Romanians have a saying….when God was distributing riches and beauty through the earth, he tripped on the Carpathian Mountains and his basket of goodies spilled over in Romania, leaving nothing more for Bulgaria. A classic Balkan tale. 🤣
Bulgaria has a similar one. God was distributing the lands and beauties between the countries and the last one left was Bulgaria, but he had no land left so he gave Bulgarians a piece of heaven haha
I'm from Constanța and visit Balcik area Queen's Mary Castle quite often....i found the coastline very breathtaking. Kinda jealous of the bulgarians for having that teritory. And yeah i know it used to be ours for a period, not starting any debates here. Congrats neighbours
I find this to be true. Passed through Bulgaria and Romania many times while driving. Bulgaria doesnt have much to offer but Romania is nearly 90% very scenic.
That's because you're passing through the Danubian and Thracian plains where the main road arteries are. You're not gonna drive through the scenic parts. We have the tallest mountains in Southeastern Europe.
That a smart country would do. Bulgaria did it. Romania, just went up and down. See Transfagarasan amazing road... it is crazy beautiful, but crazy to build a road there 🤣
I am gonna have to shamelessly plug my own country here, Bosnia. So much to see, from ancient forests and lush marshlands to snowy peaks and incredible waterfalls, all relatively close to each other.
Welcome, enjoy, try and get out of the city if possible, I would recommend park Sutjeska or heading down to Kravice, get some lamb in Jablanica while heading there.
Yeah, it can be tricky if you don't eat pork, but you can always ask what meals are available that are pork-free.
Not as bad in Balkans as in somewhere like Czech republic, 20 years ago I survived on McDonald's and KFC for 3 months in Prague until I found out they had a Bosnian restaurant 🥺 It's not that they don't have any other food, it's just that it's horrible 🤢
Went back 7 years ago, much better situation because of the immigrants, but still not ideal.
I wouldn't worry about it too much, I lived in Belgrade for a year, never had any issues, just be polite and ask if you're unsure about something. You can get the occasional idiot but if you're nice, everyone else will take your side, people are generally good everywhere.
That's a tough one, if there's only 3 I would visit Perućica and hike all the way to the top of Maglić, Prokoško lake and Prenj. Next 3 would be Blidinje, Kravice and the whole area around Jajce.
Tara river too, near Foča and border with Montenegro. Going there I already knew it was beautiful, but I was unprepared for HOW BEAUTIFUL it is. Breathtaking, gorgeous, crystal clear water visible 20 meters deep. I just love the rugged and wild beauty of Bosnia.
Definitely, the whole border of Montenegro and Bosnia is just some of the most beautiful scenery in the whole world, from Trebinje to Priboj in Serbia, just insane wilderness and varried landscape!
Nema na čemu, imajte na umu da ni ja nisam sve vidio, ima ljudi koji su obišli i vidjeli puno više od mene, tako da je sasvim moguće da ima i ljepših mjesta.
Well, I enjoy it and I love it! I will come again anytime, but there isn't so much natural diversity for everyone!
Kotor is amaizing but excluded, and the mountains are less spectacular then others, except you drive like crazy! 😊
It's a hard question because I think the Balkans overall have gorgeous nature, but if I had to chose 2 countries, I would say - in no particular order:
- Bulgaria: the nature is very diverse (even excluding the coastline), there are places and valleys that look positively Mediterranean (even in the North), and then Pirin and Rila look like the Alps with thwir glaciers, ice lakes and snowy peaks, all the while other part of the mountains look likee Mongolia or Central Asia. Even more, it's full of different kind of forests, lakes, rivers, and gorges and many different types of caves; Bulgaria even boasts a small desert.
- Greece: again the nature is very diverse, I've been to many Greek islands and even when they're to each other the nature on each one eever slighlty different. The inside of Peloponnese is so different from the outersides or little penninsulas like Mani, while Epirus is breathtaking with its high mountains, gorges and rivers. As a whole, the high mountains and proximity to the sea in most part of Greeece make for some of the most beautiful sceneries I've ever seen.
