Cultural Routes of Council of Europe launches special European Youth Card in Danube region

In a campaign to promote the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, a special edition European Youth Card has been launched. Young citizens of Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia can apply for the free card which offers special discounts and activities to enjoy the cultural heritage of the participating countries across the Danube Region.

The card offers hundreds of discounts for activities on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in seven countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. They form all part of the Danube region. This part is shaped by the Danube river and it has plenty of cultures to discover. And culture means all sorts of culture: you can visit sites, taste local food or listen to traditional music. But you can also hike or bike along the landscapes of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe.

18 Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe cross the seven countries. As cultural heritage doesn’t stop at borders, Cultural Routes are cross border networks that deal each with a specific theme. Let’s take the Roman Emperors and Danube Wine Route as an example. It links archaeological sites and the regions of the former Danube frontier of the Roman Empire, where wine was introduced in Roman times and where the tradition of wine production is continued until today. Certified by the Council of Europe, which is the oldest pan-European international organisation devoted to the protection and promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe show European cultural heritage in all its diversity.

This special edition of the European Youth Card is born from a cooperation between the European Youth Card Association and Routes4U. The latter is a joint programme between the Council of Europe and the European Union. Routes4U aims at fostering regional development through the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in accordance with the macro-regional strategies of the European Union. In a nutshell, these strategies allow countries located in the same region to jointly tackle and find solutions to problems or to better use the potential they have in common. The European Youth Card Special Edition on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe covers partially the area of the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR).