is traditional and tasty. The walking is intermediate to easy, up to 15 km a day. It is an opportunity to experience this unique Balkan mountain culture with its rich bio-diversity. Flowers, birds, scenery and hospitality are outstanding. Be a pioneer and visit places few foreigners have had the privilege to experience.

 

 

Day 1. BELGRADE - LJIG
Drive to rustic accommodation near Ljig under Rajac Mountain for 3 nights. Orientation to Serbia and mountain traditions.

 

Day 2. LJIG – OVCAR KABLAR GORGE - LJIG
Visit Ovčar-Kablar gorge which is famous for its monasteries. Picnic at a lookout point. Explore mountain meadows experiencing wildlife and landscapes.

 

Day 3. HAY MAKING FESTIVAL ON RAJAC - LJIG
Spend day at colourful hay making festival (kosidba)on Rajac Mountain. See the Zadruga system of village communal hay making. Watch the scything races with competitors from all over the Balkans. Enjoy local specialities such as spit-roasted lamb and pork and “wedding cabbage” cooked in clay pots in the embers. Folk music including traditional Balkan brass.

 

 

Day 4. TADIC BRDO
Travel West, picnic along the way; chance to hear Corncrake. Stay 4 nights at Tadić Brdo under Bobija Mountain in the remote West Serbian mountains. Local exploration, birding, flower hunting, photography.

 

Day 5. TRESNJICKA GORGE – TADIC BRDO
Walk around the Trešnjička Gorge with its small farms on the lip. Excellent opportunity whilst picnicing to see Griffon vultures launching from cliffs to catch thermals. Golden eagle also breed here. Ascend to mountain village of Gornje Košlje.

 

Day 6. BEYOND TRESNJICKA GORGE  -TADIC BRDO
Starting from above Gornje Košlje with its views across the River Drina into Bosnia, descend and cross the Trešnjička Gorge. Climb up into remote farmed meadows and walk out upstream. Visit remote honey producer, returning to Gornje Košlje.

 

 

Day 7. BOBIJA MOUNTAIN – TADIC BRDO
Walk up on to Bobija Mountain. Visit forester's lodge. Picnic at lookout with views of typical Balkan peasant farming landscape. Descend steeply through ancient beech forest; good chance of seeing Black woodpecker. For those who prefer, descend by track!

 

Day 8. BELGRADE
After final open-air breakfast of village cheese and ham being serenaded by the Golden oriels, Hoopoes and Wrynecks, return to Belgrade. Accommodation. Sightseeing of the most important city sites - Kalemegdan Fortress, Knez Mihailova Street - the main pedestrian zone, Parliamanet, St. Mark church...Dinner. Overnight.

 

Day 9. BELGRADE
Breakfast. Transfer to airport. The end of the program.

 

 

 

Price includes:

• Transfers according to the program
• 3 BB in Gornji Milanovac, 4 BB in in Tadic Brdo, 1 BB in hotel in Belgrade
• 8 x Lunch (day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6, day 7, day 8)
• 8 x Dinner (day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6, day 7, day 8)
• English speaking licensed guide

 

Price does not include:

• Flight to/from Belgrade
• Other costs not offered in the program