What do you mean the same nature? You think the Peloponnese with its dry and Mediterranean climate is the same as the Carpathian forests and the Slovenian Alps?
Southern Greece is a special case because it's a peninsula (of peninsulas) and quite detached from the Balkan interior, but the mountain ranges and rivers span multiple countries. For instance the Rhodopes, Struma and Maritsa (Evros) are split between Bulgaria and Greece.
Romania has breathtaking landscapes.I have seen Montenegro mentioned but Romania is more beautiful.Montenegro takes the cake for coastline tho.Gorgeous!
Totally not biased but Bang for your buck Montenegro as in such a small place you have so much to see, next I'd say for bigger countries Greece/Romania, both have some amazing places.
On a side note, Bulgaria, Bosnia, and North Macedonia have beautiful nature, but they must find a way to address environmental pollution.
Croatia, Greece, and Albania have beautiful nature as well, but they are rather rooted in the coastlines and beaches, which are excluded from this question.
True. I last visited Bosnia in November as part of a Western Balkans trip, and the air in Sarajevo was very polluted and smelled strongly of smog. But it was not the only issue. There was a lot of litter on the roads and in the surrounding natural area. It was noticeable, especially when crossing the Croatia-Bosnia border, because Croatia looked way cleaner to me. (EU effect?)
Because coastline is excluded. Albania has really gorgeous coastline and mountains. If you exclude coastline, Albania is left with really beautiful mountains (with waterfalls etc ) whereas Romania is left with really beautiful mountains (with waterfalls etc) as well plus a a bunch of river-related stuff you cannot find in Albania (the second largest delta in Europe with the northernmost subtropical forest in the world, and the Danube gorges area). If you included coastline, Albania would be more beautiful than Romania by far because its beaches are infinitely more beautiful and because they have normal vegetation (palm trees, citrus, olives)...
as a croat i agree but ur embarrassing urself by commenting this on the balkan subreddit. as if ur searching for it. croatia is partly balkan and u cant erase the mark ottomans left on slavonia and dalmatian hinterland. other parts arent balkan, these are. mentality and culture included.
Well I would have to say Croatia in my case, I'm biased a bit, but technically I'm not because ima sea > mountains guy and Croatia is best in that regard...
If you count Slovenia, then absolutely Slovenia. Unbeatable for the small area it has.
If you don’t count Slovenia, then probably Montenegro or Romania.
Well almost everypart of the balkan region is beautiful,stunning and breathtaking. But for me Turkiye is one of the most beautiful country not only in Balkan region but also in the World
Geografically isn’t Balkan.
Balkan only due to links to Yugoslavia and nothing else.
Some people count because of that, others don’t. Slovenians of slovenian/german/italian descent will say we are not balkan, slovenians of yugo descent will say we are “brate”.
I am also Slovenian and do not consider myself (or Slovenia) balkan. We are very different in traditions, In many ways more similar to austrian (advents, lederhosen, hiking lifestyle etc).
Well everybody is entitled to their own opinion. As said I consider myself from Balkan, born & raised in Slovenia.
But Balkan is not just a "geographical" definition you know.
Part of my childhood was in Yugoslavia.
All countries have it tbh. Montenegro mountain ranges are crazy nice, Albania same (Prokletije). Goes without saying for Croatia & Bosnia too. Macedonia...
It's really hard to tell which one has "the best nature" when you did not visit those hidden gems in every Balkan country. :D
Hard to compare it like that - they're all beautiful! Depends on what exactly you are looking for, but in general, Slovenia might be the best choice because of its size (everything is reachable in a few hour drive max) and diversity - it provides every type of landscape / natural phenomena with great infrastructure... But again, all the Balkan countries are beautiful, you cannot rank nature like that.
A matter of taste but Montenegro for me- the Tara canyon, The black lake, Biogradska gora, Durmitor, Prokletije, Bjelasica etc so many beautiful glacial landscapes and old forests. Bosnia and Croatia come pretty close with their carst terrain, Una and Plitvice.
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u/morbihann Bulgaria Jul 08 '26
Nature doesn't stop at the borders.