Plitvice lakes, Montenegro, Sarajevo, Albania

Tour of the Balkans: from the Black Sea coast in Bulgaria, passing the castles of Transylvania and the famous Transfăgărășan road in Romania, to Hungary in Budapest and Lake Balaton. Going down to Croatia between the Plitvice lakes and the blue sea, the Bosnian mountains and the beautiful Sarajevo, the unique landscapes of Montenegro and Albania.

☛ ITINERARY HELPFUL TIPS CROAZIA PLITIVICE LAKES ŽELJAVA SARAJEVO MONTENEGRO ALBANIA

Croazia: the Capital Zagreb

Tunnel Gric, Cathedral, Art Pavillion

Zagreb is the capital of Croatia with about 800 thousand inhabitants. The city is divided into two parts: Gornji grad (the upper town and the medieval heart) and Donji grad (the lower town); there is also a funicular connecting them since 1890.

A unique attraction of the city is the Grič Tunnel, 350 meters long used today as a pedestrian passage under the Grič district (open from 9 am to 9 pm). This tunnel was built between 1943 and 1944 as a bomb shelter and could hold up to 5,000 people; however the costs were very high and it was much criticized. After the war the tunnel was abandoned and became half for the homeless and toxic. In the 90s it returned to the front pages of the newspapers thanks to the first raves that were organized inside; electronic music was in its infancy and the tunnel was the perfect place, some evenings it hosted up to 3,000 people and they had to put awnings over the equipment for the condensation that was created inside. The success of the raves was also due to the Indipendeza war that Croatia was going through (1991-94) and the tension of the inhabitants was eased for a few hours by the music. In that same period the tunnel was again used as an air raid shelter. Now it has been restored and inside you can still see some old writings on the walls.

Nearby are: the Museum of Interrupted Relations (but our friends did not suggest it to us and we did not enter), the Cathedral, the ancient stone door, the square of San Marco, the government and parliament building. The alleys of the historic center are vibrant with life with restaurants, musicians, lights and places to drink during the day and in the evening.

We didn't go but they also suggested the Art Pavillion; the complex of gardens and buildings of the Horseshoe of Lenuzzi and the Tower of Lotrscak among the most talked about ancient defense sites and from where a cannon shot is fired every day at noon.

The cemetery and garden of Mirogoj (symbol of religious tolerance where there are no confessional divisions), Jarun with the beach on the lake, in Britanski square the vintage and antiques stalls, the designed fountains scattered around the city and the reproduction of the solar system in staircase with spheres of different sizes (for example Venus is small and is located in Jelačić Square on the wall of a building).

Curiosity: the ties became famous thanks to the French aristocrats but made their first appearance on the uniforms of Croatian soldiers in the Hundred Years War.

The souvenir to take is the handcrafted red heart, symbol of friendship and love.

Croazia: Plitvice lakes

Plitvice lakes eand the former military base of Željava

As a starting point and accommodation we choose Promaja, a group of small houses on the hill and the perfect area to reach the P3 entrance. This entrance is less frequented by tourists and allows you to park near the entrance without paying; moreover, in 10/15 minutes on foot you can reach the boat to visit the Upper Lakes and in less than 45 minutes you will arrive at the Great Waterfall.

Plitvice Lakes (in Croatian Plitvička jezera) were the first National Park of the Republic of Croatia, created on April 8, 1949. There are 16 lakes on an area of ​​33,000 hectares, connected by waterfalls and formed by the Korana River. The waters are rich in calcite microcrystals coming from the dissolution of the rocks and create a unique phenomenon here: they merge with the algae and aquatic mosses forming layers of travertine that settle into real tufaceous barriers thanks to which the lakes are created. The conformation can change over time and you can also see a lost lake along the way

Official website: https://np-plitvicka-jezera.hr/it/ where you can buy tickets in advance (recommended in August), read the access rules, plan the itinerary with online maps, discover the historical and natural heritage of the park and its surroundings.

Walking tip:

From P3 take the boat to P2. Take the route around the Upper Lakes up to ST3.

Take the train that leads to ST2, go towards P1 to take the walking path that runs along the lake to Entrance 1. Or arrive with the train to ST1 to walk less. Get off at the Great Waterfall and go up the Lower Lakes towards P3.

The ticket price includes boats and trains to get around.

We wanted to enjoy the park calmly over 2 days, but if you have little time and are good walkers, 1 full day may be enough to see the Great Waterfall, the Lower and Upper Lakes.

