Sofia, Bulgaria

 Place: Sofia, Bulgaria

Weather: Rain showers early with overcast skies later, 47/61F.

Route: From Gamzigrad 203 km SE on Route 221.

Population: 1,242,568

Places to visit: St. Alexander Nevski Cathedral, Saint Nikolas Russian Church, Boyana Church (UNESCO World Heritage Site), National Museum of Military History, National Institute of Archaeology, Borisova Gradina, National Museum of History, Central Sofia Synagogue, Dragalevtsi Monastery, Sofia History Museum, Museum of Socialist Art.

Images:

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (from eramusu.com)

Rooftop sunset view of the city (from warnborough.net)

Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Serbia - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Serbia

Weather: Showers, 47/54F.

Route: From Studenica Monastery 225 km east on route 5 and E761.

Significance: Palace and memorial complex built in the late 3rd and early 4th century for the Emperor Galerius. Both the Emperor and his mother are buried here.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Images:

Aerial view of the complex (whc.unesco.org)

Palace entry hall with floor mosaic (whc.unesco.org)

Studenica Monastery, Serbia - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Studenica Monastery, Serbia

Weather: Showers and thunderstorms, 54/65F.

Route: From Stari Ras 78 km north on route 22.

Significance: The monastery was established by Steven Nemanja, founder of Serbia, in the 12th century. The buildings and paintings are mostly from the 13th and 14th centuries.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site 

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Image:

Aerial view of the monastery (from whc.unesco.org)

Stari Ras, Serbia - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Stari Ras, Serbia

Weather: Partly cloudy skies in the morning giving way to showers in the afternoon, 54/82F.

Route: From Kotor 293 km ENE on E65.

Significance: Stari Ras was a medieval fortress that was the first capital of Serbia. Surrounding Stari Ras are a collection of churches and monasteries that make up the UNESCO World Heritage Site listing.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Images:

Ruins of Stari Ras (from whc.unesco.org)

Sopocani Monastery built in the 13th century (from whc.unesco.org)

Kotor, Montenegro - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Kotor, Montenegro

Weather: Sunny, 62/83F.

Route: From Durmitor National Park 166 km south on E762 and and E80.

Population: 22,601

Significance: The city was an important maritime port in the 12th-14th centuries. The city is in a dramatic landscape with the harbor surrounded by mountains. The town is filled with medieval churches and encircled by a 4 km wall.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site 

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Images:

The town from the harbor (from whc.unesco.org)

The wall lit up at night (from whc.unesco.org)

Durmitor National Park, Montenegro - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Durmitor National Park, Montenegro

Weather: Sunny, 42/67F.

Route: From Dubrovnik 172 km ENE on M6 and Narodnih Heroja.

Significance: We haven't been to many national parks in Europe, this one is worth visiting. It is a large limestone massif that has been carved by glaciers, forming the largest gorges in Europe.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

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Images:

A view worth the hike (from whc.unesco.org)

One of the beautiful gorges (from whc.unesco.org)

Dubrovnik, Croatia - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Dubrovnik, Croatia

Weather: Occasional light rain, 63/73F.

Route: From Mostar 138 km SSE on M6.

Population: 42,615

Places to visit: Walls of Dubrovnik, Fort Lovrijenac, Pile Gate, War Photo Limited, Museum of Croatian War of Independence, Rector's Palace, Red History Museum, St. John's Fortress, Dominican Monastery, Dubrovnik Cathedral, Sponza Palace.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Images:

The Pearl of the Adriatic (from whc.unesco.org)

Sponza Palace (from whc.unesco.org)

Mostar, Bosnia - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Mostar, Bosnia

Weather: Sunny skies, 51/75F.

Route: From Stari Grad Plain 160 km east on D116, ferry and E73.

Population: 113,169

Significance: The UNESCO World Heritage Site is centered on the Old Bridge, which was built by the Ottomans in 16th century. It was in the middle of the Bosnian war. The bridge was destroyed by the Croats in 1990. It was eventually rebuilt over a six year period. It was reopened in 2004 and made a world heritage site in 2005.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

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Image:

The bridge and old city (from whc.unesco.org)

Stari Grad Plain, Croatia - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Stari Grad Plain, Croatia

Weather: Partly cloudy, 64/77F.

Route: From Split 48 km SSE on ferry and D116.

Significance: Stari Grad Plain is an agricultural landscape outside the town of Stari Grad. It was first turned into agricultural fields by the Greeks in the 4th century BC. The land was rocky - the Greeks used these rocks to build walls and stone shelters that are still in use today.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

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Images:

Aerial view of the fields on a grid network, mostly unchanged since the Greeks (from whc.unesco.org)

One of the stone shelters built by the Greeks 2,400 years ago (from whc.unesco.org)

Split, Croatia - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Split, Croatia

Weather: Sunshine and clouds mixed, 61/78F.

Route: From Trogir 28 km east on Ivana Pavla II.

