The Balkan Peninsula

Extending to the south from central Europe into the Mediterranean Sea, the Balkan Peninsula  includes the countries of Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and the geographical/political region of European Turkey.
 

Albania 

Albania, on Southeastern Europe’s Balkan Peninsula, is a small country with coastlines on the Adriatic and Ionian seas and an interior crossed by the Albanian Alps. Along its southern coast, the Albanian Riviera is known for its traditional Mediterranean villages, beach resorts and vibrant nightlife. With history stretching back to antiquity, Albania is also rich in castles and archaeological sites.

Albania Capital: Tirana

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country on the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe, encompasses mountainous terrain, medieval villages and Muslim and Christian landmarks. Its countryside is marked by deep gorges, turquoise rivers and lakes, and the Dinaric Alps’ forests and crags. It's a popular destination for outdoor sports such as hiking, mountain biking, white-water rafting and skiing.

 

  Bosnia and Herzegovina Capital: Sarajevo

Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a Balkan nation with diverse terrain encompassing Black Sea coastline, rivers, including the Danube, and a mountainous interior. A cultural melting pot with Greek, Slavic, Ottoman and Persian influences, it has a rich heritage of traditional dance, music, costumes and crafts. 

 

Bulgaria Capital: Sofia

Croatia

Croatia is an Eastern European country with long coastlines on the Adriatic Sea, encompassing more than a thousand islands, crossed by the Dinaric Alps and dotted with castles. The major coastal city Dubrovnik has massive 16th-century walls encircling an Old Town with Gothic and Renaissance buildings.

 

Croatia Capital: Zagreb 

Greece

Greece is a country in southeastern Europe consisting of 2 mainland peninsulas and thousands of islands throughout the Aegean and Ionian seas. It's often called the birthplace of Western civilization, and Athens, its capital, retains ancient landmarks including the 5th-century-B.C.E. Acropolis citadel and Parthenon temple. Greece is also known for its beaches, from the black sands of Santorini to the party resorts of Mykonos.

 

 Greece Capital: Athens 

Macedonia (FYROM)

Macedonia is a landlocked Balkan nation of mountains, lakes and ancient towns with Ottoman and European architecture. The capital, Skopje, is known for its sprawling Old Bazaar quarter and historic buildings turned museums, including the National Gallery of Macedonia, housed in a 15th-century Turkish bath complex. The southern city Ohrid, on a lake of the same name, has a medieval townscape and hilltop castle.

 

 Macedonia Capital: Skopje

 

Montenegro

Montenegro is a small Balkan country with rugged mountains, medieval villages and a narrow strip of beaches along its Adriatic coastline. The Bay of Kotor, resembling a fjord, is dotted with coastal churches and fortified towns such as Kotor and Herceg Novi. Durmitor National Park encompasses limestone peaks, glacial lakes, wildlife such as bears and wolves, and 1,300m-deep Tara River Canyon.

 

 Montenegro Capital: Podgorica

Romania

Romania is a central European country known for the forested region of Transylvania, preserved medieval towns such as Sighişoara and many fortified churches and castles, notably clifftop Bran Castle, long associated with the Dracula legend. The area is ringed by the Carpathian Mountains, which are popular for trekking, climbing, skiing and bathing in natural thermal spas.

 

Romani Capital: Bucharest 

Serbia

Serbia is a country on southeast Europe's Balkan peninsula with vast northern plateaus and mountains with ski resorts to the south. Capital city Belgrade is home to Communist-era architecture and Kalemegdan Park, site of an ancient fortress held successively by the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires. Floating nightclubs on the Danube and Sava rivers are a distinctive part of the city’s nightlife.

 

 Serbia Capital: Belgrade

Slovenia

Slovenia, a country in Central Europe, is known for its mountains, outdoor recreation and ski resorts. Set on a glacial lake fed by thermal springs, the town of Bled contains a church-topped islet and a cliffside medieval castle. Nearby Triglav National Park in the Julian Alps offers skiing and hiking, plus rafting along the Soča River, renowned for aquamarine water.

 

 Slovenia Capital: Ljubljana

 

Turkey

Turkey is a nation straddling eastern Europe and western Asia with cultural connections to ancient Greek, Persian, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires. Cosmopolitan Istanbul, on the Bosphorus Strait, is home to the iconic Hagia Sophia, with its soaring dome and Christian mosaics, the massive 17th-century Blue Mosque and the circa-1460 Topkapı Palace, former home of sultans.

 

 Turkey Major City in Europe:   Istanbul