Stara Planina

Stara Planina is the source of the name 'Balkan' — the range that gives the peninsula its identity. In Serbia it forms a natural barrier on the eastern border, with terrain that shifts quickly between forested lower slopes, open highland meadows, rocky ridgelines, and high karst features. Drawing on Matthias Pasler's Reise-Taschenbuch Serbien: the mountain villages are mostly inhabited by a few hundred older residents; during the day these feel like ghost settlements whose houses and rhythms have not changed in a hundred years.

Access is primarily by car from Pirot or Knjaževac. The tourist office in Pirot coordinates outdoor activities information; the official website www.jpstaraplanina.rs provides hiking maps, ski conditions, cycling, fishing and hunting permits, and background on the protected natural landscape.

The highest summit, Midžor, can be hiked with maps from www.jpstaraplanina.rs. The surrounding landscape between 600 and 1900 m altitude contains most of Serbia's waterfalls in a single mountain range. The Tupavica waterfall (15 m) is reached by a 4-km walk from Dojkinci village; the Piljski Donji (64 m) requires a 4.5-km walk from Topli Do toward Dojkinci and was unknown outside the local area until 2002.

The Zavoj Lake (Zavojsko jezero, 612 m altitude) is 17 km long and averages 300 m wide, with a depth of 70 m. It originated in February 1963 when heavy snowmelt triggered a landslide that formed a natural rubble dam. As the backed-up water became a growing hazard, the Yugoslav army built a concrete dam and hydroelectric station. The village of Zavoj was flooded in the process and gives the lake its name. The best viewpoint is Kozji Kamen: drive 12 km on the road toward Rsovci, then walk 3–4 km from the signpost.

The Jelovica spring near Vrelo village emerges from a limestone formation with water from unexplored underground channels that a German diving team reached to 48 m depth in October 2012 without finding the other end. The spring runs dry around the same week each August without a known explanation. At 1000 m altitude, Stara Planina also produces the nationally known Visok potato (Visočki krompir), grown in certified organic conditions at altitude.

Đavolja varoš (Devil's Town), 89 km from Niš, is a 67-hectare natural reserve declared in 1959 and classified as a natural phenomenon in 1995. The site contains approximately 200 rock formations rising 2 to 15 m above the surrounding landscape — the result of geological erosion, though local legends offer more elaborate explanations involving petrified wedding parties and forest spirits.

Two springs at the site have documented mineral properties: the Djavolja voda (Devil's Water) emerges at pH 1.5, with a mineral concentration 10 to 1000 times higher than drinking water, including iron, potassium, copper and nickel. The Crveno vrelo (Red Spring) is less acidic but has stained its surrounding rock deep red. In the 13th century, Saxon miners worked the area for iron ore and also found copper, zinc and smaller amounts of silver and gold; three of their mine shafts still exist, with one having been explored.

The cave church at Rsovci, in a hill outside the village, has operated since the 13th century as a shrine for pilgrims and hermit monks from Sinai. Its most distinctive feature is a fresco depicting the young Jesus as bald — an unusual iconographic choice. To enter, visitors must collect the key from a villager named Milutin, near the bridge before the village, or look for the sign 'Ključ od crkve'.

Summer and early autumn (June to October) provide the clearest conditions for hiking and driving routes. Spring — particularly April and May — offers the best view of Zavoj Lake when snowmelt keeps the water level highest; this is also when the meadow wildflowers are at their most varied. Winter brings ski conditions at the Babin Zub ski centre; road conditions on the mountain require winter tyres and, on some routes, chains.

The Planinarski dom Dojkinci, a mountain hut opened in 2019 by the Pirot tourism office, sits directly beside the Dojkinačka Reka river and near the Tupavica waterfall. It offers dormitory places and apartments, a self-catering kitchen, and a fireplace. Booking is by email through top010@mts.rs.

Drawing on Matthias Pasler's Reise-Taschenbuch Serbien: Gostuša, built entirely from local stone and natural materials, received the EU Heritage / Europa Nostra prize in 2016 for its restoration methodology. It is one of the few villages of its type where the original construction techniques were maintained throughout the renovation rather than replaced by modern equivalents.