Zlatibor is a mountainous region of pine forests and rolling meadows in western Serbia. Famed locally for its health benefits and spread over an area of about 300 square kilometres it provides a truly different environment for hiking.

The resort of Zlatibor is not in itself beautiful but offers plenty of accommodation as is a great base to explore this spectacular countryside. We stayed in the Mona Hotel.

We chose to double back on ourselves to spend a couple of nights here which gave me the chance to have a tramp in a kind of landscape which someone pointed out to me looks not unlike Tibet or Mongolia. Although it doesn't reach heights beyond 1496 metres (Tornik; the height peak).

Here is a video I shot early one morning, profiting from the soft glow of the morning sun which turns the grasslands a rich golden colour. As I mention in the video information is tricky to come by for any longer walking but I have put a few links below as well a information on other places of interest in the vicinity.

Hike details: This walk was around an 11km roundtrip, from Zlatibor resort to the top of a mountain called Crni Vrh, which is 1177 metres above sea level, so a total ascent of around 35 metres.

Hiking Trails in Zlatibor region

I will do some more research and attempt to put together a better resource for hiking trails in the Zlatibor region but for the time being the bets place seems to be to follow what others have tracked.

What else can you do?

Zlatibor is not far from other areas of interest that I have spoken about such as the Tara National Park, which affords much more rugged mountainous terrain, but if you want to mix up your trip with some non-physical activities here are my top four:

1. Sirogojno: An Open-air Museum

A 30 minute drive from Zlatibor resort is the old village of Sirogojno. This perfectly preserved display of traditional Zlatibor living (largely 19th century although the neighbouring church dates from the mid eighteenth century) is essentially and open-air museum.

2. Šargan Eight: Enjoy an Old Narrow Guage Railway

Šarganska Osmica is an old narrow gauge railway that traces a figure of eight in the mountains. Built in 1925 it is a spectacular ride as well as seriously feat of engineering. When we stopped in this area a few days ago we stayed in Mokra Gora, which is just over 30 minutes down the road from Zlatibor and the main stop on this train line.

3. Stopića Cave

Between Zlatibor resort and Sirogojno is Stopića Cave. The cave entrance is 18 metres high and 35 metres wide with bats flitting about near the entrance. Its is made up of a number of large halls and a spectacular waterfall. The highlight of this vast chasm is a series of pools which have formed in a staircase-like cascade, which at some time of year can be filled with water. Th deepest of these is seven metres. Our experience of this is that you will be pushed to join a tour but it is not compulsory, especially given the fact that it is in Serbian! Once you have your ticket you can just walk in.

4. Drvengrad: a Living film set

Also known as Kustendorf, this is essentially a fake village built by Emir Kusturica (for his film Life is a Miracle) in a traditional style with timber framed buildings, restaurants a theatre and of course holiday lets. Every year it hosts the Kustendorf Film and Music Festival as well s other events and you will notice that each street bears an interesting name - below is my favourite I spotted.

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Cleveland Way - Scarborough to High Hawsker

In October 2020, my friend Dave and I walked a section of the Cleveland Way in Yorkshire over a couple of days. We started from Scarborough and walked to Ravenscar (18 km). The next day we walked to High Hawsker (15 km).

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Packrafting the River Tamiš

In July 2020, in a brief respite from the worries of the covid pandemic, I had the good fortune to be able to escape for a little adventure, spending 3 days paddling down the Tamiš river in northern Serbia, in my packraft.

Interview with Emily Woodhouse - Founder of Intrepid Magazine

I recently had the pleasure to interview Emily Woodhouse, someone who is well known and someone who has been somewhat of a pioneer in giving a voice to many women in the adventure / outdoor sports world.

In this interview Emily gives me some insight into her whirlwind entrepreneurial journey and how much there is to learn from diving into a (business) adventure.

Not only has Intrepid Magazine provided something that was missing in the outdoor space but it is doubly satisfying to know it was the vision of someone who cares passionately about the subject matter, saw the importance of it and had the courage to go through with it… although I am not sure Emily herself see it as “courage”. As she says in the interview: “I looked at the hole in the magazine world and thought: I can do that”.

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Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the wallaby)

The loch was like a mirror as we set off from Luss on Friday to explore. Having walked to the high point on Inchtavannach to admire the views, and paddled around Inchmoan, watching the deer come down to the water’s edge, we agreed to spend the night on Inchconnachan for no other reason than it appeared absolutely idyllic as the sun began to sink and the evening light bathed the lake in a silvery light.

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Weekend Adventure - From lying in the sun to crying on a plane

I have mentioned a few times that my daughter is neither naturally sporty, particularly active or indeed fearless. She is perhaps the opposite. So I was especially proud that she decided on the Saturday morning, as we dithered whether to have an hour in the water at Buzz Active Cuckmere, that this was indeed the ideal opportunity for her to go solo in a kayak for the first time.

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Canoeing the Wye: Happiness V Social Media [Video]

I had so much fun this weekend that I didn’t tell anyone about it. Imagine that! The moment was way more important to me than broadcasting about it. Yes, I know it should be, but if we are honest with ourselves, it isn’t alway, is it?

I spent Friday and Saturday canoeing down the Wye with my 7 year old daughter, from Hoarwithy to Symonds Yat. It is the first time either of us has done this kind of trip and to share this adventure together was the sort of experience that makes me go all mushy and emotional…

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Wild Night Out 2019: The Whining

Travelling in ultra lightweight style (we only carried four cricket stumps instead of the full compliment of six) Emma and I marched along the coast path, over the dunes and onto the vast sands of our beautiful coast for a perfect Wild Night Out 2019, until the high-pitched whining started…

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30 Days Wild: Suburban Springwatch

One thing I decided to do this year was leave one corner of the garden wild. I don’t know how long it will last as pressure builds from within the family to “do something” with that corner but while it does last it has had a positive effect in terms of wildlife.

Perhaps the best aspect of this experiment is the fact that every night around 9pm we have a fat hedgehog who comes through our front gate, wanders through the garden to this unkempt patch of land and roots around for a couple of hours before waddling off to check out what the neighbours have to offer.

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30 Days Wild: Freshwalks: Networking in the Outdoors

This filthy-wet month, I am trying to spend time outside in nature during my working day as part of the Wildlife Trusts 30 Days Wild. I cannot pretend it has been as easy as last year’s sun-drenched June when gently swaying flower meadows and deserted Norfolk beaches called out to me.

However, recently a client of mine drew my attention to an innovative and inspiring initiative getting business people into the outdoors, for Freshwalks. The benefits of which might surprise a few…

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30 days Wild: Welcome to my office

“Can you repeat that please sir?” I could hear a slightly exasperated tone on the other end of the line.

This morning, a few days into June and woefully short of what I hope to achieve during 30 Days Wild, I ventured out into the meadow to make a few phone calls. I took my office outdoors! The helpful assistant from Barclays Business Banking went off for a few minutes to find out some information, and probably to curse me as my microphone was buffeted by the breeze, that bent the tall flowers surrounding me and repeatedly flicked my hood over my head.

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30 Days Wild: Switch off with Nature

We are just a few days away from June and the start of 30 Days Wild; the Wildlife Trusts amazing initiative to get people outside, enjoying and appreciating nature.

This year, as part of 30 Days Wild I will be focussing on how nature can help alleviate the stresses and strains of work and how to get more of it into the working day.

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Do you want to live more adventurously?

The decision to change my life and live more adventurously was utterly instinctive, borne of exasperation, a last resort. I was burnt out, suffering from anxiety, depressed.

How I got to the point of changing the direction of my life was a couple of years of mental wrangling and torture, until I stumbled across some inspiration.