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The best Balkan countries to visit this summer
Croatia might steal the limelight, but this region offers plenty more for a European getaway – and brilliant value for money too
![Beach Pasqyr between Ksamil and Sarande, Albania](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/travel/2023/07/07/TELEMMGLPICT000341090086_16887159680490_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqRo0U4xU-30oDveS4pXV-Vv4Xpit_DMGvdp2n7FDd82k.jpeg?imwidth=680)
You don’t have to be too close to your dotage to recall a time when the Balkans were a fixture of the front pages rather than the travel sections of newspapers. Rewind to the 1990s, and the region that had once been (for the most part) Yugoslavia was collapsing into a maelstrom of brutal conflicts, fought along ethnic, religious and cultural faultlines.
How times change. Fast-forward three decades, and the south-east corner of the European landmass – that enormous slice of beaches, cities, lakes and mountains, wedged between the outer flanks of Italy and Austria, and the upper edge of Greece – is fast becoming a favourite holiday destination; a summer haven on the Adriatic and Ionian shores.
For the most part, this is down to our ongoing love affair with Croatia – almost four million British travellers jetted into the most popular piece of the Balkan jigsaw last year.
But then, there is more to the region than Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian islands – and much more to it than the former Yugoslav republics. While Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina all emerged from the disintegration of that once-vast nation (some with less trauma than others), there are other splendid sections of the tapestry. Beyond the old borders, Albania, Bulgaria and (if you will allow me a certain amount of geographical liberty-taking) Romania are also worthy of your attention.
There is also more to these places than the coast. While seven of the 10 countries listed here have some sort of seafront, each one serves up significant elements of history, scenery, food and fun. The following escapes are all, if you will, the best of the Balkans…
Croatia
It is easy to be entranced by the Croatian shoreline – 1,100 miles if you only count the mainland, a further 2,520 miles if you bring in its many islands in Adriatic shallows. And while there is much to attract the visitor beyond the obvious, any first journey to the country should probably find its feet by the waves. Dubrovnik you know – if its medieval walls were not global celebrities before Game of Thrones, they are as of 2011. Split, its grand rival, is as majestic as you would expect of a place whose old town is built around the walls of Roman emperor Diocletian’s palace. And Zadar adds to the picture, its own Roman forum within walking range of Kolovare Beach.
How to do it: Any of these cities will provide the basis for a fine short break. Combine them and you have a glorious holiday – one that Steppes Travel (01285 402 119; steppestravel.com) can provide with its 10-day Unesco Sites of Southern Croatia tour – all three cities, plus the island of Hvar and the Plitvice lakes, from £5,405pp, excluding flights
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Montenegro
As of its return as an independent state in 2006 (it was previously yoked to its bigger neighbour, forming Serbia & Montenegro), Montenegro has positioned itself as Croatia’s inviting beach neighbour thanks to 182 miles of glorious Adriatic coastline of its own. The towns on the shore – Bar, Budva, Kotor, all still framed by their Venetian fortifications – are unfailingly photogenic, and an unmissable part of the Montenegrin experience. But the savvy traveller goes east, too, into an interior that rears savagely skyward.
The clue is in the name (“Montenegro” translates as “Black Mountain”); the proof is in the slopes of the Dinaric Alps – where Lovcen National Park cradles a swathe of limestone bluffs, and the Bay of Kotor flows out to sea, revelling in its status as “Europe’s southernmost fjord”.
How to do it: Macs Adventure (0141 530 5452; macsadventure.com) offers the eight-day, self-guided Walking in Montenegro tour from £955pp. The moderately challenging trip calls at Lovcen, Kotor and the waters of Lake Skadar (another national park). Flights (to either Podgorica or Dubrovnik) are not included
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Slovenia
Way up in the north-west of the region, Slovenia often feels like part of Central Europe rather than the Balkans. This is an easy conclusion to reach – it shares borders with Italy and Austria; the Julian Alps shape its horizon. The latter fact is particularly apparent in Lake Bled, whose mountain-ringed beauty has become the country’s undisputed postcard.
And yet there is much to see beyond the obvious, including Ljubljana, one of Europe’s smallest and most attractive capitals, and the Skocjan Caves, Unesco-listed as “exceptional”. There is something of an Adriatic coast, too – just 29 miles of it, squished between Italy and Croatia, but perfectly lovely, where the resort towns of Piran and Portoroz adorn a slender bay.
How to do it
Black Tomato (020 7426 9888; blacktomato.com) offers the eight-night Highlights of Slovenia tour that ticks off caves, capital and coast, and adds in the Goriska Brda wine region in the far west of the country, from £4,600pp, excluding flights
Bosnia & Herzegovina
The Yugoslav wars caused the most devastation on the west side of the Balkan peninsula, where Bosnia and Herzegovina was lost to shell-fire and the capital, Sarajevo, fell victim to a vicious four-year siege. But this magical, mountain-bound country is starting to step away from its shadows.
Sarajevo is a historic jewel – part Ottoman relic, part Austrian echo, but fully Bosnian in its energy and endeavour. There are minarets and churches, the market stalls of Bascarsija, the classical buildings along the River Miljacka; and a signature cable-car rising to the top of Trebevic mountain.
Mostar, another target in the troubles, has also recovered, its totemic Old Bridge rebuilt in 2004. There is another story on offer as well; one of thrills and possible spills. And if summer has closed the superb ski resorts on Sarajevo’s fringes (Jahorina and Bjelasnica), then a day of rafting the Neretva river’s rapids will set pulses racing.
