Serbia - Bosnia - KosovoMay 2-12, 202011 days/ 9 nights

T H E B A L K A N S

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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 SarajevoSarajevo Haggadah

Gallery 11/07/95, memorial art gallery in SarajevoMostar Old City and Old Bridge

Excursion to Novi Sad with monastery, synagogue and winery visitsOttoman Mosques in Bosnia

Belgrade Old TownThe 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 andschedules 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 nights accommodation at 4 and 5 star hotels

Daily breakfast, lunch and dinners as indicated in the itinerary. Private English speaking guide

throughout the tour.Private transportation with driver.

Privately guided tours and entry fees.Two bottles of water per person per day 

All tips for included meals and hotels.Local taxes, service charges.

N O T I N C L U D E D  Airfare (see below for suggested flights)

Drinks with included meals (except tea/coffee for breakfast)Personal expenditures

Travel insurance (can be provided on request)

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S U G G E S T E D F L I G H T S  

Turkish AirlinesSat - MAY 2 Houston to Istanbul

TK 34 dep: 8:50pm / arr: 4:50Pm+1Sun - MAY 3 Istanbul to Sarajevo

TK 1025 dep: 7:10Pm / arr: 8:05pm+1

Tue - MAY 12 Pristina to IstanbulTK 1018 dep: 9:15am / arr: 11:50 am

Istanbul to HoustonTK 33 dep: 2:00pm / arr: 7:05 pm

Air SerbiaJU 113 dep: 3:15pm/ arr: 4:05pm

Wed - MAY 6 Sarajevo to BelgradeTurkish Airlines

TK 1024 dep: 2:20pm/ arr: 7:30pm

Fares for these flights are:Economy class fare is $1,613Business class fare is $4,553

per person including taxes, surcharges and fees as of February, 17, 2020. Fares are based onavailability. Once issued tickets are non-refundable.

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.

Overnight in Sarajevo Meals: D

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Sarajevo is one of the most historically interesting and varied cities in Europe. It is a place where the Western andEastern Roman Empire split; where the people of the Roman Catholic west, Eastern Orthodox east and the Ottomansouth, met, lived and warred. Sarajevo is the political, financial, social and cultural center of Bosnia-Herzegovina, aprominent center of culture in the 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 ofEurope" or "Jerusalem of the Balkans". It is one of few major European cities that have a mosque, Catholic church,

Orthodox church and synagogue in the same neighborhood.

On our first day in Sarajevo, we will have an all-day historical tour of the city. Highlights include: theOld Town and City Center, Bascarsija to see Gazi Husrev Bey's Mosque, Brusa Bezistan withthe City Museum, Princip's Bridge, the Cathedral, the Jewish Museum, Svrzo's House, the

History Museum and the Gallery 11/07/95.

We will also have a special viewing at the National Museum of the Sarajevo Haggadah, one of theoldest Sephardic Haggadahs in the world dating back to Barcelona around 1350.

Overnight in Sarajevo Meals: B-L-D

D A Y 3 Monday, May 4 - Sarajevo

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Old Town: The cobbled streets, mosques and Oriental style shops at the heart the city are a world away from Europe, and whenthe 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-Hungrarian building. It is a public institution dedicated toreserving the memory of the Srebrenica genocide. The gallery's showpiece is a permanent exhibition that provides documentary

and archive material from the town of Srebrenica before, during and after the genocide.

Sarajevo Haggadah is an illuminated manuscript that contains the illustrated traditional text of the Passover Haggadah whichaccompanies the Passover Seder. The Sarajevo Haggadah has survived many close calls with destruction. Historians believe that

it was taken out of Spain by Spanish Jews who were expelled by the Alhambra Decree in 1492. Notes in the margins of theHaggadah indicate that it surfaced in Italy in the 16th century. It was sold to the National Museum in Sarajevo in 1894 by a man

named Joseph Kohen. During World War II, the manuscript was hidden from the Nazis by the Museum's chief librarian, DervišKorkut, who at risk to his own life, smuggled the Haggadah out of Sarajevo.

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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, Sloping Bridge, Karadjoz Beg Mosque, KoskiMehmed-Pasha Mosque, Kujundziluk and Museum of Herzegovina.

Then we will visit Blagaj with the Tekija Dervish House, Velagic Ottoman Complex and StariMost (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 the country. Mostar was named after thebridge keepers (mostari) who in the medieval 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 and Herzegovina's most visited landmarks, and isconsidered an exemplary piece of Islamic architecture in the Balkans.

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WACH meeting in the morning.

We 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 to our hotel.

Overnight in Belgrade Meals: B - D

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Wednesday, May 6 - Sarajevo - Belgrade, Serbia

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D A Y 6 Thursday, May 7 - BelgradeToday we will have a sightseeing tour in Belgrade including the old town with the Kalemegdan

Fortress, St. Petka's Chapel, St. Michael's Cathedral, Nikolai Tesla Museum and Josip BrozTito 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 millionpeople. It lies on 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 ofSingidunum, 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 Serbian Despotate (of which it was thecapital) until 1521, when it was captured by the Ottoman Empire. Until Serbia retained its independence in 1878, the

city again changed hands multiple times, but between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg Empire.

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.

We will drive to Novi Sad to visit Petrovaradin, the Museum of Vojvodina and have a glimpse of thecity with a stroll at the Danube Street and see Novi Sad Synagogue. Then we will visit one of theFrusca Gora Monasteries, Krusedol Monastery. We will stop at Sremski Karlovci for a short

stroll and also 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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Novi Sad is an important industrial, cultural, educational and medical center with many cultural and historical monumentsand museums. The city is best known for its impressive fortress and numerous baroque churches. South of Novi Sad, on the

old road to Belgrade, there is a small historical town of Sremski Karlovci, nowadays most famous for its wine cellars.

PROGRAM DETAILSD A Y 8 Saturday, May 9 - Belgrade - 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 ConcentrationCamp and Holocaust Memorial.

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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The third largest city in Serbia, Niš is a great car and railway junction in the south of Serbia and the Balkans, with welldeveloped 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 millennialcelebrations of the proclamation of Edict of Milan in 2013.

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After breakfast, we will have a walking tour of Pristina, visit the National Library and University,Mother Theresa Cathedral and continue along Mother Theresa Boulevard, enjoy a coffee break

and experience the famous Pristina Macchiato.

Later, we will visit the statue of Mother Theresa, Monument of National Hero Skënderbeu,Sultan Murad 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 atGracanica Restaurant “Ethno Village." We will also visit the Gracanica Monastery which is listed in

the UNESCO Heritage List.

Continuing to Gazimestan, we will visit Sultan Murat Mausoleum.

Dinner at a nice local restaurant.Overnight in Pristina Meals: B-L-D

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PROGRAM DETAILSD A Y 9 Sunday, May 10 - Pristina

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Pristina is the most essential economic, financial, political and trade center of Kosovo mostly due to its significantlocation in the center of the country. It is the seat of power of the government of Kosovo. After a lengthy and often

violent dispute with Serbia, Kosovo declared independence in February 2008. As of 2018, 113 UN states recognize this,and the Republic of Kosovo has become a member of the IMF and World Bank, despite heavy Serbian opposition.

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

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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Prizren was the capital of the Serbian Empire in the XIV century, this is the most historical city 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.

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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

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