What’s notable at midweek?

1. TUIfly may be in a financially shaky place, but they’re pulling out all the stops to get more people on board. They’ve just announced an “All you can fly” promotion, which runs €199. For your euros, you get unlimited travel between selected TUIfly destinations. These include 14 destinations in Germany, Paris, Valencia, Bilbao, Rome, Stockholm, Dubrovnik, and Basel—among 44 destinations in total.

The catch? You’ve got to be between 16 and 26 years of age—with valid student identification—to take advantage. We scoured the fine print for evidence that non-EU students might not be eligible and came up with nothing, though the deal is only promoted on the German-language version of the TUIfly site. The “All” ticket can be booked through August 31, and is good for flights through October 31.

2. Is Ryanair back in expansion mode? The Irish low-cost carrier announced six new routes from Dublin today. In October, Dublin-Basel, Dublin-Budapest, and Dublin-Szczecin routes will kick off; these will be followed in November by Dublin-Katowice, Dublin-Nice, and Dublin-Prague routes. Ryanair is also amping up flight frequency on 12 routes from Dublin. These include Dublin-Bratislava, Dublin-Manchester, Dublin-Riga, and Dublin-Tenerife.

3. Montenegro has announced tourist numbers for the first half of 2007. The newly-independent republic saw over 261,000 visitors during the first six months of the year, almost 210,000 of these visitors foreign.

Photo by nakedcase

Montenegrins are in love with their Boka Kotorska (Bay of Kotor). After a 1500-step climb to the old Kotor fortress for the most spectacular of views, we must admit to becoming a bit smitten as well.

Start in Kotor’s old town and meander through the narrow streets, soaking up the Mediterranean ambiance. There’s a reasonably-priced mini-market in Kotor’s old town where Cheapos can stock up on water and eats for the task ahead. When you’re properly geared up, head towards the entrance sign. Visitors cough up €1 for admission.

Even if you’re in tip-top shape, you’ll want to stop for breaks to catch views of the bay and surrounding mountains from various vantage points. The vertical climb on the cliff is about 4.5 km, and places hikers almost directly above the old town. There’s no need to rush through your climb. Along the way, listen for the clank of bells—mountain goat bells, that is. Herds of mountain goats graze along the path and peacefully share their mountain with you.

When you reach the ruins of the fortress at the top, bask in your achievement with a queen/king-of-the-mountain photo framed by the Montenegrin flag and sweeping views of the Boka Kotorska behind you.

Tip: Cheapos should head to Kotor before high season (June to August) begins. Outside of high season, crowds are few and admittance is free.

Photo by Uros Petrovic

Montenegro’s tourist industry is mostly concentrated along the Adriatic coastline. This is all well and good, but as far as we’re concerned, visitors must make time to see the mountains for which the country is named.

We suggest a bus trip to Montenegro’s capital Podgorica, a place that is literally “under the mountains.” To get there, buses travel over, under, and through high mountains averaging altitudes of 1000 meters above sea level.

As buses emerge from tunnels, passengers are treated to views of seemingly endless mountains as far as the eye can see. As buses wind all the way down into the valleys, passengers see canyon chasms and the clearest turquoise of the Morača River winding its way along the road or train tracks. If you’re into geography, read up on the African Plate—as in plate tectonics—before visiting.

The most amazing scenery can be found along the stretch between Podgorica and Mojkovac. Start either from the north in Belgrade (train: €15) or from the south from any of Montenegro’s coastal tourist hubs at Budva, Kotor, or Bar (bus: €6).

Whichever way you go, don’t fall asleep and end up missing the scenery.

Wandering Cheapo Sunnia Ko is a wanderer at heart and primarily supports this habit as a teacher at Plovdiv University in Bulgaria. She is currently on a cross-Balkan trek from Plovdiv to Sibenik, Croatia, where she hopes to find the Adriatic as splendid and turquoise as she remembers it to be.

Photo by marlandova

The beauty of travel in the Balkans is the authentic experience it provides its visitors. Without much of the tourist infrastructure set up in other parts of Europe, an adventure is always just around the corner.

Like when you want to inquire about transport options to Montenegro from Bulgaria and your handy Bulgarian phrase book only gets you so far with the impatient cashier. After all, how are you supposed to know that locally, Montenegro is known as Crna Gora?

Never fear, it’s ‘ole Wikipedia to the rescue. Consulting this handy Wikipedia directory in advance might just save you the energy you need to climb Ano Poli when you travel from Sofia to Solun (Thessaloniki). We love that the Web site lists city names in most European languages and with a version that uses the Latin alphabet. This way, we can at least approximate the local pronunciation.

Oh, and if you’re in Budapest and want to meet me in Dubrovnik, ask for a flight to Raguza pronto.

Wandering Cheapo Sunnia Ko is a wanderer at heart and primarily supports this habit as a teacher at Plovdiv University in Bulgaria. She is currently on a cross-Balkan trek from Plovdiv to Sibenik, Croatia, where she hopes to find the Adriatic as splendid and turquoise as she remembers it to be.

photograph courtesy of hudson_jeremy

Normally we don’t like to take our cues from press releases, but the Visit-Montenegro.com Newsletter we just received has us excited for Europe’s newest country.

Independent now for under year, Montenegro boasts truly stunning coastline, beguiling mountain terrain, and the amazingly deep Kotor fjord (see above). It’s also—as of yet—very cheap.

Since independence, it’s become an obvious place to invest. There are plans to turn a former military shipbuilding yard in Tivat into a luxury marina, and the Aman Resorts group is leasing three resort properties—in Budva, Milocer, and Sveti Stefan.

On the budget-friendly side, we’ve been noticing package holidays to Montenegro originating in northern Europe. We’re just waiting for forward-thinking budget air carriers to start adding destinations like Podgorica and Tivat to their route maps.