Thoughts on this one month Balkans road trip

Posted by ProfessorPascal@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 27 comments

Hello all, I am going on a road trip from Austrlia with my girlfriend and am going to put down our current route - please let me know if there is anywhere I am missing out on that I should definitely go to, or if we are not staying somewhere long enough/too long. As well if you have any recommendations for the places we plan on staying at please let me know!

We are planning on camping a lot as my girlfriend has a car and camping gear in Croatia, so we are very flexible with times and dates. However, I only have 27 nights.

We want to visit Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bulgaria and Serbia!

Croatia and Bosnia:

Split - 4 nights (Girlfriend's family live here) Jajce - 1 night Sarajevo - 2 nights Mostar - 1 night Dubrovnik - 2 nights

Montenegro:

Bobotov Kuk - 1 night Budva - 2 nights

Albania:

Tirana - 1 night Berat - 1 night Gjirokastra - 1 night

Macedonia and Kosovo:

Ohrid - 1 night Skopje - 2 nights (with one day exploring Kosovo - probably Pristina/Pizren)

Bulgaria:

Sofia - 2 nights

Serbia:

Nis - 1 night Belgrade - 2 nights

Croatia:

Zagreb - 1 night Zadar - 1 night (flying home from here)

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Jazzlike-Menu8173@reddit

Nice to see Jajce in your roadtrip a very underrated city in B&H. I would recommend to take the route Split-Kupres-Šipovo-Jajce over the usual Kupres-Bugojno-Jajce, its a much better road and the nature around is stunning.

voislav@reddit

Just one day in Ohrid is crazy. You can combine history, nature and beaches. I will give it at least 2 days if you are in a hurry, but 3 days is a perfect time. Skopje for 1 day is okay, if you want to skip canyon Matka.

neilabz@reddit

Skip Bulgaria just because it is a big detour. Also skip Niš. Add Novi Sad or Subotica and a Croatia island

properelero@reddit

He can skip whole Serbia and Bulgaria and just finish like a king in Greece

Tiny-Mulberry-2114@reddit

Nah Serbia is beautiful but only problem is with bad roads on the lower half so maybe he should just start from Novi Sad or Belgrade that way he skips time consuming parts that will give him little to no reward. Also that way he gets additional time to possibly visit Budapest and then go towards Zagreb so he will also skip Slavonia that imo doesn't provide much for it's size.

arbDev@reddit

Dont skip albania riviera

_fant@reddit

Go to Novi Sad instead of Belgrade, the city is much more beautiful and has less traffic. It's not the capital city, which has its perks, the detour won't take you long. On your one night in Zadar i recommend the sea organ and to climb the bell tower. In Zagreb there is an old town with a beautiful church you can see and a cravat shop with a rich history, but, if you can, go with someone that can tell you the stories behind these things (a travel tour of some kind) so you can appreciate the view more. Also, in regards to traveling, the left lane on the highway is much more "drivable", but do drive the speed limit or slightly above. Most of the borders have cameras so you can know approximately how long you will wait at each of them. Good luck on your journey 🍀

Shareable_Weener_817@reddit

guy's got a death wish

teshmjaispat@reddit

Regarding Kosovo, skip Prishtina and go directly to Prizren

ProfessorPascal@reddit (OP)

Why is pizren better?

Prishtina is a mess and realistically has nothing to offer. Prizren has a lot of culture and manu sights to be seen. If you have just one day allocated for Kosovo then you do Prizren. Prishtina is a waste of time (btw im from Prishtina)

You are missing a lot of crazy good spots. Btw add Slovenia to your trip. Trust me it's underrated but definitely worth

I’ve been before and loved it

Yu-go-slav@reddit

You can skip Pristina, there's nothing special to see.

No need to go in Serbia (including Kosovo)

Spiritual-Ad-8265@reddit

After 11 - 12 you should proceed to North of MN and visit river Tara, cheap rafting in the deepest European canyon and then cross to B i H to visit also jaw dropping beauties of the National Park Sutjeska.

If you're on motorcycle you'd have to send me money for this info...

EmbarrassedBadger922@reddit

Way too many stops. Cut out half of them or the only you will be seeing is the highway and gas stations. Get rid of all 1 night stays. They are just not worth it. 1 night somewhere means only half a day of actually seeing anything and when you add in travel times to and from places probably even less. Take Tirana for example. You spend 1 night there but you have to drive to Tirana from Budva, which is 4h minimum, with no lines at the border and then on the next day you drive to Berat. What do you realistically think can you visit or see there? Same thing with Ohrid. People usually spend 3-4 days there and you want to do it in 1 night. Just way too rushed.

2 nights stays at minimum, 3 night stays should be what you are aiming for. Better to stay longer in places and then do day trips if you want to.