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Hint: It’s not Boston.

With 24 hours’ notice, AFAR sent writer Michael Clinton to the reborn capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina 20 years after a siege that broke the world’s heart.

Many superstitions get lost in translation.

AFAR chose a destination at random and sent writer Cyndi Stivers, with 24 hours’ notice, to a young Balkan country where life happens at the café.

One traveler hikes through the haunted beauty of the Balkans to see if a trail can heal the wounds of war.

In the Adriatic Sea’s largest peninsula, esteemed journalist Mark Bittman finds out what it really means to “eat local.”

Like Locals Do: Explore a City With a Greeter Guide

Overview

In this episode of Unpacked, host Aislyn Greene turns to Award Magic, an award-booking service, for help dealing with travel points and miles.

On this week’s episode of Unpacked by AFAR, we explore how to prepare for summer travel.

A small, triangle-shaped area in the far northeast of Croatia, Baranja stretches toward Serbia and Hungary, where the Drava and Danube rivers meet. A land of gentle hills, wheat fields, and pretty villages, it’s recently emerged as one of the country’s prime wine regions, with a variety of historic cellars and well-marked wine roads. The area is particularly known for its white wines, made with local grapes like graševina, but it also produces some deliciously earthy reds. Head to the villages of Zmajevac and Suza to find top wineries like Kolar, Belje, and Gerstmajer, all of which offer tasting tours (just be sure to book ahead). At the area’s biggest producer, Josić, guests can also dine at a gourmet restaurant in an ancient cellar.

Look to the top of Seoul’s 860-foot-tall Namsan Mountain and you’ll see the N Seoul Tower, which rises an additional 777 feet. This aerial perch is the highest point in the city and offers incredible views. Far below, Seoul sprawls out like a toy wonderland, while, on a clear day, North Korea lurks on the horizon. N Seoul Tower also boasts the world’s highest mailbox, so after taking in the views, buy a postcard and send it to someone special.

In a swift four minutes, the Dubrovnik cable car will deliver you to the top of Mount Srdi for awe-inspiring views of the Old Town and Elaphite Islands. On clear days, you can even see Italy far out on the horizon. Next to the cable-car station is Napoleon’s Fort Royal, an immense stone fortress that played a strategic role in the 1992 Siege of Dubrovnik during the Croatian War of Independence. Today, the fort houses the Museum of Contemporary History, which showcases artifacts from the Dubrovnik battlefields as well as a BBC film that vividly illustrates the events of 1991 and 1992.

History buffs definitely won’t want to miss out on the Museum of Military History, or Heeresgeschichtliches Museum. Focusing on Austria‘s military history from the 16th century up to 1945, exhibition halls are broken down into the Thirty Years’ War and the Ottoman Turks, the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, and World War II. Perhaps most notable is the display covering the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, which includes his uniform, the car in which he and his wife were riding, and the pistol used by Serbian Gavrilo Princip.

The most important lesson that I learned from my time in Ljubljana.... is that I love Bosnian/ Serbian food. I may be suffering some serious Ćevapčići withdrawal when I return to Canada. But while the Bosnian excel at food they are masters of coffee. If you end up at Harambasa don’t miss out on the perfect end to a perfect meal...treat yourself to the Bosnian Coffee!