Cost: Is the Balkans a Budget Traveler's Dream?

We know that everyone spends differently, and a budget can be extremely variable; however, after leaving an area, we want to provide some perspective on the cost associated with staying there for anyone interested in doing a similar trip.  Our budget of $150/day (we started with a lower target range of $100 but we are obviously nowhere close to that!) is for 2 people and does not include the $10,000 round-the-world flights (plus trip insurance) already paid for.  The budget also does not account for the bills we are continuing to pay at home.  The bulk of our budget allows for low-to-mid-range lodging in hostels, budget hotels, or guesthouses for a target of $60/double; meals/drinks; use of public transportation; and cost to do some sightseeing and/or activities.  At $150/day, we have found we are not depriving ourselves from any experiences; except that, as foodies, we aren't as liberal with our budget on finding the best and trendiest restaurants (which we haven't missed at all).  An article titled, "Set Your Daily Number" by the veteran travel bloggers from Married With Luggage confirms that a daily average is a simple strategy for setting and meeting a budget.  We've got in the habit of taking a few minutes to record our daily expenditure so we can make small adjustments along the way.

23-DAYS IN THE BALKANS
The least researched part of our itinerary was the Balkans region.  We planned on just "winging it", once we got there.  Therefore, we had no idea what the cost would be to travel through this region.  With a strong Western European influence, we anticipated higher prices; but also hoped for lower costs since these are still emerging countries with less developed tourism. 

The reality?  Reasonable lodging costs, cheap food, bargain wines, and even cheaper beers.  So, we were shocked to discover that we were actually OVER-budget in the Balkans!!  How could that be?  We were so proud of having so many days where we spent less than $150, but apparently the few budget-busting days in Croatia put us over.  Regardless, at an average of $160/day, we fully experienced the Balkans without feeling like we skimped on anything, so it was worthwhile.  

We spent 7 days in Croatia; 4 days in Bosnia and Hercegovina; 3 days in Serbia; 7 days in Macedonia; and 2 days in Bulgaria.  If we were on a stricter budget, we would've limited our time in Croatia to just a couple of days since it was the most expensive place in the Balkans.  Instead, Macedonia was a cheap place to hang out, where we stayed in nice accommodations, ate good meals, and indulged in bottles of wine for hardly anything.  Even the most touristed Lake Ohrid was a steal.  

Overall, the Balkans can be done on a budget even less than ours, and is a great budget destination for an authentic experience in a less traveled region.  

Weirdest Bus Ride from Skopje to Sofia, Ever

On our next journey across the Balkans, we boarded a 5-hour bus ride to Sofia, Bulgaria.  The bus was nice enough, clean, and comfortable.  The scenery was cloudy and rainy across the beautiful landscapes of the Balkans countryside. 

However, by the looks of him, we think the bus driver was either very sick, very hungover, or still half-drunk.  This didn't seem too far fetched after we witnessed a group of bus personnel in uniform at the Ohrid bus station the other day, doing shots of brandy with their espressos at 7 in the morning!  We have no idea if they were off-duty (we hope) or not, but it didn't leave a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Back to our bus headed to Sofia...

Skopje, Macedonia: Small But Worth Passing Through

Memorial House for Mother Teresa, honoring her accomplishments.  She was born in Skopje to Albanian parents when it was still part of the Ottoman Empire.  

We are sorry that our initial impression of Skopje was negative, citing it as "sketchy and third-world". We couldn't help but feel this way when our first welcome was the scary and rundown train terminal and getting accosted by taxi drivers while we were still disoriented as we got out into an industrial looking part of town.

5-Days of R&R at Lake Ohrid, Macedonia

People around here call Lake Ohrid, the Macedonian Riviera, as it's the closest Macedonia will ever get to having a coastline.  The lake is one of the oldest and deepest in Europe, sharing it with Albania on the southwestern side.  It appears many Europeans have discovered this beautiful lake getaway so the small town is quite built-up with hotels and restaurants to accommodate the tourists.  Fortunately for us, we got here just in time to see the August holiday crowd pack-up and go home, leaving us to enjoy the serenity of the crystal clear waters surrounded by the Dinaric Alps mountain range undisturbed, except for a few lingering retirees. 

Quirks and Difficulties of Traveling Through the Balkans

From Sarajevo, we literally didn't have an exit plan because we couldn't make a decision on which direction to head.  We thought about going south towards Mostar, Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH), then Montenegro, then Albania, but we found out that Albania does not allow public transportation to cross its borders from some of the other Balkan states.  It didn't sound like something we wanted to hassle with.

We considered taking a more off-the-beaten-path route, but again, cross-country transportation outside of major cities is sparse and lodging unreliable.  

We really wanted to raft down the super-deep Tara Canyon river in Montenegro, then go east through Kosovo, then Serbia, but getting to and out of Tara Canyon sounded like it would take many extra days.  Also, we're very glad we didn't do this route because Serbia would not have allowed entry had we gone through Kosovo first.  It has to do with territorial disputes about Serbia's claim over Kosovo, and it's complicated, but Serbia considers going through Kosovo first, an illegal border crossing.

Basically, we've considered several different itineraries each time, but most are eliminated due to transportation or border crossing issues.  The places we've been during the past 2 weeks represent the path of least resistance.