One month on the road, 9570 km in total, ten border crossings in six republics of what used to be one country. Hosted by local friends around half of the time, so not just went there, but we lived it. As a 1980 Yugoslav song goes, we went “from the Vardar to the Triglav, from Ðerdap to the Adriatic”.
This was an unforgettable trip, without a big budget, without flying on a plane, without leaving Europe. It was some time ago, but still worth remembering and telling others.
This is not going to be a tour guide of six countries, but the point is to share an amazing experience with you. We have been to many of these places before and/or after this trip, but this was my best time there. More detailed guides of these beautiful places will follow.
Let’s drive!
Why travelling to Yugoslavia?
The Western Balkans are a fascinating region. Located in the heart of Europe, where two empires and world visions clashed during all the Modern Age – Austria-Hungary (and Venice) on one side, and the Ottoman Empire.
You will still see this cultural intermingling, the mixture of Eastern and Western Mediterranean and Central Europe. You can visit amazing historical cities, beautiful coastal and mountain landscapes and meet the most passionate and hospitable people in Europe.
Personally, I had always been interested in former Yugoslavia. Maybe because of the deep impression the wars in the 90s left us or because of their great football and basketball players. I loved Croatia when I visited it in 2004, before its coast became a touristic hotspot full of cruisers and lost so much in the process.
The previous year I had done an exchange in Belgrade and had the time of my life. I could travel a bit in Serbia and hitch-hiked to Bosnia for a couple of days too, but that was not enough.
I wanted to travel all Yugoslavia, but it was too much driving by myself, so I had to convince someone to come with me: a university friend, to share the driving, and a cousin, who couldn’t drive but shared expenses, and I were the final party.
How did we go and move around former Yugoslavia?
So there we went in a Volvo 940 that used to belong to my parents, all the way from Madrid.
The trip had a lot of preparation, and I prioritised the places where I hadn’t been before, and meeting my friends. So the first thing I did was tell all my friends there about my idea. Some offered to host us or to help us with accommodation.
My GPS didn’t have a Western Balkans map available, so I bought an old-style printed map.
International driving licence and car insurance to travel in the Western Balkans
We got our international driving licences, just in case.
What is really important to drive your car outside the EU is the international insurance (green card) – they always check it at the borders.
Actually, this was the reason why we couldn’t visit Kosovo. As it is not recognised by Spain, my car insurance didn’t cover us there.
Is it safe to travel to the Western Balkans?
Travelling in the Western Balkans is really safe – in all former Yugoslavia as well as in Albania.
When I arrived back home, many people asked me: “was it safe?” I answered “the least safe places we have been in all the trip were Nice and Béziers” on our way there. Seriously, all the Western Balkans (including Albania) are really safe for tourists.
Films to watch before the trip
Yugoslavia had very talented filmmakers and the tradition has continued after its breakup.
Its most famous director is Emir Kusturica, whose masterpiece Underground is a crazy allegory of the history of Yugoslavia from WWII to the Bosnian War. It is a must-see, but he has other really good films like Time of the gypsies.
Goran Paskaljević is not as famous, but at least as good. I recommend The elusive summer of ’68 and Honeymoons.
Milcho Manchevski’s Before the Rain (Pred Dozdot) is one of the best European films, about tensions between Albanians and Macedonians in the 1990s, bringing some hope.
Ademir Kenović’s The perfect circle (Savrseni krug) is a great film about the siege of Sarajevo, but it’s obviously quite tough too.
Books for the trip
Ivo Andrić is the only novelist who wrote in Serbo-Croatian to have won the Nobel prize. His best works are historical novels set in his native Bosnia: The bridge over the Drina and Travnik Chronicles.
BBC’s The Death of Yugoslavia is a must-read to understand the Croatian and Bosnian wars. There is also a documentary series, available in YouTube. I bought it in a bookshop in Sarajevo and started reading it during the trip.
How we arrived
We set off in the beginning of July, on a Monday, from Madrid. The first day, we covered over 1200 km and slept in Nice. The second day, we covered another 800 km to arrive in Trieste, a few kilometres from the Slovenian border.
Stage 1: Slovenia
We started our trip in Slovenia, a country I had never visited before. We got a room in a student dorm in Ljubljana that is open to guests during summer.
We stayed for 4 nights there, in order to explore the whole country. It is small and most places are connected by good modern motorways. Here we were still like any other tourist, as I didn’t know anyone in the area.
