A Journey Through the Balkans: Discovering Three Countries in One Trip

Oct 2

6 min read

Liz and I have wanted to explore the Balkans for a while. There is a lot that appeals to that area and past trips really made us want to go more.

The Balkans region consists of approximately nine countries, and on this trip, we visited Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Croatia. We flew into and out of Dubrovnik and rented a car to travel between these destinations.

Bosnia & Herzegovina

The first important point about this trip is that Bosnia and Montenegro are not members of the European Union or the Schengen Area. This means that each time we crossed a border, we had to stop for a passport and car information check. Similar to many other European countries, both Bosnia and Montenegro require a vignette to drive a car. Fortunately, our car rental company, Hertz, handled all of this during check-in. However, it's something to keep in mind.

The drive from Dubrovnik to Mostar, where we stayed, took approximately 2.5 hours. The journey wasn't ideal, mainly consisting of winding rural roads with virtually no gas stations or amenities along the way.

Mostar though was great. A very small historic town with a scenic river that goes through the middle.

The old town is pretty small but is spans both sides of the river. This was not very stroller friendly, not only are there steps around the bridge but the cobble stones are very bumpy.

Also once the "day trippers" show up in their bus loads there wont be room to move anywhere near the bridge. So if you go get there early. We walked around at 9 am and had the bridge to ourself. I think 10 am is when the tour groups start showing up. If you look closely in my pictures you can see the bridge is full of people.

An important tip for Bosnia and the surrounding region is to carry cash. Many places only accept cash. Additionally, the cost of living is lower, so something that might cost over 12 euros in Central Europe could be just 4-5 euros here.

There is also a strong muslim community and influence here. you can tell by some of the architecture, the food has a lot of mixed grills, and they even play the call to prayer here.

Day Trip: Kravica Waterfalls

One of the biggest draws to Bosnia is all of the waterfalls and what the rugged terrain brings. The best ones were about a 3+ hour drive away, but the ones we went to were just under an hour, and they did not disappoint. These are also just inside of the Bosnia border from Croatia.

The water was absoutely freezing but of course landon still played in it. They have a great setup down at the bottom, several bars and places to eat overlooking the waterfalls and even down on the beach area. There are also chairs you can rent.

On our drive back, we noticed a castle perched on a hill, so we decided to stop and explore it. We honestly felt like we weren't supposed to be there because there were a few men working on renovations. It was clear they were putting in a lot of effort to make it look great one day. But a cool quick stop with some views.

We stayed 3 nights in Bosnia at Villa Cardak. Its run but this couple that lives on the bottom floor and we do highly recommend, espeically getting a room with a balcony. Its very small but it was great and right in old town. Parking is tricky and finding it for the first time but they will park your car for you, just have to let them know when you book.

Montenegro

From Bosnia we had about a 2.5-3 hour drive to Herceg Novi, Montenegro. This town is at the start of the Bay Of Kotor and really you can stay anywhere in the bay and it would be fantastic. Logistically this was best because it was one of the closer towns for less of a drive this day and when we left to go back to Dubrovnik.

I am going to be bold and say Liz and I may recommend going to the Bay Of Kotor over the Amalfi Coast. Crazy I know.

While the Amalfi Coast in Italy is goregous and has a lot to offer, it will also be much more expensive and crowded. The Bay Of Kotor is really awesome and has so many small towns all around the bay you can get to by car or boat.

Definitely a bit of a hot take, but I think for bang for your buck, go with Bay of Kotor. And to illustrate my point further i asked ChatGPT to do a cost analysis breakdown:

Example Scenarios

Here are two roughly comparable trip budgets (for 1 week, mid‑range style, one person) to illustrate:

Amalfi Coast (Mid‑Range, 1 week):
- Accommodation (~€180/night) × 6 nights = ~ €1,080
- Food/drinks ~ €70/day × 7 = ~ €490
- Transport around coast / ferry / bus ~ €50‑100
- totalActivities & tours ~ €100‑200
- totalMisc (souvenirs, small extras) ~ €50‑100
- Estimate total (excluding flights): ~ €1,750‑€1,900
Bay of Kotor (Mid‑Range, 1 week):
Accommodation (~€60‑€80/night) × 6 nights = ~ €360‑€480
Food/drinks ~ €40/day × 7 = ~ €280
Local transport / small inter‑town travel ~ €30‑€70
totalActivities & tours ~ €50‑€150
totalMisc ~ €40‑€80
Estimate total (excluding flights): ~ €750‑€1,100

So for that style, Kotor could cost about half to two‑thirds as much as Amalfi, depending on choices.

Liz and I went on a Mediterranean cruise for our honeymoon and visited Kotor, which I believe was our favorite stop on the entire trip, alongside Venice.

Kotor Circa 2017

Anyway, so we stayed in Hercig Novi at Hotel Kredo. Had an amazing view of the bay, ate some good seafood and did a long walk along the water to town. Really chill, very aforabale and scenic. Lots of little beaches along the water that are open to public or you can pay for a chair at some.

Dubrovnik

As well known as Dubrovnik was there was surprisingly little to do unless you were getting on a boat and doing to the islands. Which to be fair are very appealing and we considered it but decided against it.

This part of the trip was more so for Landon than anyone. We stayed at Valamar Tirena Hotel, which is about 10 minutes away from Old Town. The reason being, this is very family-friendly; they have a huge two-level indoor play area, a shallow pool, and its own trampoline park area. Everything a 3.5-year-old energetic boy needs.

Plus there are like five restaurant's right around the property so we didn't have to really worry about food which is always a HUGE to do when traveling.

We of course went into old town and walked the city wall. This is the main attraction and for good reason, we highly recommend it but just do it as early as possible. tour groups will start flooding in and even regular people will be there early, not to mention up on the walls it can get hot.

There are three conveniently spaced shaded spots along the wall where you can get a drink and a snack, which is a plus.

I took many more pictures, which are available on my Instagram. I'll definitely be putting them on canvas.

Dubrovnik is unique because it is shaped like a college football stadium. Open at two ends, but the sides go way up. All of the side streets are cool and filled with places to eat and get drinks. And of course, plenty of Game of Thrones things since this is where King's Landing places were filmed.

I would definitely advise against visiting Dubrovnik during the hotter months. We visited towards the end of September, and the temperature was around 80 degrees, which wasn't too bad. However, summer can be much hotter and more crowded.

That concludes our trip through three Balkan countries. I must admit, we didn't make the most of our time, but both Liz and I managed to do a lot of reading (we actually finished two books, each around 300 pages). Although there's a slight sense of regret, the region is quite spread out with winding roads and awful parking situations.

Combine that with a 3.5-year-old who has decided to stop napping, resulting in a lot of downtime due to his volatile nature.

Important notes

Bosnia and Montenegro are not in the Schengen area so you will have to do border crossings
Bosnia and Montenegro both require vignettes for the cars
Parking at all three hotels was not a given and spaces are very limited so research ahead of time if they even have parking and reserve it early.
Old towns like Dubrovnik and even some in the Bay of Kotor you can't drive in at all; you have to park outside and walk.
Bosnia is a bit rough around the edges and underdeveloped than the other nations but the people are super nice.
Bring Cash! I would say minimum 100 euro, safer to have 200.