Sarajevo to Kotor by bus, five countries in eighteen days, with every fare, border crossing and bed price written down. Total on the ground, £486.
Buses in the Balkans are cheap, frequent and unglamorous. Nobody sells this route as a package, which is exactly why it costs £486 for eighteen days instead of the £1,400 a tour operator will quote you for the same towns.
This is the loop I ran: Sarajevo, Mostar, Belgrade, Pristina, Skopje, Ohrid, Podgorica, Kotor. Five countries, nine bus legs, no flights between them.
The route and every fare
| Leg | Hours | Fare | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sarajevo to Mostar | 2.5 | £8 | Sit right for the Neretva |
| Mostar to Belgrade | 9 | £22 | Night bus, one border stop |
| Belgrade to Pristina | 7 | £14 | Serbian exit stamp matters, see below |
| Pristina to Skopje | 2 | £5 | Runs hourly |
| Skopje to Ohrid | 3 | £7 | Book the morning one |
| Ohrid to Podgorica | 9 | £21 | Night bus through Albania |
| Podgorica to Kotor | 2 | £6 | Slow coastal road |
| Kotor to Dubrovnik airport | 2.5 | £11 | Border queue in summer |
Bags in the hold cost £1 to £1.50 extra, cash, handed to the driver. Nobody warns you about this and it happens on almost every leg.
The border rule that catches people
If you enter Kosovo from Serbia and then try to re-enter Serbia later, Serbia may treat your Kosovo entry as an illegal crossing because it does not recognise the border as international. Do the loop in one direction, as above, and exit Kosovo south into North Macedonia. That single ordering decision avoids the whole problem.
Beds
£11 a night on average. Hostels in Sarajevo, Belgrade and Skopje are £9 to £12 for a dorm. In Kotor and Ohrid, private rooms from a family house cost £16 to £20 and are better value than the hostels, especially outside July.
Book two nights ahead in shoulder season, and a week ahead for Kotor in July or August.
Food
Burek and yoghurt for breakfast is £1.60 and holds until mid afternoon. A cevapi plate with bread and onion is £4. A litre of beer in Belgrade is £2. In Kotor old town, prices double, so eat in Dobrota, ten minutes' walk north.
Daily food average across the whole loop, £7.
What each stop is actually for
- Sarajevo, three nights. The Tunnel of Hope museum, the old bazaar, and the best coffee ritual in Europe. Walk the Yellow Fortress at sunset for free.
- Mostar, one night. Beautiful and overrun by day trippers between 10am and 5pm. Stay the night and you get the bridge to yourself at 7am.
- Belgrade, three nights. Kalemegdan fortress, Savamala bars, and the cheapest nightlife on the route.
- Pristina, two nights. Blunt, young, cheap. The Newborn monument and the National Library are worth the stop.
- Skopje, two nights. Strange statues, good food, and the base for Matka Canyon at £3 by public bus.
- Ohrid, three nights. A lake you can swim in and a churchful of frescoes. Cheapest sunset on the route.
- Kotor, four nights. Climb the fortress walls before 8am when the £4 fee is uncollected and the heat is bearable.
Night buses, honestly
Two of the nine legs were overnight. They save a bed each time, about £11, and cost you a day of usefulness. The seats recline a little, the aircon runs cold, and the driver stops at 3am for a smoke break at a petrol station. Take earplugs, a jumper and your own water. If you are new to overland travel, read the packing section in how to plan an international trip.
What I would change
Drop Podgorica. It is a transit town and one night there bought nothing. Add that night to Sarajevo or Ohrid.
Book Kotor accommodation earlier. Every bed under £20 in the old town was gone three days out.
FAQs
How much does a Balkan bus trip cost? £486 for eighteen days on the ground, not counting flights into Sarajevo and out of Dubrovnik. That is £27 a day.
Do I need to book Balkan buses in advance? Only for night buses and for the Kotor coastal leg in summer. Everything else you can buy at the station an hour before.
What currencies do I need? Convertible mark in Bosnia, dinar in Serbia, euro in Kosovo, Montenegro and for most Ohrid guesthouses, denar in North Macedonia. Keep small notes for bus toilets and bag fees.
Is the Balkans safe for solo travellers? Yes. Petty theft is the main risk and it is low. Landmine warning signs in rural Bosnia are real, so stay on marked paths outside towns.
Which direction should I travel the loop? North to south as listed, so you exit Kosovo into North Macedonia rather than back into Serbia.
Is eighteen days enough? It is enough to see all eight stops without rushing more than one of them. Fourteen days works if you cut Pristina and Podgorica.
More costed routes in best countries to visit on a budget and three weeks in Georgia. If this is your first trip out of the country, start with best destinations for first time travellers. Everything else sits in the dispatch index and on the travel map. The newsletter carries one field note a month, and route questions go through the contact page.
Booking the buses
Three tools cover the whole route. GetByBus and BalkanViator show timetables and prices for most operators, and the station ticket window sells the same seat for the same money without a booking fee. Flixbus runs the Sarajevo to Belgrade and Skopje to Sofia corridors and is worth the extra pound for a working toilet on the longer legs.
Stations charge a small platform or bag fee in local cash. Keep coins.
Packing for eighteen days of buses
- A 30 to 40 litre bag you can keep on your lap on shorter legs.
- Earplugs and an eye mask, non negotiable for night buses.
- A one litre bottle. Station water costs three times shop prices.
- A jumper for aircon and a scarf for mosques and monasteries.
- Paper cash in three currencies, small notes.
Where the route can go wrong
Border queues in July at the Montenegro and Croatia crossings run to two hours. Build a spare day before any flight home. Ferry and bus strikes are rare but do happen in Montenegro in high season, and the fallback is a shared taxi to Dubrovnik for around £25 a seat.
Two side trips worth adding
- Matka Canyon from Skopje, £3 by city bus 60, a two hour walk along the gorge and a kayak for £5 an hour.
- Ostrog Monastery from Podgorica, a shared minibus for £8 return, a cliff face church that most tour buses reach at midday and empty by 4pm.
Best months to run it
May, June, September and early October. July and August double coastal accommodation prices and bring the border queues. In winter, buses still run but Ohrid and Kotor mostly close down.