Slovenia is geographically not part of the Balkan Peninsula, and its architecture and landscape is profoundly Central European (Austrian, one might say). You can say Slovenia is still mainstream Europe. It is a lovely country, though, that you will enjoy very much whether you like alpine landscapes and lakes, or cities and old architecture.
Skočjan caves and Predjama castle
On our first day, we crossed the border and visited the Skočjan caves and Predjama castle, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites located between Trieste and Ljubljana. Skočjan is one of the most important karstic caves in the world.
Ljubljana
The next day we visited Ljubljana, the city of the dragon.
The Slovenian capital is really the cleanest and neatest city I have ever visited. Honest. And the uniform of its street sweepers looks more like that of waiters in a fine restaurant.
Its Baroque architecture reminiscent of Vienna and Prague is lovely and well-kept. Check our the triple bridge leading to the main square, it is certainly a unique sight, and always a bustling place!
After exploring the streets around that area and its beautiful architecture, we climbed up the castle, from which there is a fantastic view of the city.
While travelling around Slovenia, we always stayed the evening in Ljubljana. It’s lovely to go for a walk in its city centre, but we have to say that the nightlife was disappointing.
We hit the bars in Metelkova, the famous underground culture street, with amazing graffiti murals, and it was literally empty. On a Friday.
It’s true that it was the beginning of July and Slovenia was not so touristic then, so most students were probably not around. Anyway, we were surprised to see such a quiet atmosphere.
We did meet a couple of characters and had some beers in a bar with old bicycles hanging from the ceiling. It was a cool place, but it would’ve been more fun with at least another 10 people around.
Bled and Bohinj: Alpine lakes
On day 3 we went to Bled, one of the most iconic sights in Slovenia. It is a really beautiful and romantic place, with a castle on a rock overlooking a clear water lake.
Then, we drove to nearby Bohinj lake and had a bath there.
Kamnik & Novo mesto
Day 4 was Kamnik, a beautiful town just 25 km north of Ljubljana, and then Novo mesto. Honestly, it was the less interesting day in Slovenia, and especially, we could have skipped Novo mesto as there is much more to see there apart from this nice picture.
Finally, it was time to leave Slovenia and cross our first real border that used to be an internal border.
Ptuj & Maribor
But before leaving, we had two very beautiful places to see in Slovenia: Ptuj and its castle and Maribor, the second city of the country.
In Maribor’s main square (Glavni trg), in front of the city hall, there is a Baroque plague column, one of the most beautiful in Europe.
It was erected in 1681 to thank the Virgin Mary and other saints for the end of a bubonic plague epidemic (known as the Great Plague of Vienna) that arrived in Maribor in 1680 and killed around one third of its population.
After lunch in Maribor, we took the Volvo and drove all the way to Zagreb.
In Slovenia, we started a road trip tradition: buying music CDs on each of the countries we visited, which we listened to in the car. And we always crossed borders with traditional music on the radio.
Stage 2: Croatia, part 1. Zagreb and Slavonia
Zagreb
As I had recently visited Zagreb, I didn’t want to stay there for long. So we just made it one night.
We skipped beautiful Baroque Varaždin to the North and just visited the highlights of Zagreb’s gornji grad (upper town), like the famous Church of St. Mark, and had a short walk down the donji grad (lower town).
Zagreb for sure deserves at least a couple of days and it is a beautiful city (actually, my first time here we stayed for 4 days). We will talk more about it.
Then we took the Brotherhood and Union (Brastvo i Jedinstvo) motorway to drive to Belgrade.
This motorway was named after the official motto of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and cover the route Ljubljana-Zagreb-Belgrade-Skopje motorway, linking 4 of the 6 country’s republics.
Its name is kind of ironical when someone thinks what happened in the 1990s around here…
Vukovar: Travelling to the Croatian War
Anyway, we didn’t drive directly all the way to Belgrade, because there was a place on the way that is worth visiting to learn more about had happened in the Croatian War: Vukovar.
Vukovar is a city located at the confluence between the Vuka river and the Danube that was known as the “Baroque Pearl”, because of its sumptuous 18th century palaces. The Danube marks the border with Serbia and the city has a sizeable Serb minority.
But since the end of the 1980s things changed dramatically fast in Yugoslavia. In March and April 1991 inter-ethnic tensions in the area escalated really quickly. The Croatian parliament officially dissolved its association with Yugoslavia on 25 June 1991.
