Bus from TUZLA to MARIBOR

The city of Tuzla is the administrative center and the economic, cultural and educational center of the Tuzla Canton and the economic-geographic region of northeastern Bosnia. Tuzla is predominantly an industrial city, the center of the municipality of the same name and the Tuzla Canton. It is also the economic, cultural, sports and educational center of northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the valley of Majevica Mountain.

The city is famous for its chemical and motor industry. It is especially known for the great wealth of salt, after which it got its name (from the Turkish language: "greed" means "so"), and this city lies on a large number of salt mines.

Natural resources and rich deposits of energy and mineral resources have been a determining factor in directing the current economic development of this region, and at the same time are an important backbone of future development.

Tuzla has made its special geological history the oldest or one of the oldest settlements in Europe. Namely, much of Europe, in the ancient geological past, represented the bottom of the Pannonian Sea. And the last remains of this must have receded from the present surface 10 million years ago. Just below Tuzla this sea left a trace of 350 million tons of salty rock and salt water. Salt water was raining to the surface, people were processing it in so still in the neolith. They later formed wells, which became more and more modern, and salt water became the basis of the chemical industry in modern Tuzla.

On July 18, 2003, local authorities decided to draw a large amount of salt water to the surface, to the previously prepared bottom, so Tuzla is now the only city in Europe that has a salt lake and the only city in the world whose salt lake is at the same time a bathing place and beach in the narrowest historical city center. The salt water of the Pannonian Lake is allegedly and healing.

Tuzla has a great industrial tradition, based on rich salt and coal deposits.

Today Tuzla is a city of new energy, in recent years it has experienced a great expansion of construction and rapid development.

Maribor is the second-largest city in Slovenia with about 95,500 inhabitants, it's also the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria and the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor.

Maribor was first mentioned as a market near the castle Castrum Marchburch ("March Castle") in 1204, and received town privileges in 1254. It began to grow rapidly after the victory of Rudolf I of the Habsburg dynasty over King Otakar II of Bohemia in 1278. Maribor withstood sieges by Matthias Corvinus in 1480/1481 and by the Ottoman Empire in 1532 and 1683.

Maribor has a humid continental climate, bordering on oceanic climate. Average temperatures hover around zero degrees Celsius during the winter. Summers are generally warm. Average temperatures during the city's warmest month (July) exceed 20 degrees Celsius, which is one of the main reasons for the Maribor wine tradition.

Many historical structures stand in Maribor. Of the remains of city walls surrounding the old downtown, the most prominent are the Judgement Tower, the Water Tower, and the Jewish Tower. Maribor Cathedral was built in the Gothic style in the 13th century. Maribor Synagogue was built in the 14th century, and is the second oldest synagogue of Europe. Today it serves as a centre for cultural activities. Other prominent Medieval buildings are Maribor Castle, Betnava Castle, and the ruins of Upper Maribor Castle on Pyramid Hill. Town Hall was constructed in the Renaissance style, and the Plague Column in the Baroque style.

The city hosts the University of Maribor, established in 1975, and many other schools.

Every June, the two-week Lent Festival (named after the waterfront district called Lent) is held, with hundreds of musical, theatrical and other events. Every year the festival attracts theatre, opera, ballet performers, classical, modern, and jazz musicians and dancers from all over the world, and of course many visitors. There is also mime, magic shows are being held and acrobats perform during the festival.

Maribor is known for wine and culinary specialities of international and Slovene. There are also many popular restaurants with Serbian cuisine. The Vinag Wine Cellar (Vinagova vinska klet), with the area of 20.000 m2 and the length of 2 kilometres, keeps 5,5 millions litres of wine. The house of the oldest grapevine in the world (Hiša stare trte) at Lent grows the world's oldest grapevine, which was in 2004 recorded in Guinness World Records. The grapevine of Žametovka is about 440 years old.