Ben,

I'm thrilled to be the first to salute you for posting this tantalizing information. While I cannot, on impulse, commit today to joining you in June - - I would certainly like more info... what cities or regions? how do you recommend to travel "there" (wherever "there" is)? how long do you think you will spend in Serbia?

I have just now briefly begun to look over the info available at http://www.serbia-tourism.org/index_e.php - - it appears to be a rich source.

Best wishes,

Rex

topping...

Dear Rex,

My plans are these, but I have booked almost nothing yet.

Tuesday 21 June Vienna West 2003 Dacia Express tr 347, sleeper
Wednesday 22 Belgrade 0653
Hotel Kasina, Terazije 25, fax 323 8257, http://kasina.stari-gradf.co.yu
Thursday 22 June Belgrade 0325 not reservable, Uzice 0719, bus, Mokra Gora 0830, figure of eight line, fare 5 euros, Sargan 0910 to 0935, Mokra Gora 1015, bus, Uzice 1527 or 1835, restaurant car, Belgrade 1836 or 2118

Saturday 25 June. Belgrade 0830. Romantika train to Sremska Karlovci fare 6 euros, excursion 10 euros . Belgrade 1950

Sunday 26 June. 1030. St Mary’s Anglican Church, first floor, Caritas Building, 23 Visgradska Ulica, 11000 Belgrade.

Belgrade board from 2020, leave 2215, tr410, Olympus,
Monday 27 June. Ljubljana 0832 to 2035, tr414, RC to 2139
Tuesday 28 June. Zurich 0820 to 2306, tr468
Wednesday 29 June. Paris Est 0648, Paris Nord 0707, tr 2003, Boulogne Ville 0948, Boulogne across the Liane river from the city centre 1030, catamaran at £19 (Premier £29), Dover 1020, Dover Priory 1104, Victoria 1247
Or Paris Nord 0958, TGV7229, Calais Ville 1138. Calais Port 1245, Dover Eastern Docks 1315, Dover Priory 1422, Victoria 1617

Wednesday 6 July. Last day of InterRail card


For what cities or regions you should choose please see the book. This trip I expect to be in Serbia, Ljubljana and Zurich a week, but I am free to go anywhere in western and central Europe on my InterRail card until 6 July. It will depend on how tired I get, and how good the nurses are. I have seen a little of Vovoidina (and very nice too), so if I extend my stay I think I’ll try Nis and Novi Pasar.

Ben,

I'm a little bit chagrined that this thread hasn't attracted any other attention. Line 4 of your itinerary had me confused (and still does somewhat) - - there is a simple typo of Thursday June 23<?B>, correct? And this day really starts at 03:25? It's a lot of train time, and I am not entirely clear what is/are the major attraction(s) of that day.

I also cannot get the webpage of the hotel to load.

I was in Belgrade on my very first trip to Europe in 1969, and there were some fascinating contrasts - - mostly in the feeling of "political freedom" that I felt in the air (and did not expect); a sharp contrast to the feeling of oppression under the junta government in Greece where we had come from.

But I remember Belgrade as looking gray and dreary, and nothing like Zagreb, which I really loved.

Honestly, I do not imagine that the Serbian destinations are going to generate appeal among others to drum up a "critical mass" (i.e., perhaps not even TWO!) of others who would want to explore this generally unknown part of Europe. We may have to rely on your blazing the trail for travels to follow in later years - - not the first time!

Dear Rex,

Thanks for sharing your chagrin but in fact I am not too sad, as the response I look for is people buying the book, and we do not know what sales are.

Sorry for the typo.

The day starts at 0325, and includes as you say much rail travel, but part of that is asleep (no sleeping car, though) and part is dinner on the train, which I always enjoy. For the major attractions of the day please see pages 249 and 250 of the book, or http://solair.eunet.yu/~rabotic/sargan.htm. For a day with more morning sleep you can leave Belgrade at 1010 and take the 1400 narrow-gauge train at 1400, but I shall like a slow day in Uzice, Mokra Gora, Sargan,or a couple of them.