By the end of July, Vukovar was surrounded by Serb militias and the Yugoslav army (JNA), who tried to get hold of it. It is usually said that local Serbs (who had lived there for generations) were generally opposed to the attack, while newcomers and Serbs from other areas supported it.
The siege lasted for 87 days, at the end of which the militias and JNA occupied the city until 1995, which was incorporated into the breakaway Croatian Serb republic, Republika Srpska Krajina.
It was a pyrrhic victory, like most in those wars. The city was destroyed to a point that some compared it to Stalingrad.
Vukovar never received the media attention that Dubrovnik got, because it was not a famous touristic destination, even though the battle was much worse and had a real effect in the war. That also means that it didn’t get any UNESCO money for its reconstruction, so its beautiful Baroque buildings still bear the scars of the war.
After visiting this Baroque pearl turned into war scenario we took the Volvo to join the motorway and get to Belgrade. But first we had to cross the border. This was not just crossing the Danube, but driving a lonely road by the Danube for 40 km.
When we arrived at the border post, the sun was setting. Police officers on both sides were really surprised to see some young guys in a big old Volvo with a Spanish plate there.
It was the only time in all our trip that they asked us to open the trunk. Everything was fine, of course. The Serbian officer asked us where we were going and if we knew the way to Belgrade.
Stage 3: Serbia, part 1.
Belgrade
That evening we arrived in Belgrade. I know the city pretty well after living there for over a month. My friends arranged us really cheap accommodation in the dormitory I had stayed during my stay there the year before.
We stayed for a week in Belgrade, to visit the city, travel in Northern and Central Serbia, see all my friends there and enjoy the city’s bustling nightlife. Belgrade is a lot of fun, and even if it has become quite more touristic in the past 10 years it is still a very authentic destination.
We visited the main sights of Belgrade: Kalemegdan, its pedestrian “Austro-Hungarian” commercial Kneza Mihailova and surroundings, Zemun… and of course, the House of Flowers, Tito’s Mausoleum and Yugoslav History Museum.
Kalemegdan is a fortress that is now a public park. It also hosts some monuments and a zoo. It stands at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers, which are so wide there is a large island where they meet, providing an amazing location.
One night we went to a Belgrade classic – Korčagin kafana – with my friend Ivan and his friends who made reservations for us. A great time to talk about live and politics with people with differing views about the legacy of Yugoslavia.
The decoration is pure Yugoslav nostalgia: there is a 3D map of Yugoslavia in a star, and you can even wear old military helmets with the red star. There is live traditional Belgrade music, starogradske pesme (literally “old city songs”).
One can listen to starogradske pesme in many taverns in the city, and of course in Belgrade’s bohemian cobbled street – Skadarlija. This has become too touristic but it is still a must if you visit the Serbian capital.
But our nicest dinner with live music was really at Zlatar, a recommendation from one of my best friends there who knows his food. Great meat, good wine and lovely music in a more intimate and local atmosphere.
Keep tuned for our Belgrade city guide if you want to know more about the city. A city I have visited seven times, also together with Anida.
Another local experience we did was going to watch a Partizan football game. Champions League qualifiers, what you can watch in July, but a lot of fun in a relaxed atmosphere!
Vojvodina, what the Ottomans never conquered
On Day 8 we did a short Vojvodina road trip. This is an autonomous region in Serbia that stretches just North of Belgrade. It was never part of the Ottoman empire, so its architecture is also completely Central European, as you can clearly see in its capital Novi Sad.
Vojvodina is also home to minorities of Croats, Hungarians and Slovaks that have lived peacefully along with the Serb majority, even during the wars.
We started in Novi Sad, the capital of Vojvodina, and considered one of the most beautiful cities in Serbia. Its architecture is very Austrian, as you can see in its main square, where the city hall and cathedral stand.
But probably its most beautiful sight is the Petrovaradin fortress, just across the Danube. Built in 1692, this was the most important fortification of Austria-Hungary in the Balkans against Ottoman advance.
Then we went to Zrenjanin, a town with Austrian-style architecture, similar to that in Novi Sad, but not as interesting.
Finally, we stopped in Kovačica, a small town famous for its local naïve artists that just follow their flow and not any kind of art school. It is also famous because it hosts several minorities, and actually the larger of these are Slovaks (not Serbs). Signs are in the languages of its four larger groups: Slovak, Serbia, Hungarian and Romanian.