There are kiosks inside but they are expensive and it is better to bring water and food from outside.

Croazia: former military base of Željava

The Željava air base is located close to the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and was the largest underground airport and military air base in Yugoslavia and one of the largest in Europe.

Its code name was "Objekat 505", built between 1948 and 1968, it was designed to withstand a direct hit from a nuclear bomb equivalent to that of Nagasaki. It had a great strategic defense role: it established secure communication with a nationwide alert radar network and contained tunnels with full fighter squadrons.

The tunnels had a total length of 3.5 kilometers and the bunker had 4 entrances with 100-ton pressurized doors, three of which customized with the shape of the wings for fixed-wing aircraft immediately ready to take off on the 5 available runways.

The air base was used intensively during the Yugoslav wars in 1991. At the time of the withdrawal, the Yugoslav People's Army destroyed the runway and the prefabricated buildings with explosives; subsequently the Serbian army in 1992 completed the destruction by detonating 56 tons of explosives to prevent possible use of the Croatian and Bosnian-Herzegovinian forces. Residents of nearby villages said smoke continued to rise from the tunnels for six months after the explosion. (cit wikipedia.org).

This stage has gone from a dark travel destination to a trend on Istangram for all European bikers.

How to get there: you have to set 'Aerodrom Željava' on google maps to reach the wreck of the military plane. You can go inside and take the usual photos on the wings. Next to it there is a small road that seems to end in the woods, while instead it leads to the slopes and to the 3 airplane-shaped entrances. Everyone looks out at the tunnels and has fun throwing the bike or car on the main track .. it is a fantastic and surreal experience to travel the track with the motorcycle (and not from the usual seat on the plane) and get to the end without taking off.

Inside the tunnels: the area is still at risk for unexploded landmines in the vicinity, so it is not recommended to leave the roads and paths already marked. Inside, too, you have to be very careful because walls could collapse at any moment.

We went into the main gallery up to where we could light up with smartphone torches and we saw walls opened by the explosions with the iron structure coming out, an armored door, rubble and scrap metal. We saw a small group entering the dark darkness armed with torches. We have read that almost all of them are in a dead end, one goes up to the elevator that led to the control tower in the middle of the mountain. On this site you can see the map of the slopes, the photos of the past, the videos and the explorations carried out: http://www.zeljava-lybi.com/Zeljava-index2_eng.html

Croazia: Spalato coast

Sebenico, Primošten, Spalato, Brella, Macarsca

The road from Plitivce to Sibenik is truly magnificent because it passes between the Paklenica National Park mountain range, between the two seas that look like lakes and the Krka National Park. On the coast the road is even more beautiful and close to the sea, leaving us admire the villages and coves.

Sibenik, like other villages along this stretch of coast, has an Italian-Venetian style in the shape of the buildings and the old town and feels like home; this is due to the domination under the Republic of Venice for almost 4 centuries. In Sibenik there are two buildings declared Unesco heritage in the historic center.

We continue towards Primosten (or Capocesto), another beautiful village that stretches towards the sea with the marina, the small church on the hill and the beaches and which still maintains the atmosphere of an ancient fishing village.

We continue towards Spalato, Split in Croatian, whose name derives from Aspálathos which in ancient Greek meant spiny broom, a common shrub in the area. Today Split is a large busy and chaotic city on the sea, where ferries depart and arrive to Italy and the nearby islands (Lista, Brac, Lesina or Hvar. Diocletian in which different eras and styles merge and create a unique architectural framework. This Palace was of great importance in the development of the city: the capital of the Roman region of Dalmatia was nearby Salona, ​​but in 293 AD the Emperor Diocletian decided to build a massive fortress on the sea and this made the town grow up to reach 10,000 inhabitants.

We are staying in Radunica ul. a historic pedestrian street, where you can leave your motorbikes and perfect for touring the historic center.

From Split we follow the coast towards Makarska, another tourist destination famous for the Riviera. We stop at the beach of Duce and admire the coast and the mountain overlooking the sea from the panoramic point on the road with the usual photos of the motorcycle. We continue to Brella which we discover has been named one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe. Here the walk along the promenade connects 3 beaches Soline, Punta Rata, Podrače and you can also admire the symbol of Brella (the rock in the sea where beautiful trees grow). The walk takes 15 minutes and there are bars and kiosks to stop in the shade under the pines. The beach is magnificent and for the most part free, with incredible blue and clear water.

In the evening we stop in Promajana, where the lady of the residence makes us find the barbecue ready with lots of wine and cold cuts for the appetizer.

