Far from the "Poor man of Europe" moniker erroneously attributed to it the 20 countries that make up Eastern Europe are a gloriously diverse part of the world but, until recently, they were about as difficult to explore as Mars.

From the moment I first stepped off a train in a dusky Bratislavan station I have been enthralled by the former Soviet block. The Christmas markets of Prague, the unlit backstreets of Chishnau, the Communist iconography of Sofia and Minsk, the humbling bleakness of Auschwitz, the medieval old towns of Bratislava, Zagreb, Sarajevo and the Baltic capitals of Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, all offer a lost world to discover.

Add to that the stunning national parks of Montenegro, the Julian Alps in Slovenia & the lower Danube river it continues to captivate with every visit.

Go there, if you can, before the ever-increasing numbers of tourists swallow it completely.