Planning for your next orienteering holiday? Want to get some training abroad? Consider Serbia for your next trip—the Belgrade Winter O-Camp is waiting for you.
1. Explore Serbia’s storied history and culture
Serbia sits at the junction of eastern and western Europe. Its history and culture has long been shaped by its fateful position at the boundary of two great empires, the Austrian (later Austro-Hungarian) Empire and the Ottoman Empire, and much earlier, on the boundary between Western and Eastern Roman Empires.
Belgrade, in particular, is an elegant capital city at the crossroads between East and West—in fact, the famed Orient Express luxury train to Istanbul used to stop in the city.
You’ll find a lot of historical buildings in Belgrade and elsewhere from all periods of Serbian history: from the Roman Empire to the medieval Serbian Empire, to the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Serbia and later Yugoslavia, to the modern New Belgrade of socialist Yugoslavia and the present-day Republic of Serbia.
You’ll be able to explore much of that history during your stay in Serbia—and even run through some of them during the orienteering training sessions.
2. Explore more nature in milder winters
Serbia is in the Balkans, in the southeast of Europe. Winters do get a bit chill—snow is possible—but they’re definitely milder compared to Scandinavia or elsewhere in Northern Europe!
Belgrade Winter O-Camp 2022 will include a whole day training session in the hills around Babe village.
Besides being able to train foot orienteering in winter, you might want to head also to Kopaonik for some skiing on the same trip.
3. You’ve probably never been to Serbia
Chances are, you haven’t even been to Serbia—for EU citizens, it’s often been overlooked as a travel destination after years of political troubles in the 1990s. But those troubles are long past—Serbia is now a safe and stable country with a strong economy, and an EU candidate planning to join in 2025 the earliest.
As for orienteering, Serbia has a very active and competitive orienteering community that forms an important part of the sport in southeastern Europe.
Needless to say, it’d be a huge mistake if you miss out on Serbia!
Be the first 10 at the Belgrade Winter Orienteering Camp in Feb 2022
Belgrade Winter Orienteering Camp will take place on 11-16 February 2022. The first 10 to sign up will enjoy a special discount of up to €30 per person! Learn more and register now.