Bosnia Erzegovina: among the mountains

Natural park of Blidinje, Neretva bridge, Sarajevo

The border with Bosnia and Herzegovina is less than 40 km from Marcasca and Sarajevo at 3h30. The road to the border is hilly and the border looks like the end of the last town. Shortly after the border the landscape changes and becomes mountainous making us cross the Blidinje Nature Park. We stop at a viewpoint called Križevac to admire the valley then we descend towards the Blidinje jezero (an alpine lake at 1,185 m created by the retreat of a glacier about 2.5km wide and with an average depth of 1 meter). This area is beautiful, there are several cottages for summer and winter tourism for skiing.

Before arriving in Sarajevo we stop in Jablanica to see the Neretva bridge, famous for the WW2 battle. It was a railway bridge built in 1888 which was destroyed between 1 - 4 March 1943 by the Yugoslav partisans to stop the German advance. In just 18 hours, an improvised wooden pedestrian bridge was built to transfer people, partisans, refugees to the left bank and Mount Prenj between the snow and the cold. When the Germans arrived in Jablanica a few days later, they started building a new bridge on the site of the demolished one because they needed a railway and completed it in August of the same year. The bridge was used until 1968 with a steam locomotive, a copy of which is still on display. The bridge was again demolished in 1968 for the filming of the Oscar-nominated film "The Battle on the Neretva" by director Veljko Bulajić (who was not satisfied with the shooting and in the end preferred to use a model) and is what we see today. .

Sarajevo: Baščaršija, Sebilj fountaine, Srebrenica Exhibition, Latin bridge, Assassins Prima Guerra Mondiale, Tunnel D-B

Sarajevo is a beautiful city, we loved it and we will be back. Arriving by motorbike we observe the beauty of the typical mountain houses that surround it and how modern it is. Fabio came in 2005 and he remembered destroyed walls dotted with shot holes; now there are few of them and it appears modern and proud of its quick recovery.

We start to visit the historic center from the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and immediately to its left (the dentist's building) there is the Exhibition on the Srebrenica genocide where 8 thousand people died in 1995. We went in and we recommend it: it costs € 6 and serves about 1h30 to listen to the audio guide and watch the videos. It is the result of the work of a photographer who documented the siege of Sarajevo and the findings of the mass graves of Srebrenica. There are also raw photos that hint at the horror. There we discovered that not only had they killed all those poor people, but they had also created secondary and tertiary graves to hide the bodies and transported them with the bulldozers dismembering the corpses. The recognition process is still ongoing and thanks to the DNA of the survivors or the non-decomposed synthetic clothing they were able to give names and faces.

To the left of the Cathedral you arrive at the covered market, while to the right you go towards the Ottoman area of ​​Baščaršija, where there is the ancient covered bazaar, the low houses with clubs and shops (two streets in particular are inhabited by artists' shops and creatives of the city). In this district there is the mosque and madrasa Gazi Husrev-beg, from 1532 it is the largest mosque in the country and one of the main Ottoman complexes in the Balkans. Also nearby is the Meeting Of Cultures, a line in the street that represents where the West (with the modern Austro-Hungarian palaces and Christian churches) meets the East (with its mosques and colorful shops of Ottoman Turkey) respecting the differences of cultures and coexisting together. Before the Siege, Sarajevo was indeed a unique symbol of peaceful coexistence between cultures and different religions. Continuing through the narrow streets you can see the Sebilj wooden fountain built in the 18th century and reach the Town Hall and National Library, an imposing building of the Austro-Hungarian period in orange and yellow colors, which was severely hit during the Siege by a fire which destroyed entire collections and precious manuscripts inside.

On the other side of the river we visit the Emperor's Mosque and then we cross the Latin bridge at the end of which is the point where the Archduke and Prince of Austria Francesco Ferdinando and his wife Sofia were assassinated on June 28, 1914, act which started the First World War. On the wall of the building there are some period photos and a plate, while on the ground the footprints (for some more details click here)

Unfortunately, time is running out but there are so many museums and things to visit, such as the mountain where the Winter Olympics were played and where the snipers were stationed. A typical place to eat is Ćevabdžinica Mrkva famous for its cevapcici to go with bread and ayran.

