Bosnia and Herzegovina Travel Forum

Hello,

Been planning our 20 day trip to the Balkans, starting and ending in Sarajevo. So hard to plan with so many places to go -- I'm curious to get advice from anyone who has traveled in the region to see if this itinerary is feasible:

Day 1: arrive Sarajevo
Day 2: explore Sarajevo
Day 3: bus to Novi Pazar, PM explore Novi Pazar
Day 4: bus to Kosovo. Visit Pecs and/or Decani. Overnight Gjakova
Day 5: visit Gjakova and Prizren. Overnight Gjakova
Day 6: visit Pristina. Overnight Skopje
Day 7: long train ride to Kalambaka Greece
Day 8: visit Meteora, Greece
Day 9: bus from Kalmabaka to Gjirokaster, Albania. Overnight Gjirokaster
Day 10: bus to Berat. Overnight Berat.
Day 11: afternoon bus to Tirana. Overnight Tirana.
Day 12: relax Tirana
Day 13: bus/minibus Tirana-Skodra-Kotor. Overnight Kotor.
Day 14: relax Kotor
Day 15: relax Kotor
Day 16: bus Kotor-Split, PM Krilo ferry to Korcula. Overnight Korcula.
Day 17: relax Korcula
Day 18: AM bus to Dubrovnik. Overnight Dubrovnik.
Day 19: AM bus to Mostar. Overnight Mostar.
Day 20: AM train to Sarajevo. Overnight Sarajevo.
Day 21: Depart Sarajevo

Thanks...

Your internary is bit streched. as you going to spend most of your time on buses.
Why dont you concetrate on Ex-YU & possably Albania?
I have alternative for you:
Sarajevo -2days& 1 nite
Bus to Mostar
Mostar-2nites & 1day
bus to Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik -2days
Bus to Kotor
Kotor-2 (explore Bay of Kotor)
Bus to Ulcinj, cross into Albania
Shkodra via Tirane to Berat (one day traveling)
Berat 3 days (explore sarounding)
furgon Podgradec
Cross into Macedonia at Sv naum on Ohrid lake (this travel will take most of the day, so I assigned 1 day traveling)
Ohrid-2 days
bus to Skopje via Bitola
stop at Bitola for atleast half day (one day traveling & visiting Bitola)
Skopje -2 days (visit Matka gorge, Nerezi monastery & more)

option A)
bus/trai to Nish
Nish-1 day & 1 nite
bus/train to Belgrade
Belgrade-2 day
bus/train to Sarajevo
stop at Vishegrad for half day.
fly out of Sarajevo

option B)
Bus to Prishtina-Prizren
Prizren-2 day
bus to Pech
Pech-2 days
Bus to Sarajevo
fly home.

some useful websites:
www.bih-x.com Turist info Bosnia
www.sarajevo.ba
www.sarajevo-turism.com
www.visit-montenegro.com
www.montenegro.travel
www.macedonia-timless.com (multi link)
www.ohrid.com.mk
not much on Kosovo but I found this informative:
http://www.explorekosova.com/
http://www.united-albania.com/albania-hotels-guide/
http://www.albaniantourism.com/

Happy travels
MacedonianUK

Day 3, I'm not sure of the timetable from Sarajevo to Novi Pazar, unless you know for sure there is an early bus I don't know if you'll really have time to see Novi Pazar that day, especially if you want to see Sopocani Monastery which is some distance away.

Day 6, again by the time you see Pristina and arrive in Skopje you won't really have time to see anything, and you'll have to leave early the next morning.

Day 7, in planning connections allow for the possibility of the Skopje-Thessaloniki train being late, it happens a fair bit.

Similarly on day 9, again I don't know if you have managed to find a timetable from Kalambaka to Gjirokastra, but I'd guess you will be left with very little time to see the latter (which is a lovely town) especially as your bus to Berati will likely leave early the next day - transport in Albania generally does tend to require early departures.

And yet another similar thought on day 16, do you know for sure there are buses that will get you from Kotor to Split in time for the catamaran to Korcula?

The last part of the route (from day doesn't feel quite right somehow, I think there may be a better order for these places that avoids passing through Dubrovnik twice, but I can't put my finger on it right now.

Bear in mind that the monasteries in Meteora close on different days so if you only have one day you may miss out on visiting one or two.

Although all the places you have chosen are well worth seeing, overall the itinerary would involve a bit more bus travel than I'd like myself, and I'd be frustrated by passing through both Serbia and Macedonia without really seeing anything. I'd be inclined to pick places a bit closer to each other, but it's up to you if you like to travel that way.

Thank you Alan and Macedonian for your responses. They make a lot of sense. Based on your advice, we're thinking of trimming things down a bit. I think the new itinerary is still aggressive, but hopefully doable.

We are looking to change our flights to return from Sarajevo and save all of Greece for another trip. Let me know your thoughts on this --

Day 1: arrive Sarajevo
Day 2: explore Sarajevo
Day 3: bus to Novi Pazar. I found on http://www.centrolines.ba/loc/template.wbsp?wbf_p_id=2 a bus that departs at 7am and arrives at 2pm. Overnight Novi Pazar.
Day 4: AM visit Sopanaci Monastery, PM visit Pecs. Overnight Gjakova.
Day 5: Visit Gjakova and Decani. Overnight Gjakova.
Day 6: Visit Prizren. Overnight Prizren.
Day 7: AM bus to Pristina, PM to Skopje.
Day 8: AM bus Ohrid, overnight Ohrid.
Day 9: AM bus to Berat, overnight Berat.
Day 10: Relax Berat
Day 11: AM bus to Tirana. Overnight Tirana.
Day 12: bus/minibus Tirana-Shkodra-Kotor. Overnight Kotor.
Day 13: relax Kotor
Day 14: relax Kotor
Day 15: AM bus Kotor-Split. Overnight Split.
Day 16: afternoon Krilo catamaran to Korcula. Overnight Korcula.
Day 17: Relax Korcula
Day 18: AM bus to Dubrovnik. Overnight Dubrovnik.
Day 19: AM bus to Mostar. Overnight Mostar.
Day 20: AM train to Sarajevo. Overnight Sarajevo.
Day 21: Depart Sarajevo

Any comments? Thanks!

That looks more appealing to me.

A small point: would it be slightly better to go from Kotor to Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik to Korcula, Korcula to Split, and Split to Mostar? You'd see the same places but with a bit less duplication - with your current route you will cover the stretch of road just north of Dubrovnik 3 times.