Tuzla

Tuzla takes its name from the Turkish word for salt, and salt has been extracted here since antiquity from underground brine, which is the fact behind everything about the city: the extraction caused large-scale subsidence that destroyed a substantial part of the old town in the twentieth century, and the response was to create the Panonska jezera, a set of saltwater lakes in the centre fed from the brine, with beaches, a reconstructed neolithic pile dwelling and a saltworks museum around them, opened from 2003. The central square and the pedestrian streets around it are among the livelier urban spaces in the country, and the city has a substantial student population.

What you actually see

• The Pannonian lakes - the saltwater bathing lakes in the city centre.
• The saltworks museum - the display on brine extraction and its effects.
• The central square - the pedestrian centre and its cafes.
• The pile dwelling - the reconstructed neolithic settlement by the lakes.

When to go

May to September, when the lakes are open for swimming; they close outside the season. The city works year round. Summer weekends fill the lakes with local families.

Honest expectations

The lakes are artificial and get very crowded in summer. Much of the historic centre was lost to subsidence and the city is largely modern. Facilities are those of a working city rather than a tourist town.

Nearby

Srebrenik lies north; Sarajevo is southwest.