Before leaving Sarajevo we take the bikes and move near the airport (about 20 minutes from the center) to see the Tunnel D-B (www.tunelspasa.ba). We recommend that you take the audio guide for € 1.50 (one per group is enough) and download the App first (there is free wifi but it is very slow). This small museum tells the story of the siege and the moments of enormous difficulty they had to experience from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996, the longest siege of a city in history. The citizens had found themselves without light, water, gas, food, medicine; for example, with a meal box used by the military they had to survive for a week and for the whole family or even improvised wood stoves with pots and junk. Imagine being in the 90s and at any moment returning to having nothing and being targeted by snipers as soon as you left the house.

This Tunnel was the hope of the city and the country. Built by the Bosnian military and engineer to reach the UN neutral zone without being killed by enemy fire that was stationed on the sides of the airport. It took 4 months and 4 days to create this 800m, 1.60m high and 1m wide tunnel that passed under the airport runway.

From here they were able to bring in food for survival and weapons for the resistance and allowed the heads of state to move and define the defense strategy. Only authorized people could pass through the tunnel and they brought back very heavy backpacks full of food with a superhuman and desperate effort. In the museum you can walk along a stretch of tunnel that has been preserved as a memorial; the rest of the tunnel is not passable because the wood and iron supporting it and the water coming from the numerous strata have collapsed.

We leave the museum but the head still remains there for several hours and we look at the houses with the holes of the machine guns in the houses of the villages we pass through.

The road to get to the border with Montenegro is a real challenge and we thank you for not having to do it in the rain because it would be impracticable. It is a mountain road with asphalted sections and stretches of land with holes and puddles; we also find several animals grazing such as sheep, cows and donkeys. This area, however, is famous for rafting on the Drina River and there are many beautiful campsites and rafting centers.

Montenegro: panoramic roads

Canyon of Piva, Monastery of Ostrog, Skadar lake, Antivari

The border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro is the most suggestive: the road in Bosnia is rough and full of earth, you pass the officer and you have to cross a long wooden bridge; crossed the bridge you are in Montenegro and the roads are beautiful new and asphalted.

We head towards Pluzine, passing through the Piva canyon and along the Panoramic Road that will take us to the Ostrog Monastery. It is something indescribable and magnificent: immense mountains and green open before us set in the intense blue of the lake.

Along with that of Piva and Tara Canyon, there are several scenic roads in Montenegro: the best are the one of the Bay of Kotor / from Kotor to Cetinje with the serpentine road of hairpin bends / from Plav to the village of Grebaje / from Podgorica to Lake Skadar / between the forests of Durmitor National Park and Tara Canyon / on the coast from Budva to Ulcinj.

The climb to reach the Ostrog Monastery seems endless, being on a motorbike we are lucky and they let us park at the top. The monastery belongs to the Serbian Orthodox Church and is one of the most important places of worship in the world after the tomb of Jesus and Mount Athos because it is capable of gathering all religions. Dedicated to San Basilio, his relics are still there and can be visited to ask for protection and care (we entered the chapel and found a priest holding a crying baby while he prayed fervently beside the relics). Even the vine shoot that comes from the rocks would be sacred and would help against infertility. Tradition has it that pilgrims walk the 3km walk from the lower monastery (where we celebrate masses) to the upper monastery, bringing gifts to the monks such as blankets, clothes and soap. We read that the road cuts curves and passes through the forest allowing you to reach the top in 25 minutes, but we didn't try.

We stay one night on Skadar Lake but the humidity is impressive. It is the largest lake in the Balkans and in Southern Europe with an area between 370 and 530 km2. We like the view around this huge lake, at times it looks like a river with water lilies and swamps but then it opens up majestically. They organize many boat trips and you can visit the monasteries scattered in different points.

We go down towards Antivari doing the paid tunnel (1 € 50) and unfortunately we skip the beautiful part of the coast of Sveti Stefan and Budva.

We stop at Sutomore beach but it is chaotic and the sea is dark, nothing to do with Croatia. We continue to Antivari (Bar), which owes its name because it is opposite to the Italian Bari. Here too the sea is not the best and neither is the modern center; instead, a tour of the old town with its narrow streets, Turkish-style houses and the old citadel is worthwhile.

The last piece of road to Albania and Shkodra is very beautiful between rocks and mountains.

Albania: northern cities

Scutari, Tirana, Berat,

After the border you can already see the difference from Montenegro and children come up to ask for food and money .. we give them the only thing we have, the tuc.

The first stop is Scutari, one of the oldest cities in Albania, with the Rozafa Castle overlooking the hill. The castle predates the Romans and was used by different dominations such as the Venetians and the Turks. After the Ottoman period it was transformed into a military base and in 1939, the Albanian garrison continued to resist refusing surrender and firing on the Italian army.

