Mountains, a spectacular coastline, Ottoman and Habsburg towns, and prices from twenty years ago. The best-value travel in Europe and the least understood.
What it is
The peninsula south-east of the Alps: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, with Turkey at the far edge.
Most of it was Yugoslavia within living memory, and before that Ottoman or Habsburg, and the seams show in the best possible way: a mosque, a Catholic cathedral, an Orthodox church and a socialist housing block within four streets of each other in a town of forty thousand.
It is the cheapest travel in Europe by a wide margin, the coastline is as good as anything in the Mediterranean, and the mountains — the Accursed Mountains, the Rila and Pirin, the Julian Alps — are barely walked by comparison with the Alps.
The two halves
The coast — Croatia, Montenegro, Albania — is the popular half. Dubrovnik, Kotor, Split, the Dalmatian islands. It is beautiful, and in July and August it is very full and no longer cheap. Croatia adopted the euro in 2023 and prices moved accordingly.
The interior — Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania’s mountains — is the half that is still genuinely inexpensive and largely untravelled. Sarajevo, Mostar, Belgrade, Skopje, Ohrid, Prizren, Theth and Valbona. This is where the value is.
Seasons
May–June and September–October are ideal: warm, everything open, and the coast still manageable.
July and August are hot, and the Croatian and Montenegrin coasts are at capacity. The interior is fine.
Winter brings decent, cheap skiing in Bosnia, Bulgaria and Serbia, and the mountain villages in northern Albania close entirely.
Getting around
Buses. This is the point. Long-distance coaches connect essentially every town in the region, cost very little, and run frequently. Book at the station or on the operator’s app; some routes sell out in summer.
Trains are a romantic idea and a slow reality. The Belgrade–Bar line through Montenegro is a genuine exception and one of the great rail journeys in Europe.
Driving is straightforward and is how to reach the mountain valleys. Check whether your rental permits crossing into every country on your route — several exclude Kosovo and Albania by default, and a green card may be needed.
Ferries connect the Croatian islands and run from Italy across the Adriatic.
Borders and money
In the EU and Schengen: Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. In the EU but with border checks: none now, following Bulgaria and Romania’s accession. Outside: Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo — all visa-free for most nationalities but with passport checks that add time.
Time spent outside Schengen does not count against the 90-in-180 allowance, which makes a Balkan loop a genuinely useful way to reset a European trip.
Currencies are a mess: euros in Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro and Kosovo; Bosnian marks, Serbian dinars, Macedonian denars, Albanian lek, Bulgarian lev, Romanian lei. Card acceptance is good in cities and patchy in the mountains.
Kosovo is recognised by some states and not others; Serbia does not recognise it, and entering Kosovo from a third country and then trying to enter Serbia can be refused. Enter Kosovo from Serbia if you plan to return that way.
The recent history
The wars of the 1990s are within living memory for everyone you will meet, and the accounts you hear will differ substantially depending on which town you are in. Museums in Sarajevo, Mostar and Srebrenica are unflinching and worth the time. Landmine contamination still exists in marked areas of Bosnia and Croatia — stay on paths and heed signage, which is not a formality.
Where to start
Sarajevo → Mostar → Kotor → Tirana → Ohrid → Skopje is three weeks of buses, costs very little, and covers most of what makes the region distinctive.
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