Serbia - Bosnia - Kosovo · Husrev Bey's Mosque, Brusa Bezistan with the City Museum, Princip's...

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Serbia - Bosnia - Kosovo May 2-12, 2020 11 days/ 9 nights

Transcript of Serbia - Bosnia - Kosovo · Husrev Bey's Mosque, Brusa Bezistan with the City Museum, Princip's...

Page 1: Serbia - Bosnia - Kosovo · Husrev Bey's Mosque, Brusa Bezistan with the City Museum, Princip's Bridge, the Cathedral, the Jewish Museum, Svrzo's House, the History Museum and the

Serbia - Bosnia - Kosovo

May 2-12, 202011 days/ 9 nights

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D A Y 1 Leave USA for Sarajevo

D A Y 2 Arrive in Sarajevo / Sarajevo

D A Y 3 Sightseeing in Sarajevo

D A Y 4 Excursion to Mostar / Sarajevo

D A Y 5 Fly to Belgrade / Sightseeing in Belgrade

D A Y 6 Sightseeing in Belgrade

D A Y 7 Excursion to Novi Sad / BelgradeD A Y 8 Drive to Nis / Drive to Prishtina

D A Y 9 Sightseeing in Prishtina

D A Y 1 0 Excursion to Prizren

D A Y 1 1 Departure for USA

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H I G H L I G H T S

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Jewish heritage sites in Sarajevo

Sarajevo Haggadah

Gallery 11/07/95, memorial art gallery in Sarajevo

Mostar Old City and Old Bridge

Excursion to Novi Sad with monastery, synagogue and winery visits

Ottoman Mosques in Bosnia

Belgrade Old Town

The City of Nis, birthplace of Constantine the Great

Pristina & Prizren with Ottoman history, Mother Tereza

NOTE: It will be Ramadan during the trip. We may have to modify the sites and

schedules depending on local conditions.

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A C C O M O D A T I O N S

Sarajevo Swissotel

Belgrade Courtyard by Marriott

Pristina Swiss Diamond Hotel

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I N C L U D E D   9 n i g h t s a c c o m m o d a t i o n a t 4 a n d 5 s t a r h o t e l s w i t h d a i l y

b r e a k f a s t , l u n c h a n d d i n n e r s a s i n d i c a t e d i n t h e i t i n e r a r y .

P r i v a t e E n g l i s h s p e a k i n g g u i d e

t h r o u g h o u t t h e t o u r .

P r i v a t e t r a n s p o r t a t i o n w i t h d r i v e r .

P r i v a t e l y g u i d e d t o u r s a n d e n t r y f e e s .

T w o b o t t l e s o f w a t e r p e r p e r s o n p e r d a y  

A l l t i p s f o r i n c l u d e d m e a l s a n d h o t e l s .

L o c a l t a x e s , s e r v i c e c h a r g e s .

N O T I N C L U D E D  A i r f a r e ( s e e b e l o w f o r s u g g e s t e d f l i g h t s )

D r i n k s w i t h i n c l u d e d m e a l s ( e x c e p t t e a / c o f f e e f o rb r e a k f a s t )

P e r s o n a l e x p e n d i t u r e sT r a v e l i n s u r a n c e ( c a n b e p r o v i d e d o n r e q u e s t )

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D A Y 1PROGRAM DETAILS

Saturday, May 2 - Houston, USA - SaravejoWe will leave USA for Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

D A Y 2

Sunday, May 3 - Sarajevo

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Upon arrival in Sarajevo, our guide and driver will meet us and take us to our hotel. Rest of the day at leisure.

Sarajevo is one of the most historically interesting and varied cities in

Europe. It is a place where the Western and Eastern Roman Empire split;where the people of the Roman Catholic west, Eastern Orthodox east and

the Ottoman south, met, lived and warred. Sarajevo is the political,financial, social and cultural center of Bosnia-Herzegovina, a prominent

center of culture in the Balkans, with its region-wide influence inentertainment, media, fashion and the arts. Due to its long and rich

history of religious and cultural diversity, Sarajevo is sometimes calledthe "Jerusalem of Europe" or "Jerusalem of the Balkans". It is one of fewmajor European cities that have a mosque, Catholic church, Orthodox

church and synagogue in the same neighborhood.

Overnight in Sarajevo Meals: D

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D A Y 3 Monday, May 4 - SarajevoOn our first day in Sarajevo, we will have an all-day historical tour of the city.

Highlights include: the Old Town and City Center, Bascarsija to see GaziHusrev Bey's Mosque, Brusa Bezistan with the City Museum, Princip's Bridge,

the Cathedral, the Jewish Museum, Svrzo's House, the History Museum andthe Gallery 11/07/95.

We will also have a special viewing at the National Museum of the SarajevoHaggadah, one of the oldest Sephardic Haggadahs in the world dating back to

Barcelona around 1350.

Overnight in Sarajevo Meals: B-L-D

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Old Town: The cobbled streets, mosques and Oriental style shops at the heartthe city are a world away from Europe, and when the call-to-prayer starts, one

could be forgiven for thinking that they were actually in the Middle East.

The Gallery 11/07/95 is a memorial art gallery housed in an Austro-Hungrarianbuilding. It is a public institution dedicated to preserving the memory of theSrebrenica genocide. The gallery's showpiece is a permanent exhibition that

provides documentary and archive material from the town of Srebrenicabefore, during and after the genocide.

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D A Y 4

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Tuesday, May 5 - Excursion to Mostar/SarajevoToday, we will have a full-day excursion to Mostar.

Upon arrival we will visit the Old Bridge area with its pre-Ottoman, eastern

Ottoman, Mediterranean and European architectural features including, SlopingBridge, Karadjoz Beg Mosque, Koski Mehmed-Pasha Mosque, Kujundziluk and

Museum of Herzegovina.

Then we will visit Blagaj with the Tekija Dervish House, Velagic Ottoman Complexand Stari Most (Old Bridge). We will also visit Okusi Hercegovinu, the farmers'

cooperative to see local products of the region.

We will arrive back in our hotel late in the evening.

Overnight in Sarajevo Meals: B-L-D

Mostar is situated on the Neretva River and is the fifth-largest city in thecountry. Mostar was named after the bridge keepers (mostari) who in themedieval times guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva. The

Old Bridge, built by the Ottomans in the 16th century, is one of Bosnia andHerzegovina's most visited landmarks, and is considered an exemplary

piece of Islamic architecture in the Balkans.

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D A Y 5We will have a leisurely morning in Sarajevo until our flight in early afternoon.

We will arrive in Belgrade, Serbia late in the afternoon and will be transferred toour hotel.

Overnight in Belgrade Meals: B – L - D

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Wednesday, May 6 - Sarajevo - Belgrade, Serbia

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Sarajevo is one of the most historically interesting and varied cities in Europe. It is a placewhere the Western & Eastern Roman Empire split; where the people of the Roman Catholic west,

Eastern Orthodox east and the Ottoman south, met, lived and warred. Sarajevo is the political,financial, social and cultural center of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a prominent center of culture inthe Balkans, with its region-wide influence in entertainment, media, fashion, and the arts. Due to

its long and rich history of religious and cultural diversity, Sarajevo is sometimes called the"Jerusalem of Europe" or "Jerusalem of the Balkans". It is one of only a few major European cities

which have a mosque, Catholic church, Orthodox church and synagogue in the sameneighborhood.

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D A Y 6 Wednesday, May 6 - Sarajevo - Belgrade, SerbiaToday we will have a sightseeing tour in Belgrade including the old town withthe Kalemegdan Fortress, St. Petka's Chapel, St. Michael's Cathedral, NikolaiTesla Museum and Josip Broz Tito Mausoleum, together with the Museum of

Yugoslav History.We will continue the day with a panoramic tour including the Royal Palace, theWhite Palace (Beli Dvor), Republic Square and Kalenic Pijaca, where locals sell

their home-grown produce.