The entrance costs 400lek (3.50 €) and you park too close to the entrance, also to get on and off you have to be careful because the rocks are slippery. From the Castle you can enjoy a splendid view of the city, the river and the sea.

The road to Tirana is a nightmare: a long straight line, marked as a highway but which instead has only 2 races and 2 directions of travel. We are grateful to be on the motorbike and to be able to overcome the kilometer line of trucks and cars that do not abandon us for all the 100 km to the capital.

Albania is a country that still has to and can grow a lot, but Tirana looks like Italian Milan: modern with very tall skyscrapers and luxury cars. We stay at the Garden B&B in Rruga Kusuri, one of the best places of the whole holiday, an oasis of peace in the city jungle. The owner shows us the most important things to visit and where to eat.

Let's start with the food at Restorant Tymi in Rruga e Kavajës, excellent meat and beautiful location between guitars and vintage things.

We are about ten minutes from Skënderbej Square which with its buildings represents the different historical periods of Albania: the Et'hem Bejottomana mosque and the Clock Tower from the Ottoman period (1800); the town hall of Tirana, the puppet theater (1920) and the National Bank of Albania (1936) from the fascist period; the Palace of Culture; the national library; the Opera and Ballet theater of the 1960s; the 1979 Soviet-style Tirana International hotel on the site of an Orthodox church, razed to the ground by the regime (the Albania of the Soviet dictator Enver Halil Hoxha was a secular state and enshrined in the constitution); the National Historical Museum from 1981 and the new Orthodox cathedral from the 2000s.

Near the square there are: the tomb of the last Turkish ruler in Albania called Monument i Kapllan Pashes; the area of the Castle from the Ottoman era of which a wall remains, now home to craft shops and restaurants; Bunk'Art 2 history museum inside a communist-era nuclear bunker.

We go down the Boulevard, passing next to the Pyramid which is still undergoing renovation, to the office of the Albanian president 'Presidenca e Republikës' and arriving at the Fascist-style Polytechnic University.

We wander around the Blloku district famous for nightlife and luxury shopping with boutiques and trendy clubs, but at midnight everyone is already closing (discover also in other cities that from the covid the music after midnight is turned off and the nightlife stops ). This neighborhood in the communist era was inhabited exclusively by the party elite and was guarded by the secret services; the villa of Enver Hoxha still stands today.

Bunker curiosity: Hoxha was worried about possible attacks from neighboring states and had 170,000 bunkers built throughout Albania (250 thousand were planned) on the coast, in cities, cemeteries, house gardens ... the idea was to train the people to urban warfare so that it was ready in case of an attack. These were used only in the period of anarchy of 1997, then abandoned and used as stables, makeshift houses and some as a museum (in Tirana) or cafeteria (in Gjirokaster).

Let's visit the cultural city par excellence of Albania: Berat.

The road by motorbike to get there is not magnificent but there is one unique thing: you can see the oil extraction wells in the fields and in the gardens of the houses; at first we are incredulous but it is really them and they gush black liquid and stink of fuel. Passing through the countryside we see many gentlemen whizzing on old scooters without helmets, or on motorized or even wooden caretti pulled by horses.

Berat comes from the Slavic "Bel-grad" (white city) and had the same name as the Serbian homonymous. It is one of the oldest Albanian cities, founded by the Illyrians, conquered by the Turks, which became an autonomous lordship with the Principality of Berat then annexed to the Ottoman Empire. The long Turkish domination is reflected in the buildings in the historic center that make Berat, the city of windows, unique.

The historic center is divided into three districts: Kalaja (Castle), Mangalem (below the Castle) and Gorica (on the left bank of the Osum river).

We advise you to start from the Castle and park directly on it because the climb is long and steep; this area has been restored and very well cared for. The Mangalem area, on the other hand, is undergoing renovations and the roads are all construction sites. We also liked Gorica a lot where most of the buildings are still standing in the past with ruined wooden beams and rough roads as they once were.

Albania: the turquoise sea of the south

Valona, Dhermi, Gjpe Beach, Porto Palermo, Saranda, Argirocastro, Syri i Kalter, Ksamil, Butrinto

From Berat we descend towards the sea passing through the archaeological site of Apollonia and arrive up to Valona, ​​a former Italian colony now in Miami style, where we rest for an hour between coffee, Muradie Mosque and Vlora Old Town.

