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Western Serbia Express
Sargan Eight, Zlatibor and Tara - 2 Days

Private tour

With the beautiful nature, its landscapes that will take your breath away and mouthwatering food on top of all, western Serbia will easily make its way to your heart.

 

Highlights: open air ethno museum "Old village", Stopica cave, Gostilje waterfall, Sargan Eight old train ride, Wooden Town Mecavnik, Banjska rock vintage point, Perucac lake, waterfal Vrelo, house in the middle of the Drina river

Zlatibor mountain

 

Zlatibor mountain is the most popular tourist resort in West Serbia, about 220 km from Belgrade, where we will visit a unique open air ethno museum "Old Village" in Sirogojno and Stopica Cave with its awe inspiring cave stalactites and an underground river. This is also a destination for a  genuine gourmet, where you can taste prsuta (smoked ham), kajmak (a creamy cheese spread delicacy), “komplet lepinja”, tea made from mountain herbs and, of course, a shot of traditional drink “sljivovica” – plum rakia. After we taste some of these delicacies, we are going to visit one of the most beautiful waterfalls in western Serbia - Gostilje waterfall

Sirogojno open air ethno museum - Building skills and interior facilitation, as well as the way of organizing business and family life of people in the hilly - mountainous areas of the Dinar region are presented in 55 buildings (of which 32 are in permanent museum exhibition) which are relocated from mt Zlatibor’s villages. 

 

The process of transfer, setting-up and reconstruction of Zlatibor log cabins in the "Old Village" was initiated by architect Ranko Findrik and the Republic Institute for Protection of Cultural Heritage in 1980. The initiative came from the organization of handicrafts from Sirogojno and realized by the persistence of Mrs. Dobrila Vasiljević – Smiljanić, engaging of the ethnologist, Mrs. Bosa Rosić, competent national institutions and numerous collaborators. Within the protected whole, for further storage and presentation, the institution of the Open-air Museum was constituted in 1992; it performs its activities in accordance with the provisions of the ICOM Declaration and the basic principles of European skansenology. Memorial complex of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul Church from the eighteenth century and the open-air museum, in 1983., has been legally protected as cultural heritage - cultural monument of exceptional importance.

Mecavnik-Wooden town

 

On this tour we also discover The Wooden Town, also known as Küstendorf and Mecavnik - a traditional village that the Serbian film director Emir Kusturica built for his film entitled "Life is a Miracle". It is located near the National park "Tara", two hundred kilometers southwest of Serbia's capital, Belgrade. Because of the Wooden Town, Kusturica was the recipient of the Philippe Rotthier European Architecture award in 2005.

 

The Wooden Town has a library, named the Ivo Andrić Library after a Serbian author Ivo Andric, a Nobel Prize winner for literature; an art gallery named Macola in honor of a sculptor Dragan Jovićević (it was previously known as Anika, after a character from Ivo Andric's fiction); Stanley Kubrick Cinema; a main house which houses a cinema-hall in the cellar, a living room, a guest room, a closed yard, a swimming pool, a gym, a sauna and private chambers for the Kusturica family; a sports hall; a restaurant; a cake shop, as well as a souvenir shop; and finally, a Church dedicated to St. Sava, a Serbian Orthodox Church Saint. The streets in the village bear the names of various individuals that Kusturica holds in high esteem or finds to be personally significant: Nikola Tesla, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Diego Maradona, Miodrag Petrović Čkalja, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Joe Strummer, Novak Đoković and of course, Ivo Andrić, who the main street is named after.

Sargan eight train ride

 

The Sargan Eight is a narrow-gauge heritage railway in Serbia, running from the village of Mokra Gora to the Šargan Vitasi station. An extension to Višegrad in the Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, was finished on August 28th, 2010. The former East Bosnian railway with a gauge of 760 mm (2 ft 5 15⁄16 in) was an important part of the former narrow-gauge main line from Sarajevo to Belgrade and closed in 1974. Between 1999 and 2003 the section over the Šargan pass was rebuilt by the Serbian Ministry of Tourism and the Yugoslav State Railway (now the Serbian Railways), with a huge help from Emir Kusturica. Nowadays, travelers have the chance to go on an amazing train ride around the mountains in the Sargan Eight.