Smederevo
On Day 10 we visited Smederevo. This town is around 55 km from Belgrade, down the Danube. It hosts the next Danube fortress downstream from Belgrade, roughly halfway between the capital and the more spectacular Danube fortresses by the Romanian border in the area known as Braničevo county (like Golubac) that I visited in a later trip.
The Danube here is really wide (for European standards). That’s why it has been a natural border since Antiquity. So Belgrade, Smederevo and all these castles have been strategical keys for centuries, guarding different Empires against others.
Niš
Finally, it was time to leave Serbia – but not for long. Anyway, before crossing the border to North Macedonia, we stayed one night to visit fair Niš, the main city in Southern Serbia, and birthplace of Roman Emperor Constantine. No city in the country is like cosmopolitan Belgrade, but it has other charms (and eating and drinking is considerably cheaper).
Niš is the most Ottoman place in our trip until now. Its fortress is beautiful, with well-preserved walls and an Ottoman Mosque inside. Then it was a 19th century Austro-Hungarian style area, so common in the Western Balkans.
The next morning we visited the Red Cross WWII concentration camp, the largest in Serbia.
Remember that during WWII Croatia was a nazi puppet state under Ante Pavelić and all the Western Balkans were occupied by the Axis. Different forces, like Serb nationalists (chetniks) and the Communist partisans fought them. Eventually, the partisans, led by Tito, defeated all and created Socialist Yugoslavia.
The pity was that we couldn’t visit the most famous – and macabre – landmark in Niš: the Skull Tower (Ćele Kula), because we were there on a Monday, its closing day. This was built by the Ottomans in 1809 with the skulls of Serb rebels who had dared revolt against the Sublime Porte.
Stage 4: North Macedonia
13 days since we arrived in Slovenia, we entered the fourth former Yugoslav republic – Macedonia, since 2018 officially North Macedonia.
This was the only territory to separate from Yugoslavia in a completely peaceful way (maybe because there were less latent tensions or because they were poorer). But the country has had other problems.
First, tensions between the majority Macedonian population and the sizeable Albanian minority became more evident, until a crisis in 2001 that was close to end in war. These problems are portrayed in Milcho Manchevski’s Before the Rain. Anyway, inter-ethnic relations have improved greatly in the past years, delivering an example to the Balkans.
Second, probably the most bizarre conflict in Europe: the Macedonia name conflict.
This is how this Yugoslav republic was called since its inception in 1945. The problem with this name is that Macedonia is a region in Northern Greece and the name comes from the ancient kingdom of Macedon, best known by its mightiest conqueror: Alexander the Great.
Thus, Greece has strongly opposed the name since independence from Yugoslavia. You can quickly understand that the claim to Alexander’s heritage plays an important role when you see all the new buildings and monuments built in Skopje’s city centre.
Finally, in 2018 the governments of Macedonia and Greece reached an agreement, by which the country would be officially renamed to Republic of North Macedonia and, in turn, Greece would recognise this name and not block their membership to any international organisation.
Now let’s go back to the road!
When you cross the border between Serbia and North Macedonia, you instantly see a deterioration of the economy and infrastructure (although it is still fine, it is more noticeable than in the previous crossings, where there is also a considerable different in wealth).
Skopje
Our first night was going to be in Skopje. I contacted my Macedonian friend Jane and he told me that he was not in the city but down by Lake Ohrid with his girlfriend, where he likes to spend the summer.
He invited us to join him there later and gave us the number of his cousin, who showed us around the city and took us out for one of the most fun nights in our trip – and it was a Monday.
We learnt that in Skopje you can go out until 4 am on a Monday. After dinner, drink some beers or rakija in a terrace looking at the old castle, and end up in an open air live music rock bar.
We visited the old bazaar (Stara Čaršija), which still has a very Ottoman flair. We visit the old castle of Skopje, and walked on its walls.
We saw the new neo-classical waterfront being built by the old stone bridge over the Vardar river. A couple of years later it was finished and shining – quite kitsch for our taste, though.
Ohrid: the city of 365 churches by the lake
Next day we drove South to Ohrid, where we stayed with my friends in a beautiful house with an orchard just across the road from Lake Ohrid at the village of Peshtani. We stayed there for 2 nights.
On our first night, we had dinner in the porch of our house, with some Spanish ibérico cold cuts and wine I had put in the trunk and then we went to a jazz bar in Ohrid town.