Population: 178,102

Significance: Although originally founded as a Greek colony, the city is best known as the site of the Roman Emperor Diocletian's palace. Diocletian retired to Split, famously growing vegetables in his garden after a long military career. The palace was built in 305 AD, it remained a Roman garrison until the fall of the empire when it fell into disrepair. Inhabitants in the middle ages rebuilt some of the town with materials from the palace and kept other parts of the palace intact.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

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Images:

The seaside city with mountains in the background (from whc.unesco.org)

The central courtyard with entrance to Diocletian's quarters (from whc.unesco.com)

Trogir, Croatia - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Trogir, Croatia

Weather: Mostly sunny skies, 64/77F

Route: From Sibenik 48 km SE on D58.

Population: 13,260

Places to visit: St. Lawrence Cathedral and Bell Tower, Fortress Kamerlengo, Palace Cipiko, City Hall, St. Dominic Monastery, Town Museum, Vitturi Tower, Church of St. Barbara, St. Mark's Fortress.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

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Images:

St. Sebastian Church (from whc.unesco.org)

Venetian Towers and promenade (from whc.unesco.org)

Cathedral of St. James, Sibenik, Croatia - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Sibenik, Croatia

Weather: Thunderstorms likely, 62/78F.

Route: From Zagreb 340 km south on E71.

Population: 34,302

Significance: Built in the 15th and 16th centuries the cathedral has elements of both gothic and renaissance architecture. One unique feature is that there are 71 sculptured faces around the outside of the cathedral of men, women and children from Sibenik - included as a thank you to the town form the architect.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

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Images:

The Cathedral (from whc.unesco.org)

Sculptured faces of the townspeople (from whc.unesco.org)

Zagreb, Croatia

 Place: Zagreb, Croatia

Weather: Cloudy skies turning to partly cloudy in the afternoon, 52/73F.

Route: From Porec 251 km ENE on E65.

Population: 790,017

Places to visit: St. Mark's Church, Museum of Broken Relationships, Museum of Illusions, Cathedral of the Assumption, Maksimir Park, Croatian Museum of Naive Art, Zagreb 80's Museum, War Photography Museum, Botanical Garden, Mimara Museum, Archaeological Museum.

Images:

Zagreb Cathedral and old town (from theculturetrip.com)

King Tomislav Square (from theculturetrip.com)

Porec, Croatia - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Porec, Croatia

Weather: Thunderstorms, 59/76F.

Route: From Aquileia 139 km south on E751.

Population: 16,696

Significance: Although Porec was an important place in pre-christianity - the UNESCO designation is centered on the Christian complex, parts of which date from the 4th century. Of note is a Byzantine mosaic. This is one of the few remaining mosaics from this period as many were destroyed after icons were outlawed from churches.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

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Images:

A rooftop view of the old town (from whc.unesco.org)

The 6th century Byzantine mosaic in the Euphrasian Basilica (from whc.unesco.org)

Aquileia, Italy - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Aquileia, Italy

Weather: Showers and thunderstorms, 64/79F.

Route: From Skocjan Caves 104 km west on H4.

Population: 3,302

Significance: Aquileia was one of the most important cities in the Roman world, with over 100,000 inhabitants in the 2nd century CE.  There is a basilica there that was built mostly in the 11th and 12th centuries, but includes a floor mosaic from an earlier church that dates to the 4th century CE.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

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Images:

The archaeological area (from whc.unesco.org)

The interior of the basilica with 4th century floor mosaic (from whc.unesco.org)

Skocjan Caves, Slovenia - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Skocjan Caves, Slovenia

Weather: Mainly cloudy, 58/78F.

Route: From Pecs 440 km west on A1 and E57.

Significance: Some of the largest limestone cave systems in the world. There are over 6 km of passages that reach as far as 200m deep.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Images:

One of the largest chambers (from whc.unesco.org)

One of the many waterfalls found in the caves (from whc.unesco.org)

Early Christian Necropolis of Pecs, Hungary - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Pecs, Hungary

Weather: Sunshine and clouds mixed, 58/82F.

Route: From Budapest 238 km SSW on M6.

Population: 145,347

Significance: Under the modern city of Pecs is an early Christian necropolis that was part of the Roman town, which was called Sopianae at the time.  Art decorates the walls of the tombs.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Image:

Art found on the wall of a tomb (from whc.unesco.org)

Budapest, Hungary - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 Place: Budapest, Hungary

Weather: Generally sunny, 57/83F.

Route: From Pannonhalma 130 km east on M1.

Population: 1,752,286

Places to visit: Hungarian Parliament Building, St. Stephen's Basilica, Buda Castle, Margaret Island, Matthias Church, Hospital in the Rock Nuclear Bunker Museum, Citadel, Great Central Synagogue, Vajdahunyad Castle, Hungarian National Gallery.

Website: UNESCO World Heritage Site

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Images:

The chain bridge connecting Buda and Pest (from whc.unesco.org)

Hungarian Parliament Building (from whc.unesco.org)