Now that the Balkan bombing has stopped, it’s time to consider an idyllic vacation on the shores of Lake Ohrid. Or the Plitvice Lakes. Or maybe Sveti Stefan, or a little skiing in the Rila Mountains.
All these places are among the great touristic wonders of the world, sites of immense natural beauty and reasonably well equipped for tourism — at least, considering how few tourists actually go there, or have even heard of them.
But all these places, no matter how gorgeous, also are victims of their neighborhoods, and of politics. They’re in the Balkans, and so tourists give them a pass, not knowing what they’re missing.
Too much of the world is like this, even for tourists who think they’ve been everywhere. Some of the world’s nastiest wars take place amid its most beautiful scenery, leaving these splendors all but unknown.
Most of the Balkans today is perfectly safe (except for Serbia and Kosovo, which have other problems just now). No bombs fell near Ohrid or Plitvice or the Rilas. But the fighting in Yugoslavia has been enough to cast a pall over the region’s true attractions.
Lake Ohrid, for instance, is — in my opinion — the most beautiful lake in Europe. It is a large, absolutely clean lake, surrounded by low fir-covered mountains, kissed by the kind of light that surrounds the Greek islands, making the air above the blue waters literally glint and sparkle.
Water taxis ply the lake near the town of Ohrid, where waterside cafes serve the delicate Ohrid trout. Hotels and modest B&Bs line the shore in Ohrid and in the villages leading to the Albanian frontier, where the last building is the luxury St. Naum hotel complex, built inside a 10th Century monastery. Large double rooms costing about $60 a night overlook the lake or the hotel gardens, where peacocks stroll. For about $150 per night, two persons can share a two-room suite with breakfast and dinner thrown in.
But if the key to drawing tourists is location, location, location, then Ohrid is unlucky, unlucky, unlucky. The lake lies half in Macedonia, half in Albania. Known over the years mostly by East European and Yugoslav travelers, it is nearly deserted this year because of the Kosovo War, which, among other things, closed the airport at Skopje, the Macedonian capital, the natural port of entry for Ohrid.
Eight years of Yugoslav wars also have been cruel to Croatia, which has not yet recovered from its own war to win its independence from Belgrade. A few tourists have returned to the capital, Zagreb, or to the lovely resort cities — Dubrovnik, Split, Sibenik — of the Dalmatian coast, where some of the finest hotel rooms in the world now go for a song.
Even by these lonely standards, the Plitvice Lakes are deserted. The lakes lie in north central Croatia, south of Zagreb, well away from the tourist haunts of the coast. But the lakes (pronounced PLIT-vit-ze) are as ethereal as Lake Ohrid.
Most of that part of Croatia is dry and barren. But the area around Plitvice is mountainous and heavily forested. Plitvice itself is a string of 16 lakes, placed one above the other in stairsteps down the mountainsides. Each one feeds into the other through cascades of feathery waterfalls.
Plitvice is both a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage site, so it is protected from development. Tourists may walk in the area, but not drive (the park runs periodic bus tours to the lakes). Wooden plank paths, very well-maintained, wind up and down between the lakes and near the waterfalls. As at Ohrid, the water is clean and the mountain air pure. There are at least two good state-run hotels on the site, now virtually deserted.
Down the Dalmatian coast, just north of the Albanian border, lies Sveti Stefan, which is a fishing village that juts out from the shore, an island linked to land by a narrow causeway. This village was turned into a tourist hotel more than 30 years ago and was hard to beat for getting away from it all.
Sveti Stefan, though, is on the Montenegrin part of Dalmatia. Montenegro is part of Yugoslavia. And you don’t want to go to Yugoslavia just now.
There’s no similar barrier to going to the Rila Mountains, which — like Plovdiv, Nesebur, Veliko Turnovo and a lot of terrific other places you’ve never heard of — is in Bulgaria. Some of the most ethereal places in the world are the Orthodox monasteries of Bulgaria, especially the Rila Monastery where a monk’s cell (spartan, but with electricity) costs $15 per night. There are two smoky but decent restaurants behind the monastery, where the monks’ own wine can be ordered.
Similarly, both the airports and the hotels are open in Cluj, Brasov, Timisoara and other beautiful and ancient cities in Romania.
Both Bulgaria and Romania hunger for tourist business, and both deserve it, if only because this is the old Europe, a Europe beyond McDonald’s and Benneton, and it won’t stay that way forever. Both are safe and both are achingly beautiful, with swooping mountains, a sparkling Black Sea coast and pretty good wine. If any more war breaks out in the region, Bulgaria and Romania won’t be part of it.
But both countries are tucked into the Balkans, on the other side of Serbia, and this unhandy geographical fact is enough to scare away tourists.