Ohrid Lake is at the border of North Macedonia and Albania and it is a very popular holiday destination both for Macedonians and Albanians. But both groups or nationalities have their own places. Albanians go to Pogradec in the Republic of Albania or to Struga in North Macedonia.
It is funny how you see car plates and flags on the road changing when you go down the road.
The city of Ohrid is undoubtedly the cultural highlight of its Lake. It is nicknamed the city of 365 churches – we haven’t counted them but the truth is that it preserves a harmonious and beautiful old byzantine-ottoman city, with countless orthodox churches. It also has an Early Christian baptistery with a remarkable mosaic.
Our host Jane is really passionate about history and his country in particular and he really knows Ohrid, so he was a perfect guide in our tour. After lunch, we visited the fabulous Monastery of St. Naum, which is just next to the Albanian border, perched on a hill overlooking the lake.
We missed going to Bitola, the cultural capital of North Macedonia, which I haven’t visited yet… but we had decided to go back in one month so we had to get going. Day 16, 4th border crossing.
This time, at the border, the Macedonian police officer couldn’t understand what the hell these Spanish guys were doing there, he asked: “are you going back from Greece?”
Stage 5: Western Serbia - Kraljevo & Studenica Monastery
And thus we arrived to Kraljevo, Western Serbia. We stayed there for 2 nights, again with a local host. Tamara is one of my best friends in former Yugoslavia, she was raised there, and invited to stay with her family. They were really the most amazing hosts.
Kraljevo is a pleasant town but it does not have so much to see – it’s surroundings however, provide some of the cultural highlights of Serbia.
I am talking about the mediaeval Orthodox Monasteries of the area: Studenica, the most remarkable (with beautiful frescoes) and Gradac. We visited both the next morning, driving through a beautiful mountainous area.
The next day, after having a walk in Kraljevo we set off to the next republic: Bosnia and Herzegovina – with the same host.
My friend was actually born in Sarajevo, a year before the war started. The family kept their flat in Sarajevo and she invited us to stay there for some days and explore Bosnia together.
Certainly, there is a lot more to Serbia… and we know many other places we didn’t visit in this trip, so stay tuned for our Serbia guide!
Stage 6: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia is a beautiful country, the cross-road within the Balkan cross-road, and the has the best preserved Ottoman heritage in former in Yugoslavia.
Bosnia was and is a miniature Yugoslavia. Its three main “ehtnic” groups (Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats) still live here – but not together any more.
In 1991, Bosnia was mixed and most people didn’t care much about the identity or religion of their neighbours. Many in Sarajevo even thought that they wouldn’t have a war like in Croatia.
But soon identity politics turned into all-out war, with an all against all logic and widespread ethnic cleansing.
It is lovely to drive in Bosnia, as it is very hilly and green. The downside is that so roads are much slower than in the rest of the region – it’s not easy to build motorways here.
When you travel in Bosnia, you will see only Cyrillic written in some areas – you are Republika Srprska, the Bosnian Serb autonomous entity. Then you might start seeing flags of Croatia on the road – you will be in a Croat area.
You can easily tell on which side you are by the beer they sell: Bosniaks serve Sarajevsko, Croats Karlovačko from Croatia and Serbs, Jelen from Serbia. This is especially handy in mixed cities, like Mostar, to be sure you don’t say anything inappropriate.
Višegrad
On the road, we stopped at Višegrad, where the Bridge over the Drina from Ivo Andrić’s famous novel was built. Its name is Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge.
As many other kids in the Western Balkans, Mehmed Paša Sokolović was captured as a boy by the Ottoman army and educated in Istanbul to serve the Sublime Porte.
After holding different high positions in the Ottoman army and administration, he became Grand Vizier (something like a prime minister), but he never forgot the place where he was born. His native Višegrad didn’t have a bridge, so the Drina river had to be crossed by boat. This is why he commissioned the famous monumental bridge, which was opened in 1577.
It was raining so heavily that we could just see the bridge and get inside the car again!
Sarajevo
Sarajevo is dubbed “Jerusalem of the West” – within one kilometre you can find a few Mosques, the Orthodox Cathedral, the Catholic Cathedral and a synagogue. There are just a few now but there used to be many Sephardim Jews in all Bosnia.
The city also made it to headlines of history when Gavrilo Princip assassinated Prince Franz Ferdinand of Austria, as he was crossing the Miljacka over the Latin Bridge, triggering WWI. There is a commemorative plaque and a Museum at the site.
