• 9 Dinner (D)
• 15 Breakfast (B)

• Business class coach with extended leg room
• Top-rated dining, from farm-to-table to local restaurants
• 4 & 5-star stays

• Bucharest: Join your Travel Director and fellow travellers for your dinner.
• Dubrovnik: You will be offered a varied selection of charming restaurants to choose from for your Dine-Around Evening.
• Belgrade: Toast the culmination of your travels with dinner.

• Bran: Learn about the story of the infamous Count Dracula during a private after-hours visit to Bran Castle, following a traditional dinner.

• Sarajevo: Take a nature walk to the spring of the Bosna River, a protected park just beyond the city, led by a conservation guide. Your visit directly supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15: Life on Land.
• Sarajevo: Meet an expert on the Bosnian War for a visit to Sarajevo’s Tunnel of Hope and learn about the 44-month siege of the city.Alternatively, take a nature walk to the spring of the Bosna River, a picturesque park just beyond the city.

Ascend Tsarevets Fortress atop the King’s Hill, exploring ramparts and gates that recall the might of the Second Bulgarian Empire. From the walls, look down to the Yantra’s looping gorge and terraces of terracotta roofs.

Picture medieval life within these crusader-era walls, where patriarchal and royal complexes once commanded the capital. Your Local Specialist unpacks power struggles, sieges, and cultural flourishing that shaped this dramatic stronghold.

Step into a preserved 17th-century merchant’s house to see carved ceilings, wooden chests, and walled courtyards that reflect Arbanasi’s trading prosperity. Continue to the Church of the Holy Nativity to admire centuries-old frescoes.

Stand beneath ochre, crimson, and cobalt scenes of saints and patrons, and test the church’s resonant acoustics. Your Local Specialist highlights the iconography and craftsmanship that survived turbulent centuries on the route between Danube and Aegean.

Explore Sofia’s spiritual heart at St. Sofia Church, marvel at the golden domes of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, and see the red-brick St. George Rotunda set within Roman remains.

Trace Bulgaria’s layers from antiquity through Orthodox tradition and liberation-era pride. Your Local Specialist connects monuments and mosaics to the city’s Roman, Byzantine, and modern chapters, where sacred spaces anchor everyday life.

Stroll Macedonia Square beside the Vardar, cross the Ottoman-era Stone Bridge, and weave into the Old Bazaar where caravanserais, mosques, and workshops line cobbled lanes.

Your Local Specialist contrasts bold modern statues and riverside facades with intimate courtyards and domes. Sip mountain tea, browse filigree jewelry, and sense Skopje’s blend of Ottoman, Yugoslav, and contemporary energies meeting at the water’s edge.

Pause at Lake Mavrovo where glassy water mirrors mountain ridges and forests. Scan the shoreline for the partially submerged Church of St Nicholas, emerging when levels fall, and frame photos of the lake’s shifting blues.

Set within Mavrovo National Park, the highland air and mountain scenery create a quiet interlude. Listen for lapping waves and distant cowbells as the road threads between peaks and pastures.

Explore Skanderbeg Square with a local, looking from the bronze horseman to the Clock Tower and the portico of the Et’hem Bey Mosque. Notice boldly painted facades bringing color to the capital’s avenues.

Inside the mosque’s portico, delicate landscapes of cypress trees and arched bridges reveal unusual motifs for Islamic art. Hear how Tirana’s 20th-century shifts gave way to a confident cultural revival around the square.

Wander Stari Grad within Venetian walls, slipping through limestone lanes into pocket-sized squares opening to the sea. Weathered stones, shuttered houses, and small chapels sketch centuries of Adriatic life.

Pause by ramparts for Adriatic views, then follow the scent of espresso through arched passages. Your time inside the old town reveals a slower rhythm of courtyards, altars, and waterfront charm.

Explore UNESCO-listed Kotor, where stone-paved streets open onto intimate squares guarded by city walls that climb steeply above the bay. Discover medieval churches and former palaces of sea captains.

Listen for bell chimes over terracotta roofs and watch light glance off the water framed by cliffs. Maritime wealth and mountain protection shaped this compact jewel at the end of its fjord-like inlet.

Walk from Onofrio’s Fountain along the polished Stradun with a Local Specialist, visiting the Rector’s Palace and the elegant cloisters of the Franciscan Monastery.

Sense the republic’s former independence in harmonious stone facades and arcades. Monastic pharmacies, carved capitals, and seaward walls reveal a city balanced between faith, trade, and defense along the Dalmatian coast.

Visit Stari Most, its single arch spanning the Neretva River with graceful symmetry, then follow Kujundžiluk bazaar past copperware and woven rugs glinting in shopfronts.

Hear how the bridge was rebuilt stone by stone after wartime destruction, restoring a symbol of connection. Ottoman craft traditions, Ottoman-era craftsmanship, and lingering hammer taps give the old town its living texture.

