Possibly worth a visit (Nis)

Member Name: dangaroo

Product:	Nis
Date:	23/04/09 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A nice fortress, relaxed and friendly feel

Disadvantages: Not much to do

Nis, the largest town in Southern Serbia is located between Belgrade and two other capital cities (Skopje and Sofia), despite being the countries 3rd biggest city the town has a "family feel" to it with everyone seemingly knowing everyone. It is easy to get to from Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kosovo and of course other towns in Serbia by bus, train, car or hitchhiking.

Nis doesn't have the nightlife of Novi Sad or Beograd and I thought things started to close rather early but there are still enough sights to keep the tourist interested for at least a day. The town is split by the Nisava Valley and whilst much of today's centre is one side, a lot of the sightseeing opportunities are actually on the other bank. Despite being one of the oldest cities in the Balkans and an important stop on the way between Europe and the Orient, there's little left of its ancientness.

The Nis fortress built by the Turks in the 1700s is probably the city's most precious of sights, it is in wonderful condition and houses a relaxing park. The nearby Skull Tower is also like nothing I've seen before (although I'm aware there are others) - originally made of 952 Serbian's skulls having lost a battle against the Turks, the tower now only has 58 of them but it is still a gruesome thing to be staring at!

Much of the nightlife of the town seems to revolve around buying some beers and hanging out by the river, it tends to flow quite fast in fact. The main square and its surroundings are ok but don't really differ to numerous others, apart from the statue of the liberators of Nis. There are a handful of other sights such as the Crveni Krst concentration camp in the industrial zone and the small roman archaeolgical site of Mediana in the east of the town but I was only on a short visit and didn't have the time to pop over there.

Nis is very chilled out and it's worth a little stay if you are in the area but I wouldn't go out of your way to get there if I was you!

Summary: Worth a stop if passing by