The same holds true for Macedonia, which was in the middle of the Kosovo War but was not actually dangerous. No shots were fired there, but few tourists have it on their itinerary this year.
Which is a shame, because Macedonia shares Bulgaria’s wild Balkan beauty and its good wine and food. Ohrid is the prime tourist attraction, but Skopje, like Sofia in Bulgaria, is one of Europe’s more pleasant small capitals, a city of parks and sidewalk cafes, with an intoxicating mix of Orthodox and Islamic architecture and an exotic Turkish bazaar. Misha Glenny, in his book “The Fall of Yugoslavia,” called Skopje “one of the least-appreciated capitals in Europe.”
The Balkans, in fact, is the least-appreciated area of Europe. It’s at peace now, more or less. The future is more likely to bring development than war. Someday it will be tamed, and look like the rest of Europe, with prices to match. For those with some sporting blood, now is the time to go.
IF YOU GO
– GETTING THERE
Flights to most Balkan capitals originate in Vienna, Frankfurt, Rome, Milan or Athens. Best to go with major Western airlines, like Lufthansa or Austrian Airlines. National lines, like Bulgaria’s Balkan, occasionally run out of gas — literally (though fortunately while on the ground). Americans need no visas.
– GETTING AROUND
From airports and railroad stations, take cabs from official cab lines and negotiate the price in advance. In town, ask your hotel for advice on finding good cabs and avoiding ripoffs. Major car rental companies have offices in capital cities. All take credit cards. If you plan to drive to another country, ask the company if this is allowed (generally, Europcar — National — is most agreeable to this).
English is widely spoken, especially in hotels and restaurants and among young people.
Astonishingly, a few ATM sites are available and accept many American cards. More likely, you’ll change money in hotels or in one of the many foreign exchange shops on the streets.
– LODGING
Most capitals have only a few first-class hotels — the Sheraton and Kempinski-Zografski in Sofia, the Grand and Continental in Skopje, the Intercontinental, Sofitel and Hilton in Bucharest — all bookable through travel agents but all expensive. Second-tier hotels can be pretty grim. Better to seek out the growing number of small B&Bs and private hotels. These tend to be poorly advertised, but tourist information bureaus at airports and railroad stations and in the center of cities should help. In Croatia, the capital of Zagreb has several good hotels, as do Dubrovnik and the other Dalmatian resorts; a good travel agent will have listings. All major hotels take credit cards.
At Lake Ohrid, Hotel Sveti Naum is in an ancient monastery about 17 miles south of the town of Ohrid, along the beautiful east shore of the lake. Lovely double rooms with bath are about $60 per night; a suite for two costs about $150, including breakfast and dinner. Suites and apartments are about $160. 389-96-780-585 or (their Skopje number) 389-91-134-301 (when calling from the United States, add 011 before dialing any of these numbers).
At Plitvice Lakes, in Croatia, there are two good state-run hotels, the Jezero (385-53-751-400 or fax 385-53-751-600), and the Plitvice (385-53-751-100 or fax 385-53-751-165). I took a splendid suite with a private balcony for $80.
Rila Monastery is about 50 miles south of Sofia. Bus tours leave daily from hotels in Sofia. A night in a cell costs $15 and, telephone connections being what they are, is best booked on the spot. Ask for a room with a toilet, avoiding the primitive toilets down the hall.
– DINING
Private restaurants, still in the experimental stage, come and go rapidly. Ask hotels for recommendations or take your chances. The risk is low: Balkan food is generally good and straightforward — lots of grilled meat, spicy sauces, good (and safe) salads and fruit, good hearty soups, excellent local wines. Except in the fanciest places, prices are rock-bottom. Pizza also is wildly popular.
– INFORMATION
For Macedonia, contact the Tourist Information Center in Skopje: 389-91-116-854 or access the Web site of the Secretariat of Information at www.sinf.gov.mk. In the United States, the Ohrid Travel Agency in Clifton, N.J., specializes in Balkan travel: 973-340-3210.
For Croatia, write the Croatian National Tourist Office, 350 5th Ave., Suite 4003, New York, N.Y. 10118, or call 212-279-8672, or access the Tourism Ministry’s Web site at www.htz.hr.
For Bulgaria, the pickings are slim. The Bulgarian government does little to promote tourism by Americans. Some information is on its embassy’s Web site at www.Bulgaria-Embassy.org. The Chicago-based Bulgarian-American Enterprise Fund has funneled U.S. investment into small hotels in Bulgaria to promote the country’s tourism potential. Its Sofia office can be reached at 359-2-946-0119 or 943-3077; e-mail nadia@baefinvest.com.
For Romania, a Web site exists at www.rotravel.com.
Internet Tours in Los Angeles specializes in Bulgaria but also handles tourism for the rest of the region. 800-371-1871 or 310-441-4004, or access Intertours@aol.com.