How to do it: The country’s growing relevance to travellers is apparent in the launch of a new Bosnia & Herzegovina Expedition from adventure-tour experts Intrepid Travel (0808 274 5111; intrepidtravel.com) – an eight-day group holiday that takes in Sarajevo, Mostar and the Neretva river. From £1,188pp, excluding flights
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Serbia
The dark horse of the region, cocooned at the heart of the peninsula, Serbia merits closer inspection by those who don’t need a beach to feel that they are on holiday. The capital, Belgrade, is one of Europe’s oldest and has a wealth of Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and Yugoslavian heritage – lots of it visible in the many architectural layers of Belgrade Fortress, the core of the Old Town. Serbia’s second city of Novi Sad is just as engaging, alive in the restaurants and cafés on the Danube – as with Belgrade, Europe’s greatest river is the heart of the matter.
How to do it: Explore (01252 240 699; explore.co.uk) offers the Grand Tour of Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria – a 15-day group odyssey which adds Bucharest, Sofia and Plovdiv to the mix. From £1,640pp, including flights
Kosovo
The smallest piece of the puzzle remains its biggest question mark. Though it declared its independence in 2008, and is recognised by 101 nations (including the UK), Kosovo’s huge neighbour Serbia does not recognise its sovereignty.
Still, Kosovo will feel entirely real if you pay it a visit – Pristina, its capital, is intriguing, wearing its past in the 15th-century bathhouses of the Great Hammam, and its present in the irrepressible “Newborn” installation – that very word, in giant yellow letters – in front of the Palace of Youth and Sports. Then there is Prizren, the country’s second city; endlessly pretty in the foothills of the Sar Mountains, the dome of the 17th century Sinan Pasha Mosque as blue as the sky above it.
How to do it: Regent (0117 453 0511; regent-holidays.co.uk) serves up the country in fine detail with an eight-day Essential Kosovo holiday, from £1,230pp, including flights
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North Macedonia
This tiny state has had a small identity crisis of its own in the past few years. In 2018, it agreed to add the compass direction to its name, resolving a long dispute with Greece about the exact definition of “Macedonia” (Greece claims much of said historic region as its own, and has a large region also known as Macedonia). But whatever the precise wording, this land-locked nation is one of Europe’s least recognised destinations; an enigma squeezed between Albania and Bulgaria. It rewards the curious. Skopje, its capital, has a genuine buzz in the shops of its Old Bazaar and the cafés along the River Vardar. Ohrid, meanwhile, is a delight; a tiny jewel of a city, burrowed into the shore of the lake of the same title – and joyfully reflected in its surface.
How to do it: Trailfinders (020 7938 0210; trailfinders.com) covers the south of the Balkans with its 15-day Kosovo, Albania & Macedonia Explorer tour from £2,045pp, excluding flights
Albania
Once maligned as a neo-Stalinist wasteland of post-communist concrete, Albania has blossomed in the past decade in terms of its image as a travel option. True, you will notice the occasional high-rise (no one would describe the seafront in second city Durres as especially lovely), but where it shines, Albania shines brightly. Vlore marks the point where the Adriatic and the Ionian meet, next to the Karaburun Peninsula. The latter sea looks just as photogenic further down the coast at Saranda, across the water from Corfu.
Head inland, however, and a scenic dream unfurls – ancient historic sites such as Butrint, Byllis and Apollonia; gorgeous Ottoman towns like Gjirokaster and Berat bejewelling the landscape; and Llogara National Park, which cradles a different sort of Albanian high-rise in the guise of the soaring Ceraunian Mountains.
How to do it: Original Travel (020 3958 6120; originaltravel.co.uk) covers most of the above, plus the thrillingly lively capital Tirana, with its Coast, Countryside & Culture tour, a wide-ranging 10-day romp around the country, from £2,480pp, including flights
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Bulgaria
Down in the south-east corner of the Balkans (if you discount the isthmus where Turkey guides the landmass towards Istanbul), Bulgaria is another mystery travel package – its appeal often reduced to the cheap ski slopes of Bansko and the even cheaper resorts of its Black Sea shore. But its enormity is better encapsulated by its empty spaces and bucolic aesthetic. Bulgaria ranks a lowly 154th on the list of the world’s most densely populated states, its head-count amounting to just 161 per square mile. It wears this desertedness to striking effect in the Rodopi Mountains – the range that, in shaping the south of the country, forms much of its border with Greece.
How to do it: Exodus Travels (020 3733 4996; exodus.co.uk) takes to the trail with its Rodopi Mountains group tour, from £1,399pp, including flights. The eight-day trip follows an ancient Roman road to the Buinovo Gorge, and hikes to the top of the range’s second tallest peak, Golyam Snezhnik (7,178 ft/2,188m)
Romania
Whether or not you include what would be the region’s biggest country on the Balkan roll call (all 92,000 square miles of it), Romania is an inquisitive traveller’s dream. Forever associated with Dracula, its allure goes far beyond the vampiric trope. Bucharest is haunted by the ghosts of communism in the Palace of the Parliament (the vast structure ordered by dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu), but revels in the nickname “Paris of the East” in its broad boulevards.
Elsewhere, Sibiu and Sighisoara are medieval delights – the latter’s Old Town is listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site. And, if Bran Castle contributes to the old blood-sucking yarn (it is loosely connected to Dracula inspiration, Vlad the Impaler), it does so with such turreted flair that you can forgive the cliché.
How to do it: Cox & Kings (0330 162 1944; coxandkings.co.uk) ticks off each of these locations with its 10-day Timeless Romania itinerary, from £1,695pp, including flights