Price:1,199.00 €
Wine routes of Herzegovina
Description
Wine routes of Herzegovina – 6 nights / 5 riding days
What we’ll do
When there is a wine there must be a culture and some good time. Did you know that the wine tradition of Herzegovina dates to the 2000 BC? From Slavs, Bosnian Banate, Bosnian Kingdom, Ottomans, and Austro-Hungarians, all until nowadays, wine manufacture of Herzegovina always stayed high quality.
In the saddle with our four-legged friends, we will visit beautiful vineyards and regions enjoying the Mediterranean climate in the coastal and lowland area of the Herzegovina region in the south and southeast learning about the winemaking tradition from a first hand.
Wine routes of Herzegovina horse back trail is a unique Tasting Experience is created to take your senses on a journey through array of aromas, scents and flavours of centuries old obscure Zilavka and Blatina production.
On our riding trail we will visit some of the 22 wine cellars, which are located in six Herzegovinian municipalities. All of them use state-of-the-art technologies in wine production, and they have great experience and love for wine. Among them, there is a positive competitive spirit, which, from year to year, results in the increasing quality of Zilavka, and Blatina produced in this region.
Did you know that Herzegovina is the only place in the world, along with Mongolia and Iceland, where you can see so many wild horses in just one place? Beautiful wild horses that, when you look at them, make you stop for a moment and wonder. As the highlight of the visit to the wine region, we will visit this magnificent place where, along with the beautiful scenery, we will treat ourselves to the famous Livan cheese and other home-made delicacies with, of course, Herzegovina wine of your choice after weeklong wine tasting.
And as an unforgettable memory of your horse-riding trip, a bottle of wine of your choice will be our gift for you in your luggage to share with your loved ones. Do not forget to drop off your luggage at the airport. Any liquids in your hand luggage madam?
| Dates 2024 | 07.04. – 13.04. – Wine routes of Herzegovina 21.04. – 27.04. – Wine routes of Herzegovina 05.05. – 11.05. – Wine routes of Herzegovina 19.05. – 25.06. – Wine routes of Herzegovina 02.06. – 08.06. – Wine routes of Herzegovina 22.09. – 28.09. – Wine routes of Herzegovina 06.10. – 12.10. – Wine routes of Herzegovina 20.10. – 26.10. – Wine routes of Herzegovina |
| Group size / price | 6 persons + trail leader 7 days / 6 nights / 5 riding days Price 1.199,00 EUR (all inclusive) |
| Guest requirements | All guests must be at least 18. Children cannot come along. Riding skills: Advanced Intermediate Rider weight limit: 210 pounds / 95 kilograms Tack type: English tack Horse breed: Arab, Lipizzaner, Bosnian mountain horse and Haflinger |
| Highlights | 5 days of horse riding (4 full day, 1 half day riding) Horses and riding equipment Spa, swimming pool, full body massage Daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner All drinks and refreshments 6 nights accommodation Airport transferWine tasting experience (25 EUR per person/winery) not included in price.All meals, riding, transfers and accomodation included in price. |
Itinerary
PROGRAM
Day 1 – Sunday
Arrival Day. Arrive Sunday afternoon to be picked up at the Airport or your accommodation in Sarajevo and transfer to Lazy Horse equestrian center, 30 min drive.
Enjoy the afternoon settling into your accommodation, taking a walk in the forest, or watching the riding lessons taking place in our riding arenas. Dinner with the group and your guide, with a ride and safety briefing. The chef at BBQ will be your host, Rasim. Overnight at Lazy Horse.
Accommodation (Equestrian Center Lazy Horse)
3 double bedrooms (one with private bathroom)
One 4 bed room (shared bathroom)
Kitchen, terrace
Day 2 – Monday (2 hours riding)
After breakfast we will have an introduction to horses and the evaluation of the riding skills of the group.
We then saddle up for a morning’s easy introductory ride of approximately 2 hours.
The aim of this introductory ride is to get used to the horse with whom we hope you will spend an unforgettable riding week. Lunch at the farm, followed by a trip into Sarajevo for a guided 2-hour walking tour, learning all about the history of this beautiful city.
After sightseeing the city, we will visit the first place at our wine tasting journey, a beautiful winery on the very slopes of the Sarajevo hills with a beautiful view of the city.
The Hedona Wine Club is the first boutique winery in Sarajevo, surrounded by the vineyard at an altitude of 850m. Hedona designed a great way to showcase their wines, carefully paired with innovative renditions of classic Bosnian dishes. The vineyard counts 3,500 vine plants, mostly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which they use to carefully make sparkling wines following traditional methods.
