Uvac
A river that bends like it's in no hurry to reach the sea
- When to go
- October 10° · 8 rainy days
- Per day
- €€price 2 of 5
- How many days
- 1–2days
- For you
- 6 questions →
- Nearest airport
- 77 km Kraljevo
- Right now
The Uvac river slows so much inside its canyon that it curls back on itself, again and again, forming meanders you see either from the Molitva viewpoint or from a boat on Uvac Lake. Above the canyon circle griffon vultures, birds with a wingspan of nearly three metres.
The Molitva viewpoint is reached by a marked trail of about five kilometres each way from the Markova Ravan camp on the shore of Sjenica Lake. It's moderate and passes Devojačka Stena; the viewpoint is a wooden platform with a railing, just below Molitva peak.
If you'd rather not walk, the same meanders can be seen from a boat. Trips leave from Rastoke, about twelve kilometres from Nova Varoš, or from Krstac and Markova Ravan, five or six kilometres from Sjenica; the basic one takes about three hours, with vulture watching and a stop at the Ice Cave, and the combined one with a climb to a viewpoint takes four and a half to five. A place on a shared boat costs €8.50 per person, plus €2.10 for the reserve and cave tickets, and the visit has to be booked with the reserve in advance.
Guides for Uvac
Shorter, practical pages for one concrete question each — how many days, how much money, where to sleep, where to escape the city.
Uvac in 2 days
→Day one is on the water — a cruise, the vultures and the Ice Cave; day two is on foot, up to the Molitva viewpoint. The…
What to see in Uvac
Molitva viewpoint
A peak at 1,247 metres and the best-known view of the Uvac meanders. From the platform you can also see the entrance to the Ice Cave.
€0.85
Griffon vultures
Uvac has the largest breeding colony of griffon vultures in Serbia and one of the largest in the Balkans. You get closest from a boat, since bird watching is part of the basic trip.
€8.50 · booking: recommended
A lake cruise
For anyone who finds five kilometres each way too much: the same meanders from a lower angle, with no climbing, which makes it the pick with small children or older travellers.
€8.50 · about 3 h · booking: timed slot
Devojačka Stena
A rock outcrop beside the trail to Molitva. In one legend a girl jumped from it because she wasn't allowed to marry the young man she loved; in another, to avoid being taken by the Ottomans.
€0.85
The Ice Cave
A cave about 700 metres long. It can only be entered with a guide, usually as part of a boat trip.
€2.10 · booking: timed slot
Two things you probably did not know
The Uvac holds one of the last colonies of griffon vultures in Europe. The bird has a wingspan of nearly three metres, and from a few remaining pairs in the nineteen seventies the colony has grown to several hundred birds.
The Uvac meanders formed when the river wound across a plain before the lakes existed, then cut down into rock as the land rose, keeping its shape. The Usacka cave in the canyon is the longest cave system in Serbia.
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Within reach from here
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