"House on the rock"

House in The Middle of The Drina River -  the tiny house stands on an exposed rock in the middle of the Drina River, near the town of Bajina Basta, Serbia. The town lies in the valley of the Drina River at the eastern edge of Tara National Park. The beauty of the house was captured by Hungarian photographer Irene Becker in August. The picture soon became a hit on the Internet. The house, despite having just found its recent fame, has been standing in the middle of the river for more than 40 years.  The house was built in 1968 by a group of young boys who needed a place to sunbath. As the rock was not exactly the most comfortable place to lie down, they brought some boards from a nearby ruined shed. The following year the boys put up a roof and walls and a house materialized. To transport the materials they used boats and kayaks. Larger pieces were lowered into the water just a few miles upstream, and then caught at the rock. The house was nearly destroyed several times during flood, but every time it was built from ground up.

Perucac lake

Perucac lake - an arteficial lake made by building a dam on Drina, for the needs of the hydroelectric plant ”Bajina Bašta”. It has a surface of 12,4 km², the volume of 340.000 000 m³ of water, and it is up to 60 meters deep. It is 54 km long, and the minimum width of the lake is 150 meters, whereas the maximum is 1000 meters. It is situated at the altitude of 290 meters. The longest part of the lake is canyon-shaped, and it is surrounded by extremely steep rock clifs and rock blocks that dive vertically into the water. The lake is in the natural bend of the canyon of the river Drina between Bajina Bašta and Višegrad, and it surrounds mountain Tara, and its National park of Tara. The bathing season lasts for two months (July and August). The beach in Perućac has pontoons with pools for children. The area for swimming is bordered by buoys, lifeguards are present all the time on the coast or on the life boat. There are also showers, sliders, diving boards, canoes and paddle boats for renting, boats, a lovely restaurant. You can also enjoy boat riding around the lake. There used to be two ships with 60 seats, and they floated through the canyon of Drina from Višegrad to Perućac. Today, it is possible again to travel on a ship in tourist boats, which is a real attraction.

Banjska rock (also Goat rock)- the most magnificent place on Mount Tara. You can enjoy the spectacular panoramic view of the Lake Perućac Gorge and hydroelectric power plant Bajina Bašta from the viewpoint.


ITINERARY:

 

DAY ONE: Departure from Belgrade in the morning 8 AM, drive to Zlatibor mountain with refreshment breaks and stop in Ovcar-Kablar gorge. Continue of our trip and visit to Stopica Cave and open air ethno museum "Sirogojno", time for lunch in an authentic surrounding. Departure to Gostilje waterfall and sightseeing. The arrival to the Zlatibor center and getting to accommodation. Time for rest or a walk around Zlatibor lake and dinner. Overnight stay.

DAY TWO: After breakfast drive to Mokra Gora for the Sargan Eight heritage train ride (2,5h). Visit to Mecavnik ethno village, sightseeing and lunch. Drive through the picturesque landscapes of the National Park Tara and visit one of the most beautiful vantage points in western Serbia - Banjska rock. Visit to waterfall and river Vrelo and unique attraction - house in the middle of the Drina river. Arrival in Belgrade in the late evening (around 9-10 PM). End of the tour.

Translation support Angloland

Price per person:

  • 380 € (1 pax)

  • 240 € (2 pax)

  • 200 € (3 pax)

  • 170 € (4-7 pax)

  • 130 € (8-20 pax)

 

Duration: 2 days

(total 10 hours transfer time)

Departure: 8:00 am 

Arrival: 10 pm next day

Pick up: Anywhere in Belgrade

 

Included:

  • Transportation (minibus/car/van) and all visits by program

  • Sirogojno Ethno village and musem entrance

  • Stopica cave entrance

  • Entrance to Mecavnik ethno village 

  • Sargan eight train ticket (2,5 h ride)

  • English-speaking tour guide

  • Tour organization

 

Not included: accommodation, meals and tips

 

Operation months:

April 1st - October 31st

Thank you for your inquiry. We will reply as soon as possible.

Tour Map:

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