Balkans

Crann na Beatha

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drquirky

Great area- Dalmation Coast in croatia is obviously beautiful- I've been to Hvar, Split and Dubrovnik all of which I loved. On this trip we also hit Mostar in Bosnia and Sarajevo- really interesting place. i'd move quick on Bosnia though as some of the more recent political events there unfortunately may point to resumed hostilities.....Never been to Serbia but have heard Belgrade is mad!!!

milkado

Hi I did a pretty similar trip to the above poster! Zagreb the capital isn't a must see but if you're flying into it give it a day or two maybe! Hvar is lovely for a few days for the beach and nightlife! Dubrovnik is great, maybe stay in an area called Lapad- it's much cheaper, has all the best beaches and there's a very regular bus to the old town! The old town is amazing, try go on one of the war walking tours, really interesting and crazy to listen to since it all only happened like 15 years ago. From Dubrovnik you can do day trips to Montenegro and Mostar from various tour companies for €50 for a 12 hour trip if you felt like doing that. The Montenegro one is good, they bring you to Kotor which is almost like a mini Dubrovnik and then to Budva- this stop is a bit pointless imo because it's basically a resort! So unless you wanna go swimming it's kinda hard to fill a few hours! The Mostar trip is much better, you stop off at a tiny little town called Pocitelg to wander around it's basically built on the side of a mountain! Then to Mostar which is just amazing!! Don't know anything about the rest of Bosnia and haven't been to Belgrade but it's def on the list cause sounds great!

CamillaRhodes

I lived in Serbia for the last few years. As a 'regular' tourist, Belgrade is probably your sole point of interest, really fun city with great nightlife (it's almost a cliche at this stage, but it's true!) but there's also good skiing in Kopaonik and Kosovo is interesting because of it's history.

Don't listen to the post above about hostilities being 'about to break out' again in Bosnia - that is not going to happen. Bosnia still has a lot of political problems, but there is no will to return to war, and no reason not to visit the country. Certainly Sarajevo is worth a visit.

Be prepared that trains, where they exist, are generally much slower than buses (and less reliable). You won't be able to book many things online for Serbia and Bosnia, such as tickets, though larger hostels / hotels will now do online booking (I think).

Is there anything in particular you wanted to find out about, Iolar?

LiamMc

It depends on the time of year you travel. As the poster above said Belgrade is a great city. In my opinion the best capital city of the three countries mentioned. Flying into Budapest (Hungary) and travelling down by train and reaching towns like (Pecs, Szeged Hungary) and Sobotica, Novi Sad in Serbia before Belgrade. Like CamillaRhodes said its a good city with plenty going on.
There is famous gorge in the Sth of Serbia before Montengro.
Bus services between Belgrade and Sarajevo (7-9hr) leave you at a Serb suburb where you can pick up the tranm into the city of Sarajevo. The tunnel near the airport is worth a pilgramiage as is tasting burek. Mostar is very broken up still but it has some historic and renovated sites. Mostar is a good place to get to Medjugore. You could head north back through Croatia to Budapest.

An alternative is fly to Dubrovnik if charters are reasonable. South from there down miss Kotor where there is very good walking to and its possible to go over the very steep mountains to previous capitals like Cetinje where the Consulates buildings like France still stand. North is Split a lovely place in the summer. Alot of tourists also spend time in among the islands between the two towns.

Travel Agents are plugging the Istrian pennisula near Italy.