We continue the road passing next to the Karaburun peninsula, famous for its beautiful beaches that can only be reached by boat, and cross the Llogara National Park: from the sea we find ourselves in a few kilometers in the high mountains in the cool, here there are walks to do, camping and restaurants in the forest. We emerge out of the forest and the SH8 road opens onto a magnificent coastal landscape and a serpentine of hairpin bends in the barren mountain, one of the most beautiful roads ever. We stop to take pictures in the various panoramic points.

Below us is Dhermi, a small, elegant seaside resort with a wonderful sea. Here they are building huge residences and hotels .. it is strange to be in a chic place with giant concrete next to it and rough and unpaved roads. There is still a lot of duality but in 5 years it will be a super popular place.

We go to dinner at the Summer Dream Restaurant and the next day we cross the rock arch next to it and go down into the series of coves including the Palasa Beach, spread the towel and swim with a few strokes at OTI or Rozafa Bay. Here the water is like Croatia: transparent, clear and turquoise… the only difference is the garbage on the beach.

Our Albanian friend recommended the Gjpe Beach which is 20 minutes by motorbike + 20 on foot (under the sun but with a view of the sea and the bunkers). The beach is very nice and there are also two beach bars to eat something. Many have brought tents to sleep on the beach at night.

Continuing along the coast we can admire the fortress of Porto Palermo (there is only the fortress on the hill and the marina) and we arrive in Saranda, a popular tourist destination for several years. This is an Albanian Rimini, with a promenade full of shops and restaurants, illuminated boats where you can drink and dance, discos and the castle on the hill. Here, too, the music ends at midnight and we have to go to sleep early. In Saranda it is possible to do many boat excursions with 25-30 € that lead to the nearby beaches of the Pigeons and other famous ones.

Near Saranda there are two famous stops that we cannot miss. The first is Gjirokastra, also called a stone or silver town because its dark stone roofs shine after the rain. The city is divided between historic and modern and you can clearly see the difference in the style of the buildings. On the hill dominates the castle (400lek) and the ancient fortified citadel: inside there is little to visit like a military airplane, the sound of the waters of the ancient cisterns but the view over the city and the bunker tunnel under the castle is worth it . Unfortunately, we are unable to visit the Skenduli House, an example of an Ottoman fortress house (400lek). In this city was born the dictator Hoxha and a famous Albanian writer.

At 40 minutes there is Syri i Kaltër, a tourist attraction that we had not recommended but which we tried anyway. Once it was supposed to be a natural paradise, but now with the concrete road under the sun it has lost its magic (2o good minutes of walking between ascent and descent with bar and restaurant on arrival). This mountain spring with constant water at 10 degrees creates the famous blue eye; it would be forbidden to dive into the river but we - like all the tourists present - tried to overcome the cold of the river and cool off after the walk. Fabio was unable to resist and followed the brave to dive from the terrace directly into the source.

Last evening we spend it in Ksamil from which we had too high expectations. Here the beach is rocky and you are facing Corfu (in fact you can see the ferries to Igoumenitsa). We take a bath, watch the sunset and go to dinner. It is extremely touristy and they try to be crafty both in the restaurant and in the hotels.

Curiosity: in Albania there are people sitting on the street with signs to rent their apartments, others who move smiling and happy on mules with wooden saddles and blankets, others who grill corn on the cob to sell them to passers-by ... a dip in the 50s !

We decide to skip the archaeological park of Butrint but we choose to pass by to try a singular experience: the passage from one bank to the other pulled by a wooden raft, fantastic !!

We arrive at the border and this too passes very fast so we go back to Greece and go back to Thessaloniki .. while our friends stop halfway to see Meteora.

Helpful tips:

- Navigator for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania because the European internet connection does not work

- Albania check hotel photos a thousand times because they are retouched or put photos of other rooms

- Motorway: Croatia pays at the toll booth, Bosnia and Herzegovina we found only a small stretch to Sarajevo (the rest is still under construction) and pays at the toll booth, Albania is a freeway and you don't pay.

- Currency: Croatia the KUNA (1 € - 7,58k) but they also accept euros; Bosnia (1 € - 1.95 km nicknamed kilometers) is easy to pay with the card but we changed some money to buy souvenirs in the historic center (lower commissions than ATM), Montenegro Euro, Albania LEK (1 € - 117lek) but they also accept euros.

Must places:

Plitvice lakes and Brella in Croazia, Sarajevo, Canyon of Piva in Montenegro, Berat in Albania

Itinerary

Click here to see the map or use it during the trip