Tour specification details

Approximate length – 800-1000 km

Technical difficulty – moderate

AT class tyres minimum, MT class tires advised (depending on the season)

Protective silicone foil over paint is highly recommended (we often pass through heavy vegetation)

Due to the fact that this tour takes place in May, you should be ready to take on just about any kind of trail conditions– from the normal, sunny springtime weather and dry trails, to the muddy and slippery trails that can be the result of spring thunderstorms, quite common in the Balkans (May and June are the months with most precipitation in Serbia).

Tour itinerary

This tour will start in the  spa resort (natural thermal waters) and over a coarse of 10 days will move over a series of mountain ranges that make up the Carpathian and Balkan mountain ranges in Serbia – starting with the moderately high, but heavily forested Kučaj mountains (featuring some really extraordinary deep forest campsites), and then moving towards the south, where the highest point of Serbia, Midžor (2170 m) will be reached about midway through the tour. South of Midžor (Stara Planina) the tour will continue through the Jerma canyon towards the endless highland ridges of Vardenik, Besna Kobila and Dukat mountains, south of the Vlasina lake.

What does the east of Serbia look like? Having a 4x lower population density than western Serbia, it is an ideal place for those seeking a true wilderness experience, rarely found in Europe nowadays. In some areas (such as the Kučaj mountains) you can drive for 50-70 km without encountering a single town of village – just endless forests and pastures in mountains rich with wildlife.

The landscape that you will encounter is diverse and ever changing as the tour progresses. Attractive, rocky peaks (which you can actually ascend with your 4×4 vehicle) will pop out of nowhere, making you just want to end your day there and enjoy the sunset. And the numerous river valleys harbor fantastic wild camping spots, where you have everything that you desire for a perfect escape from civilization – including enough firewood for epic campfires, and clean mountain water tasting better than the bottled water that you often buy in the supermarkets. Some campsites, like the one in the Arbinje valley of Stara planina, where you have the opportunity to camp in the red rock riverbed, are a true natural masterpiece, while the lake campsites at Zavoj or Vlasina, make you want to extend the tour by a day or two, in order to enjoy some pure chillout time, while swimming in their refreshing waters.

You will encounter a wide variety of various trails during the tour, that will satisfy just ANY offroad enthusiasts preference for a pure joyride – from deep jungle trails, fighting with vegetation (and occasionally mud too), through grassland trails over wide-open vistas, that will grant you a relaxed opportunity to enjoy the scenery at high speed, all the way to following long, narrow high ridges (reaching higher than 2000 m in altitude), where you’ll encounter the Balkans mountains in their true, majestic beauty.

And while on tour, you’ll discover many secret places hardly accessible to regular tourists, such as hidden waterfalls, narrow canyons, natural stone arches (which eastern Serbia is particularly famous for), which will quickly jam up the memory cards of your cameras with unforgettable memories – and you’ll have a hard time to convince your friends that that is actually Europe, and not some exotic wild country on another continent.

Accomodation

This is a wild camping tour, meaning that we’ll be sleeping on nice natural campsites in total wilderness, often near rivers, streams or lakes. Our average time of arrival to the campsite is between 17:00 and 18:00, and morning departure time is usually between 8:30 and 9:30. There will be plenty of firewood for building campfires, and in most cases there won’t be other people anywhere nearby. Although Serbia is a country rich with wildlife, with a large population of wolves, they pose no threat to the campers, so you can be relaxed. The altitude of our campsites will range between 700 and 1700 m, so it can be cold during the night. To make camping more comfortable, you should have folding tables and chairs, as well as cooking equipment for food (although you can also use campfire), mobile refrigerator (12 V), etc.

What else you should know about the tour?

We shall travel during the tour in a convoy. We expect you to arrive with a vehicle in good technical conditon, which can endure 10 days of moderate offroading. This tour will require average offroad experience and skills. During the tour, a chance to refuel will be available each 200-250 km (petrol, diesel, LPG). All major credit cards (Visa, Master, Maestro, etc.) work in Serbia (both on ATM machines and for paying goods), but it’s advisable to have a small amount of cash for small expenses in the mountainous areas.

Average tour difficulty is medium (intermediate). In practice, that means that we will be travelling on decent quality dirt roads most of the time, but occasionally we’ll encounter certain challenges, such as excessively muddy areas, deeper ruts, uneven or slippery terrain, stronger side angle, etc. And, of course, do expect daily contact with the vegetation, which will inevitably result in (at least milder) scratches in your paint (it’s impossible to make an engaging itinerary through Serbia on wide truck trails only).

We will handle every problem systematically and with minimum risk. We will not invent problems that are not already present on the track just for fun, or to show off. If we conclude that some problem is too risky, after consultation with the participants we may decide to make a detour (the guide vehicle always goes first to check out the problem difficulty). Our operational communication during the tour will be on CB radios (we mostly use channels 5 or 16 FM).

Equipment required for your Expedition:

• MT Tires, (BF Goodrich, Malatesta, Swamper, Simex).

• 4x4 Car prepared with Winch and Reducer

• CB radio or Mobile Radio

• All the necessary documents for your Car, INSURANCE for Balkan Countries (ALB - MNE - SRB - NMK - RKS)

If your insurance company does not offers this service then I can buy it here, all you need is to send me a copy of your current insurance and I buy your car insurance an give it to you on the meeting Point. In this way you don't need to go around looking for.

Personal Documents.

• Passport or ID card.

Equipment.

• Camping equipment: Everything what you need for the Camp-tour. Table, chairs, gas stove, cooking pots,

cutlery, mugs, plates. etc. Catering with fresh Bio Foods and fresh Meat we can stop every two days to the

Mini Markets or Super Market.

Services Included in the Price:

✔-The organization, Hotel & Restaurant bookings

✔-1 Local Guide Multilanguage. English, Italian, Greek, and Spanish -fluent speaker

✔-Free WIFI for our Customers

✔-2 Nights in typical hotels

✔-2 Dinners in the restaurants (excluding drinks)

✔-1 Lunch in Restaurant

✔-All entrance, fees and Parking’s

✔-Assistance with technical and Mechanical problems

Services NOT Included in the Price:

✖-Food and accommodation which are not included on the program

✖-Ferry tickets from Italy to Albania or Greece

✖-Personal expenses

✖-Fuel for your vehicle

✖-Impairment costs

✖-Heavy Technical and Mechanical supports

Important Information:

Up to 4 cars we exclude the Hotel and restaurant payments because of low incomes to the Company.