Destination overview

The eastern part of Europe is a region that encompasses many different cultures, ethnicities, languages and histories. Mention Eastern Europe and it still conjures up thoughts of Soviet-era grimness for many people. The areas associated with the eastern part of Europe include Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Turkey. A million miles away from anything remotely Soviet, Greece is, in many ways, the original travel destination.

Greece

In Greece, you are in a crossroad of colours and cultures and can feel the strength of history and the warmth of the southern extremity of Europe as you discover the evolutionary course of thought, influence and experience. This country has a uniquely affluent historical past. Although statistically small, Greece is huge in its diversity.

Greece is a country of beautiful contradictions, a constant journey in time, from the present to the past and back again. Walk through the olive groves, through archaeological sites, move to clusters of islands, go through beaches and mountains and explore the breathtaking scenery.

The capital city of Athens is undergoing a radical period of urban renewal that did not stop with the 2004 Olympics. The magnificent Acropolis, crowned by the iconic Parthenon temple, rises above the city, watching the sprawling modern metropolis evolve. Athens is now a conspicuously wealthier, more sophisticated cosmopolitan city. The shift is evident in a gradual gentrification and with the new art and leisure precincts around town, and in the lifestyles of the trend-conscious Athenians.

Most visitors will leave impressed with its vibrant street life and relaxed lifestyle, where people take time out for endless coffees and evening strolls, dine out until late and enjoy the city’s nightlife, long after the rest of Europe has gone to bed.

The Greek Islands are the main characteristic of Greece’s morphology and an integral part of the country’s culture and tradition. Greek sovereign land includes 6,000 islands and islets scattered in the Aegean and Ionian Seas, of which only 227 islands are inhabited. This is a truly unique phenomenon for the European continent. The Greek Archipelago takes up 7,500 kilometres of the country’s total 16,000 kilometre coastline, offering a highly diversified landscape of beaches stretching over many kilometres, sheltered bays and coves, sandy beaches with sand dunes, pebble beaches, coastal caves with steep rocks and dark coloured sand typical of volcanic soil and coastal wetlands.

Greece is the ideal place for city tourism. Discovering the soul of a Greek city is much more than a quick tour around its monuments and sightseeing. Greek cities are full of possibilities, easily accessible and visitor-friendly throughout the year, offering lots of modern facilities and choices. Greek cities combine excellent conference facilities with unique museums, archaeological sites, shopping and nightlife.

A walk around the old neighbourhoods reveals the coexistence of different eras in each city’s heart. Old mansions, many of them well-preserved, luxurious department stores and small intimate shops, fancy restaurants and traditional taverns are located next to each other. The Greek spirit, a force of creativity and renewal throughout Greece’s long history, has yet again transformed the urban landscape. Greece is a unique destination that combines business and pleasure in the best possible way. It is one of the most charismatic locations in terms of natural beauty, with mild climate conditions and a combination of landscapes from sea to mountains.

Bulgaria

For most foreign holidaymakers, Bulgaria’s main lure is its long, sandy Black Sea Coast, which boasts swathes of stunning beaches and picturesque bays – but there is so much more to this country, and so much of it remains largely untouched and unvisited by overseas tourists.
Networks of well-maintained hiking trails and horse riding routes allow you to discover Bulgaria’s lush mountainous and forested landscapes, especially around the Rila and Pirin Mountains, inhabited by bears, lynx, rare birds and other kinds of wildlife now becoming scarce elsewhere in Europe. Getting around the country is easy, with cheap and efficient public transport to ferry you between the cities and into the more remote, rural corners, where the traditional, slow pace of life continues much as it has done for centuries. Here you’ll come across multi-coloured monasteries filled with fabulous icons and pretty timber-framed villages. The cities, too, are often overlooked highlights, from dynamic, cosmopolitan Sofia with its lovely parks, sociable alfresco bars and fascinating museums, to the National Revival architectural treasures and Roman remains of Plovdiv, and the youthful maritime confidence of Varna.

Romania

Travelling in Romania, one of the European Union’s newest members, Romanian life is defined by its sweet country heart. Even in cities where Audis zoom across highways under video-camera speed traps, most anywhere you’ll spot horse-drawn buggies crossing the (often cratered) paved roads, up green mountains, past cone-shaped haystacks and herds of sheep, which bounce along as if the roads themselves are alien to the land. And then there’s Dracula. Many visitors, lured by bloodcurdling tales, make full trips out of Transylvania’s castles and lovely medieval Saxon towns like Sighişoara, where the ‘real Dracula’ (Vlad Ţepeş) first grew his teeth.

But travellers limiting themselves to chasing vampires will miss so much. The capital, Bucharest, has a blend of outlandish communist monuments and purposefully hidden-away cathedrals that make for fascinating exploring. Excellent hiking, biking and skiing are found all over the Transylvanian Alps (aka the Carpathian Mountains), which curl across central Romania.

Romania’s neighbour Moldova is a more complex place to visit, but equally as fascinating. It is no closer to EU consideration than when the Soviet Union collapsed, largely because it lives on as if this had never happened. Russian is spoken commonly here and its renegade province, Transnistria, still supports a communist government. Adding a few days in this Cold War time warp on a trip to Romania’s vampire trails and Alp-like ski runs easily makes up one of Europe’s most interesting, and least understood, destinations.

Turkey

This rectangular-shaped country is surrounded on three sides by three different seas. Its shores are laced with beaches, bays, coves, ports, islands and peninsulas. The summers are long, sometimes eight months in some areas. Turkey is also blessed with majestic mountains and valleys, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and grottos perfect for winter and summer tourism and sports of all kinds. Skiing fans, mountain climbers, trekkers, hikers and hunters are able to enjoy new and unforgettable experiences in Turkey. Turkey is, above anything else, a huge open-air museum, a source of all the civilisations nurtured by the soils of Anatolia.

Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and the second-largest city after Istanbul. It is located at the heart of both Turkey and Central Anatolia. Ankara is an important commercial and industrial city and houses the Turkish government and all foreign embassies.

Istanbul is the most developed and largest city in Turkey - the capital of empires, the city that dominated continents, the cradle of civilisation. These are some of the many phrases that describe Istanbul. Yet neither words nor any amount of reading or listening are sufficient to truly describe and become familiar with the city. Only when you walk along its historic streets, and see with your own eyes the architectural masterpieces of Byzantine and Ottoman Empires in their original setting, and when you enjoy the panoramic vistas of its unique location, and start to explore its mystical beauties will you begin to discover, and to fall in love with Istanbul.