Group tours of the Balkans

Carbon reduction

Your holiday will help support local people and conservation. We must also reduce CO₂. Learn about the CO₂ emissions of this holiday and how to reduce them.

Environment

We ensure our guides are mindful about protecting the environment in which you travel, and they do a fantastic job of promoting having a minimum impact to the environment whilst travelling. We ask you to be vigilant about disposing of your waste and recycle where possible. During your trip you will be asked if you have any waste to dispose of when it is a suitable time in the itinerary. This ensures we make it as easy as possible for our travellers to be eco-friendly whilst traveling.

We strongly advise all travellers to bring a reusable water bottle - this is an easy way to save plastic waste and is detailed in our ‘What to bring’ trip notes for all trips to all destinations. Your guide will remind you where and when you can fill up your re-usable water bottle. Similarly, we ask in other areas, for example using climate control etc. sparingly where possible.

On this multi-country trip, we have minimised our negative environmental emissions by driving between destinations rather than flying. This small but significant detail makes the trip that much more eco-friendly, not only locally, but in a global sense too.

This trip also supports a number of national parks. The monetary support that responsible tourism provides is vital in the upkeep and running of these parks, and ultimately the protection of some of the Balkans’ most important natural features and areas.

Community

As regular travellers, one thing that never ceases to amaze and inspire us is the kindness and generosity of local people, often people who have very little to their name. We firmly believe that they are who make these places special should and that they should benefit from our visit. Therefore, as first preference, we use local guides and locally-owned lodges, shops and eateries. We do our best to ensure that the benefits of our tours reach as widely as possible into the communities where they operate.

In the Balkans, we ensure that all of our tour guides, drivers, and handlers are local individuals, offered good working conditions and fair pay. Similarly, we endeavour to use locally purchased supplies across the entirety of the trip. We believe these things are of particular importance when travelling in small communities such as those included on this itinerary; we are proud to benefit these communities in any way possible, whether it be through economic growth or any other means. Tourism is a vital and significant source of growth and development both within these remote regions and for the Balkan countries as a whole.

This tour features many opportunities for traditional meals, wine & honey tastings, visits to local handicraft shops and even a brandy tasting with a local family. Additionally, in the free time this tour provides offers our travellers an excellent opportunity to continue this support of local people and businesses at their leisure. Not only are these stops an excellent way for the people of the communities we visit to share their rich cultures and traditions, but they receive economic support in the process.