Bus from VENICE to ŽABLJAK

Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. Of the 272,000 inhabitants about 62,000 live in the historic center of the island, and most of the mainland city of Mestre. Mestre is the center and the most populated urban area of the mainland of Venice. The mainland of Venice is the territory of the city based on normal land (instead of natural or artificial islands like the most well-known parts of Venice) connected to the historical center by a long rail and road bridge over the Venetian lagoon, called Ponte della Libertà (Freedom Bridge).

The city is famous for its canals, gondolas and rich history, a majority of independent city that was the center of the Venetian Republic.

Venice is situated across a group of 117 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by bridges. Venice is located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay that lies between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, and artwork. The lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site.

The most important tourist attractions of Venice are:

• Piazza San Marco, often known in English as St Mark's Square, is the principal public square of Venice, where it is generally known just as la Piazza ("the Square"). All other urban spaces in the city (except the Piazzetta and the Piazzale Roma) are called campi ("fields"). The two spaces together form the social, religious and political centre of Venice and are commonly considered together.
• The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark, commonly known as Saint Mark's Basilica, is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Italo-Byzantine architecture. It lies at the eastern end of the Piazza San Marco, adjacent and connected to the Doge's Palace. Originally it was the chapel of the Doge, and has only been the city's cathedral since 1807, when it became the seat of the Patriarch of Venice, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, formerly at San Pietro di Castello.
• The Doge's Palace is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority of the former Republic of Venice, opening as a museum in 1923. Today, it is one of the 11 museums run by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia.

Žabljak is a small town, and the seat of Žabljak Municipality, in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 1,723. The town is in the centre of the Durmitor mountain region and with an altitude of 1,456 metres it's the highest situated town on the Balkans.

Žabljak is centre of Montenegro's mountain tourism. The entire area of Durmitor mountain is protected as a national park, and offers great possibilities for both winter and summer mountain tourism.

Žabljak caters for activities such as:

• Skiing - Durmitor's snow cover lasts 120 days per year, with decent slopes such as Savin kuk, Štuoc and Javorovača.
• Rafting - the 1300m deep Tara River canyon is the second deepest in the world, and is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. Rafting on Tara River is one of the most popular tourist activities in Montenegro.
• Mountaineering - Durmitor's conditions are appropriate for this sport.
• Hiking - The surrounding area of the town of Žabljak provides hiking paths.

Among the main tourist attractions of Durmitor are 18 glacier lakes. The biggest and closest to Žabljak being "Crno jezero" - literally Black lake. Durmitor's slopes are also becoming increasingly popular among snowboarders.