Travel Guide Stara Planina

The mountain of Stara Planina (meaning «old mountain») has been visible from Nis. The chain of Stara Planina is 90 km long and is the natural border with Bulgaria. That is, the Serbs, the largest and most beautiful mountain in Serbia. Its summit, Midzor reaches 2 169 m. inhabited for a long time, you will cross some of the oldest villages in Serbia, and the most rustic in a very sparsely inhabited area. There is a natural protection zone, Babin Zub, at an altitude of 1 750 m. The whole enjoys a sub-alpine climate that gives it a lot of altitude. The state decided to include Stara Planina in its tourism development plan and already, a ski resort started operating in the winter of 2008/2009.To go to Niš, go to Pirot by Bifurquant to the north before Pirot, either by Knjaževac and the M 25 to the north. Few roads penetrate into depth in the massif. Most interesting is the one that leads to the Depending Vrh summit. The infrastructure and tourism are at the beginning of a great upheaval on the massif, all around Depending Vrh. This is one of the most beautiful places of Stara Planina, just 90 km from Niš. The most amazing route to travel there from Nis: From downtown, take the M 25 and direction Knjaževac/Zajećar (or, from Belgrade, bypass Niš via the motorway towards Sofia then exit in Zajećar). Then, always straight to Surljig. In the village, turn right in the direction of Kalna (small blue sign). From this point, the road, often in poor condition, walks on beautiful high plateaus, with always in the focus of the chain of Stara Planina. After 10 km, you cross the hamlet of Južni Izvor (which means source from the south):