Blue Plum Escapes

Upon your arrival to Belgrade airport on the Sunday, our van will pick you up and drive you South-West to Tara National Park. After settling in your accommodation and having a dinner in the local tavern, you will be able to have a good night rest before your active holiday in Tara begins the following morning.

During your stay, breakfasts and dinners will be provided. At lunch times you will have the choice of either having a picnic at a picturesque nature spot or dining at one of the local eateries in the nearby town of Bajina Basta.

The daily itinerary will include 2-5 hours of walking in the nature, depending on other activities we have prepared for you on a particular day. Walks will be guided by an English speaking Ranger of the National Park. On your walks you will get to know hidden wooded paths leading to mountain springs, plants that exists nowhere else, secluded bear feeding spots, and archaeological remains of a Byzantium fortress, medieval castles and necropolis. You will reach the most beautiful view points, take in the captivating mountain landscapes, gaze over canyons, and maybe spot an eagle or a falcon. On another day you may wish to explore Tara on bikes, or maybe go for horse riding instead.

One afternoon, you will take a boat ride through the canyon of Drina for a truly magnificent experience. Here, sailing against the current, you will enter a different world. The closely surrounding rocky sides are in places more than a kilometer high up above you. The gorge becomes so narrow you can almost reach over to touch its cold stone walls. The air is still, waters calm, an almost mystical silence takes over. Nothing moves. Only if you look up, at the narrow stripe of the pale blue sky above, you may often see eagles gliding in the sunshine. The canyon is 38 kilometers long. At its North end, the waters ease out in to the Lake of "Perucac". Here, in the summer months, the water is calm and warm and you may take a swim or relax on a nearby beach.

One of the walks will take you to the monastery of Raca. Originating from the 13th century, this monument is of an exceptional historical and cultural value. It is situated in a secluded valley, where the river Raca leaves its canyon. Thanks to its remote hiding, the monastery survived the turbulent centuries of Ottoman rule, the Balkan Wars and both World Wars. Although burnt down twice, it remained the centre of Serbian literacy throughout the 17th century. During the Second World War, the monastery kept safe the oldest existing written book in Serbian Cyrillic alphabet - the Miroslav's Gospel.

At the end of your stay you will be taken back in time by a narrow gauge railway locomotive. From the charmingly restored steam train form 1930's, named "The 8 of Shargan", you will enjoy a magical climb of a 300 metre ascent using an unusual loop in the form of the figure 8 passing through 22 tunnels on its short journey.

You will visit "Drvengrad" or Wooden Town set up by the worldwide renowned film director Emir Kusturica, twice winner of the Palme d'Or at The Cannes Film Festival. This little hamlet of traditional wooden houses originating from 19th century is now equipped with a film studio, cinema, library, restaurant, bar, and tennis court. It now hosts a non-comercial international film and music festival, where student films from all over the world are shown, and the winner receives a “golden egg”. Even though the red carpet is shunned here, the famous faces of the world of film are always to be seen. In the 2010 festival, the president of the jury was Marjane Satrapi, and Johnny Depp was the special guest star.