Share a Dine at Home experience in a Sarajevan family home, where hosts serve traditional Bosnian dishes and coffee brewed to local custom. Stories unfold across the table in an atmosphere of warm hospitality.

Learn about everyday life, resilience, and cultural continuity in a city that bridges empires and faiths. Your visit advances community connection and supports inclusive tourism in the Bosnian capital.

Visit the Tunnel of Hope with an expert, stepping beneath low timber supports as you hear first-hand accounts of the city’s 44-month siege. Exhibits and video testimonies deepen the narrative.

This Choice experience, typically offered on day 13, explains how the hand-dug lifeline carried food, medicine, and people under the airport runway. Expert commentary connects engineering ingenuity to Sarajevo’s survival and spirit.

Stroll the Vrelo Bosne springs at the foot of Mount Igman, crossing wooden footbridges above spring-fed channels and pausing beneath shade trees and birdsong.

Typically offered on day 13 as a Choice experience, this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER activity supports local conservation. The park’s cool microclimate, plane-tree avenues, and clear pools offer a restorative counterpoint to the city’s urban energy.

Step beneath the vast dome of the Church of St Sava to see shimmering gold mosaics, then continue via Terazije and Republic Square to the ramparts of Kalemegdan Fortress.

From the fortress, watch the Sava meet the Danube in broad currents beyond the city. Your Local Specialist frames Belgrade’s Habsburg-Ottoman crossroads and modern creative pulse in one sweeping panorama.

Sit down to a welcome dinner at a local restaurant in Bucharest and meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers. Share first impressions over seasonal dishes and regional flavors.

Romanian culinary traditions—hearty soups, grilled meats, and market-fresh produce—set a convivial tone for the journey. Lively conversation and a glass raised in good company mark the tour’s opening evening.

Enjoy a Dine-Around evening choosing from curated Old Town restaurants. Sample Dalmatian seafood, grilled specialities, and pair plates with local wines.

Each konoba reveals a different facet of Dubrovnik’s culinary scene—from stone-vaulted cellars to lantern-lit terraces—so you can match the setting and menu to your mood.

Gather for a farewell dinner in Belgrade to celebrate new friendships and shared memories. Taste Serbian cuisine—from slow-cooked meats to farm-fresh salads—and raise a toast to the Balkans.

The city’s warm hospitality and lively spirit provide a fitting close to your journey, blending time-honored recipes with contemporary flair.

Celebrate Bulgarian culture at a folklore dinner with live music and dance. Dancers in richly embroidered costumes whirl to traditional rhythms as you savor regional dishes and local wines.

Your evening blends storytelling, song, and cuisine in an intimate setting that brings village traditions to the capital. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Travel into the mountains to Rila Monastery, famed for its striped arcades and vivid frescoes. Walk the courtyard, breathe the highland air, and admire the craftsmanship of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Founded by St John of Rila in the 10th century, the monastery became a spiritual and artistic stronghold of Bulgarian identity. This optional excursion is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Stroll Cavtat’s seaside promenade along pine-fringed paths before heading inland to a family-run cellar in the Konavle countryside to sample regional wines such as Malvasija Dubrovacka.

Soak up small-town charm on the bay, then learn about vineyard traditions shaped by Adriatic sun and karst soils. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Insight Vacations

Join a guided panoramic tour to take in University Square and Revolution Square and pause beneath the former Communist Headquarters. Continue inside the vast Palace of Parliament, where crystal chandeliers and polished Romanian marble line cavernous corridors.

Learn how the palace rose during the late Ceau?escu era and feel the scale of its grand halls, crafted by thousands of artisans. Your Local Specialist sheds light on Bucharest’s shifting identity, from Belle Époque facades to post-communist confidence.

Experience a private after-hours visit to Bran Castle, drifting through whitewashed rooms and timber corridors before a special dinner in Queen Marie’s Tea House. Hear the murmur of stories linking the fortress to the legend of Dracula.

Discover how a medieval stronghold became a royal residence under Queen Marie, with intimate chambers and outlooks across forested slopes. The evening atmosphere heightens the castle’s mystery as candles reflect on stone and wood.

Explore Pele? Castle at the foot of the Bucegi Mountains, wandering stately rooms filled with stained glass and carved wood. Admire royal salons, weapon collections, and delicate inlays that showcase late 19th-century artistry.

Hear how King Carol I commissioned this alpine retreat as Romania’s modern royal residence. Each chamber reveals Europe-spanning influences, from German Renaissance to Italian Baroque, framed by the crisp mountain air of Sinaia’s spruce forests.

Walk Bra?ov with a Local Specialist through Council Square, where pastel facades ring a lively plaza, and step outside the Black Church with its striking Gothic silhouette. Trace lanes once trodden by Saxon merchants and guilds.

Hear how the Teutonic Knights fortified these Carpathian foothills and how fire darkened the church’s stone. Glimpses of Strada Sforii’s narrow passage and red-tiled roofs reveal a town shaped by trade, faith, and alpine geography.