Niš hosted its first Paragliding World Cup competition back in 2005. Other big comps have also been hosted here, including the European Paragliding Championships.
Summer is the perfect time of year for good flying, with a combination of mountain and flatland XC on offer. Wide grassy launches, broad valleys and red-tiled villages all bake in the central Balkan heat, dotting the sky with perfect cumulus.
The air mass here stays comparatively dry compared with the coast, however it’s still green terrain. Despite a lot of forest you can usually find a place to land, though look out for ramshackle power cables from the post-war building frenzy.
Rival sites across the border in Montenegro would say they have more dependable weather but as summer moves towards autumn, even they will have to concede that Niš delivers the goods. Race on.
Competition dates: 17-24 June 2017
Photo: Martin Scheel / azoom.ch
Appeared in the 2017 Travel Guide in an article entitled Goal Fever, describing the sites of the 2017 PWC Circuit. See more 2017 PWC sites here