After the tasting, we take the bottle of wine that we liked the most to toast the beginning of our riding adventure starting tomorrow once again in the peace of the natural environment on the LazyHorse.
Overnight at Lazy Horse.
Accommodation (Equestrian Center Lazy Horse)
3 double bedrooms (one with private bathroom)
One 4 bed room (shared bathroom)
Kitchen, terrace
Day 3 – Tuesday (5-6 hours riding, swamp boat tour)
Today we begin our adventure through the wine regions of Herzegovina, the sunny south of the country. Waking up early with breakfast we head south by vehicle where our horses are already waiting for us, safely brought by our reliable stableman Zijo.
We spend our first riding day in Herzegovina in a nature park called Hutovo Blato, which is a natural reserve for birds and a well-known ornithological site. We ride throughout the day on the lowlands, but we also ascend the nearby hills for a stunning view of the wetlands. At the chosen place, we make a camp with an afternoon rest and a picnic, after which we take a short ride in an electric boat and enjoy the silence of Deranje Lake.
Afternoon riding takes us to our first overnight stay, a small hotel with a restaurant famous for its river fish delicacies on the shore of the lake. After a short rest, we head to the first winery, Domano. The winery is known for red wine of the Blatina variety, and their slogan is “wine with deep roots”, because it is known that wines have been produced in Herzegovina since the time of the Illyrians. Along with selected varieties of blatina, we enjoy homemade culinary delicacies.
Accomodation (TBD)
Day 4 – Wednesday (4 hours riding, canoe safari)
Wednesday is reserved to enjoy in what many consider the most beautiful river in Herzegovina, the marvelous Trebižat. After a hearty breakfast and a 40-minute drive, we arrive at the starting position of our today’s riding tour. We ride along the coast of green Trebižat and at convenient locations we also enjoy riding through a shallow river and offer refreshments to our four-legged friends.
We take a lunch break in one of the restaurants at the numerous waterfalls, where after a well-deserved rest we set off on an adventure, but this time off the saddle, a kayak adventure. Tired but satisfied after enjoying the water, we settle in the nearby Family Farm stay and choose one of the 6 wineries in the nearby town of Ljubuški. The city is known for its large concentration of wineries, and at the guests’ request, we choose one host where we will enjoy a tasting of wine, cheese, and local products.
Again, the widely known Blatina is on the wine menu, and for white wine lovers, the best local variety of žilavka is grown in this area.
Accomodation (TBD)
Day 5 – Thursday (4 hours riding, wild horses watching)
Today is a special riding day, after a 2-hour drive, we arrive at the foot of the Cincar mountain where we expect to ride next to numerous herds of wild horses. It is estimated that their number has already reached 1,000 horses. The surreal areas of the plateau known as Krug Mountain invite us to take a leisurely canter, and on the nearby glade, from which we have the opportunity to watch wild horses, we will set up camp and enjoy moments of watching the horses, their behavior in the herd, and take unforgettable photos from this trip. The horses curiously approach the camp because they are used to receiving salt and food from visitors. After an unforgettable experience, we settle in a nearby hotel and prepare for a new tasting of wine and the inevitable Livanja cheese, which is considered the best cheese in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Livno is home to many wineries, we decided on an organic wine producer, the Knebu winery, which many say is a real sensation in the world of wine, located at an altitude of 950 meters, which ranks it among the highest in the world. Dramatic weather extremes at high altitudes cause sudden and powerful reactions in the vines, releasing energy bursting with charge. The high altitude contributes to the intense taste and aroma of grapes due to significant differences between day and night temperatures. The wine varieties Knebu winery is proud of are Chardonnay and Traminac.
Accomodation (TBD)
Day 6 – Friday (5 hours riding)
Spectacular Blidinje is on the menu today, a wild mountain plateau that offers dozens of kilometers of flat areas that invite us to canter and gallop along with the beautiful Blidinje Lake. Blidinje is also the place where the charismatic and widely known Hajdučke Vrleti (Haiduk’s crags) restaurant is located, where we may relax and enjoy local food and wine.
After a whole day of riding, we put our horses in the horse truck and head to our home away frome, the LazyHorse Equestrian Center.
Of course, we thought of this final evening during the horseback riding tour, and we brought with us a selected bottle of wine from each winery, and at our stable “gala dinner” we once again could taste the best that we had the opportunity to taste on our horseback wine adventure.
Accommodation (Equestrian Center Lazy Horse)
3 double bedrooms (one with private bathroom)
One 4 bed room (shared bathroom)
Kitchen, terrace