I easily loaded http://www.hoteli-srbije.co.yu/hoteli-beograda/kasina-e.htm
http://kasina.stari-grad.co.yu/english/ohotelu.htm
and http://www.southtravels.com/europe/serbiamontenegro/hotelkasina/
I agree that the other links on the first page of Google either were down or give little information.

Like you, the publishers and I do not expect a critical mass, but we do imagine that the Serbian destinations are going to generate appeal among people who would want to explore this generally unknown part of Europe. I agree that Serbia will not attract a mass of western tourists. But there are those who for love of knowing what is not yet known will take the steam-drawn train to Krusedol.

To set out major attractions, and to help draw up a critical mass, are the work of a hard salesman, in the sense that Arthur Miller gives in his play Death of a Salesman. When young I might perhaps have made a good hard salesman, but in the event I lived my paid career as a soft salesman, and I prefer a soft sell for both this book and Serbia. I go further. This forum attracts the adventurous, people like you and me who do want to join masses to see something good (the David in Florence, for example) but who want also to choose for themselves, away from the masses, and are therefore pleased when a country for the first time has a guide book in English.

Ben Haines

Thanks for the info.

If I understand the link correctly, it looks like you can get double rooms in some places for 20E or less.

Very intriguing from a budget point of view. And certainly a less-common place to visit, at least for anglophone tourists.

Rex--

Thanks for suggesting I take a look at this thread. We are just the type of travellers who would want to visit this relatively unvisited area. We've enjoyed other parts of eastern and central Europe that we've visited such as Poland, Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary.

Ben--

I know my husband's first question is going to be about safety issues. What does the book have to say about that?

We want to visit Europe again this year and are looking at tons of different possibilities that would be affordable. Unfortunately we have the really bad combination of high transatlantic airfares and an extremely weak dollar. So I'm looking for a destination where I can find affordable airfares to get there and affordable prices once I get there. believe me, this is not an easy combination to find.

I know that you are interested in seeing sales of Mr. Mitchell's succeed... but even if I were certain I wanted to place an Amazon order today, I wouldn't have it for a while... so...

...some more (tantalizing) snippets of info from/about the book would be nice. And I understand that your excitement stems, in part, from the fact that there is a guidebook about Serbia at all - - when there hadn't been ANYthing current for a long time.

About safety issues the book says, and I quote, that Serbia is very safe indeed. The authors spell this out in a paragraph, but if you will excuse me I leave it to you to buy the book, or see it in your public library, rather than copy type. The more so, as I take advice on safety from consuls, not from writers, as consuls are experts, and can change advice with circumstances. So please would you see advice
from Australia on http://www.dfat.gov.au/consular/advice
from Britain on http://193.114.50.10/travel and on http://www.fco.gov.uk/travel/countryadvice.asp
from Canada on http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/menu-e.asp, under "Research your trip"
from France on http://www.dfae.diplomatie.fr/voyageurs/etrangers/avis/conseils/alphabet.asp
from the USA on http://travel.state.gov/travel/warnings.html under consular information sheets
Some experienced American travellers find the American site over-cautious. It is therefore useful to read several consuls.

To combine low air fares and low touring costs you are doing well to look at central Europe, formerly called East Europe. Your technique would be to fly cheaply to a west European airport such as Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, or Vienna, and carry on by train to your intended country. If you ask I can list you suitable agents for the rail bookings in Florida and in Britain, all of whom are 30 percent cheaper than RailEurope. Most such journeys cost about 80 dollars a person by day, or 130 a night, with a sleeper. I suggest you move straight from plane to train, as you can have a restful time on the train after the rigours of air travel. A map of Europe will have given you opening ideas. As well as Serbia, I suggest Slovakia at a quarter of west European prices, and Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic other than Prague and Poland other than Krakow at a third.

I hope Rex, too, will forgive me if I encourage him to ask his public library to buy the book. They might take two months to get it. To find snippets from a 310 page book would be a long task, and I prefer to use my time to answer questions. I suppose that now I have scan software (I scanned da Vinci’s Last Supper into our Good Friday poster) I could scan selected pages, but that would surely be breach of copyright ? If Rex plans to go to Serbia within two months he might take up the Amazon offer at 15 dollars, the cost of one meal in western Europe.

ben.haines@btinternet.com