Overnight in Belgrade Meals: B-L-D

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Belgrade is the capital of Serbia and is, as such, the country's largest city with a population of about 1.7 million people. It lieson the confluence of the two major European rivers, Sava and Danube. The city has a long history, dating back to the 4th

century BC, when the area was settled by Celtic tribes.Later on, it became the Roman city of Singidunum, and relics of that era can still be seen in the city, particularly at

Kalemegdan Fortress. During the Middle Ages the town changed hands between the Kingdom of Hungary and the SerbianDespotate (of which it was the capital) until 1521, when it was captured by the Ottoman Empire. Until Serbia retained itsindependence in 1878, the city again changed hands multiple times, but between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg

Empire.

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PROGRAM DETAILSD A Y 7 Friday, May 8 - Excursion to Novi Sad / BelgradeToday, we have a full-day excursion to Novi Sad, located about 80 km north

of Belgrade, on the Danube river.The city is an important industrial, cultural, educational and medical centerwith many cultural and historical monuments and museums. The city is bestknown for its impressive fortress and numerous baroque churches. South of

Novi Sad, on the old road to Belgrade, there is a small historical town ofSremski Karlovci, nowadays most famous for its wine cellars.

We will drive to Novi Sad to visit Petrovaradin, the Museum of Vojvodina and

have a glimpse of the city with a stroll at the Danube Street and see NoviSad Synagogue. Then we will visit one of the Frusca Gora Monasteries,

Krusedol Monastery. We will stop at Sremski Karlovci for a short stroll andalso stop by a local winery for wine tasting with cheese, bread and fruit.

We will return to Belgrade early in the evening.Overnight in Belgrade Meals: B-L-D

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PROGRAM DETAILSD A Y 8 Saturday, May 9 - Belgrad - Nis - Pristina, KosovoThis morning we will leave Belgrade for Prisitina, Kosovo. We will drive about 2.5

hours to Nis. Upon arrival we will visit Nis Fortress, Skull Tower, Rusalla Church,

Red Cross Concentration Camp and Holocaust Memorial.

The third largest city in Serbia. Niš is a great car and railway junction in the

south of Serbia and the Balkans, with well developed industry, rich history,

and numerous cultural- historical monuments. Niš is the birthplace of

Constantine the Great, Roman emperor who decreed tolerance for Christians

in the Roman Empire, and the city was the venue for the millennial

celebrations of the proclamation of Edict of Milan in 2013.

After having lunch in the city, we will continue our drive to Pristina, crossing

the land border into Kosovo.

Overnight in Pristina Meals: B-L-D

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PROGRAM DETAILSD A Y 9 Sunday, May 10 - PristinaAfter breakfast, we will have a walking tour of Pristina, visit the National

Library and University, Mother Theresa Cathedral and continue alongMother Theresa Boulevard, enjoy a coffee break and experience the

famous Pristina Macchiato.

Later, we will visit the statue of Mother Theresa, Monument of NationalHero Skënderbeu, Sultan Murat Mosque (built by Sultan Baized in 1399),

National Museum and Grand Mosque (built by Fatih Sultan Mehmet).

Afterward, we will visit the Ethnological Museum (Old Eminxhiku House)before lunch at Gracanica Restaurant “Ethno Village." We will also visitthe Gracanica Monastery which is listed in the UNESCO Heritage List.

Continuing to Gazimestan, we will visit Sultan Murat Mausoleum.

Overnight in Pristina Meals: B-L-D

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PROGRAM DETAILSD A Y 1 0 Monday, May 11 - Prizren / PristinaToday we will have a full-day excursion to the nearby city of Prizren.

Capital of the Serbian Empire in the XIV century, this is the most historicalcity of Kosovo, overlooked by a grandiose medieval fortress. UNESCO World

Heritage Site of the Church of Our Lady of Ljeviš is located in the city.There is also a well-preserved Ottoman quarter where we may still hear

Turkish spoken. Upon arrival in Prizren we will have a walking tour, visiting Monastery Levis,

Archeological Museum, Gazi Mehmet Pasha Hamam, Prizreni League andEthnological Museum, Sinan Pasha Mosque, Shadervan and Old Ottoman

Stone Bridge. We will have traditional lunch at a local restaurant and drive back to

Pristina late in the afternoon.

Overnight in Pristina Meals: B-L-D

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PROGRAM DETAILSD A Y 1 1 Tuesday, May 12 - Return HomeAfter breakfast, we will be transferred to the airport for our return flight.

Meals: B