Southwest Serbia's Mountains: A Guide from Zlatibor to Tara

Zlatibor is a mountain plateau in southwest Serbia lying at roughly 1,000 metres on average; its highest point is Mount Tornik at 1,496 metres. Organised tourism dates to 1893: when King Aleksandar Obrenović had the Kraljeva česma fountain built at the spring, the place took the name Kraljeva Voda. With a cool alpine climate, long sunny summers and deep winter snow, the area became both a summer and winter destination; the ski slopes sit on Tornik. Pine forest, broad meadows and scattered wooden houses set the character of the plateau.

In the valley of Mokra Gora ("Wet Mountain") runs the Šargan Eight, a historic tourist railway on 760 mm narrow gauge. The line between Mokra Gora and Šargan Vitasi stations is 15.5 km long, with about 300 metres of altitude between the first and last stops. To gain that height the track draws a figure-eight spiral; the route has numerous tunnels and bridges. The ride takes roughly 40 minutes. The line opened in 1925, was restored after regular service ended, and became operational again in 2003; the carriages keep their 1930s style. In 2021 the UNWTO named Mokra Gora one of the world's best tourism villages.

On the Mecavnik hill near Šargan station stands Drvengrad ("Wooden Town"), a traditional village that director Emir Kusturica had built in 2003-2004 for his film "Life Is a Miracle." From the German "dorf" (village) and his nickname "Kusta," Kusturica coined the name Küstendorf. The streets bear names he admires: Nikola Tesla, Che Guevara, Diego Maradona, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman and Ivo Andrić, after whom the main street is named. In 2005 Kusturica received the Philippe Rotthier European Architecture award for the project; since 2008 the village has hosted the Küstendorf Film and Music Festival.

The Uvac Special Nature Reserve, in the municipalities of Nova Varoš and Sjenica, is a first-category area protecting the valley and gorge of the Uvac river. Its lowest point is 760 metres, its highest 1,322. The reserve is famous for meanders cut sharply into the canyon; near the village of Gornje Lopiže their relative height reaches some 100 metres in places. Its true emblem is the griffon vulture (wingspan up to 3 metres), which feeds on carcasses and provides a natural recycling in the ecosystem. Nearly extinct after the war, the species recovered in the 1990s thanks to a flock that relocated from Trebinje.

Tara National Park in western Serbia, wrapping the great bend of the Drina, was established in 1981; in 2015 it grew to about 250 km² with the addition of the Zaovine area. Its highest point is Kozji Rid on the Zvijezda at 1,591 metres. The walls of the Drina canyon drop in places from 1,000 to 250 metres. Three quarters of the area is forest; the park holds 1,200 plant species, 84 of them Balkan endemics. The endemic Serbian spruce (Picea omorika), discovered by Josif Pančić in 1875, survives as a Tertiary relict in only a few places today. According to 2018-2019 data, around 60 brown bears live in the park.