In the 1980s, Sarajevo was one of the most interesting cities in Yugoslavia, with a bustling cultural scene, and it hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics.
Just 8 years later, the Bosnian War began. And Sarajevo was the city that suffered it the most.
The hills that overlook the city were not Olympic any more, but a perfect platform for Bosnian Serb shelling – Sarajevo was subject to the longest siege in modern warfare: more than 3 years and 10 months.
Sarajevo stretches along the Miljacka river, surrounded by mountains.
Despite all past calamities, the city is beautiful and it has a real Balkan flare.
The oldest part of the city is Baščaršija (Old Bazaar). Its central square with a wooden fountain, its majestic mosques and its narrow cobbled market streets take you to the Ottoman Empire.
Next to it lies the 19th century Austrian enlargement, with its two cathedrals and more modern, rationalist layout.
Since 1878, Bosnia was administered by Austria-Hungary even if still nominally Ottoman.
The city hall (Vijećnica) is the most representative building of the Austrian period in Sarajevo, built in the late 19th c. This building suffered heavy damage from Serb shelling during the War, and many of its library’s books, including manuscripts and incunabula, were lost.
During our trip it was still under restoration, but now it has been taken back to its original splendour.
One evening in Sarajevo, we had some beers with a group of local friends. It was a great evening because there were Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs from Sarajevo, friends from childhood who remained friends, all having fun together. And they were very friendly to their Spanish hosts.
Travnik
From our base in Sarajevo we also visited Travnik, a small town with a beautiful castle which was the birthplace of Ivo Andrić, and were he set his novel Chronicle of Travnik, about a French and an Austrian consul in the beginning of the 19th century.
On our way back, we stopped at the alleged pyramids of Visoko. It’s just a mountain but the hike is nice and the view is beautiful. We were led by a guy who really believed there were pyramids built under the grass by some unknown civilization – or maybe aliens?
Mostar
And finally we went to Mostar. This beautiful city was the scene of bloody battles during the war as Croats and Bosniaks first forced the Serb minority out and then fought for the control of the city. Each controlled one side, and the Bosnian Croats decided to blow up all bridges over the Neretva.
Since then, the Old Town has been completely reconstructed, including its iconic 16th-century Ottoman Stari Most (Old Bridge) and the surrounding Mosques, thanks to UNESCO funds.
Mostar was built by the Ottomans, and quite quickly, with two distinct areas: a commercial area, a typical Balkan Turkish bazaar, and a residential area.
Now, Bosniaks and Croats only get together to milk tourist money of the increasing number of tourists who flood the Old Town.
Otherwise, they turn their backs to each other – not only they live in different areas of the city, each with its own ambulance service, but they are even unable to agree on holding municipal elections and continue with a provisional administration. You can watch Cirkus Columbia to try to understand how they ended up like that.
If you walk a few minutes away from Mostar Old Town, you will still see many buildings with scars of the war.
Trebinje
After 5 days in Bosnia, it was time to leave and enter the 6th republic. But on the way, we stopped at Trebinje, a Serb majority town that preserves a beautiful 18th century Ottoman old town.
On top of a hill, a half-size copy of the Monastery of Gračanica in Kosovo was built after the war. Nationalism at work. I actually visited that monastery the year after with a group of Croatians and the monks welcomed us with some rakija (the ubiquotous Balkan spirit). The view of the town from there is fantastic.
Stage 7: Montenegro
Initially I wanted to stay a two or three days in Montenegro but we just made it one night. We stayed in the most beautiful city in Montenegro, and the whole Western Balkans (along with Dubrovnik): Kotor.
Montenegro lay for centuries at the frontier between Christian Europe and the Ottoman Empire. Venice controlled a large part of it, including Kotor, for a long time, and left an obvious influence in its architecture.
Kotor
Kotor has an amazing mediaeval old town that (through restorations) has perserved an authentic architecture. The city was built inside a deep bay created by a volcanic eruption. It has a very unique shape – that is also easy to defend.
The old city walls of Kotor are beautifully preserved, and they go up the hill behind the city. The walk is tiresome but really worth it – at the top you can enjoy an amazing view of the city and Bay of Kotor!
I personally like Kotor even more than Dubrovnik. Its palaces are older, and even if the old city is smaller and less sumptuous, its privileged location more than makes up for it.
Furthermore, during this trip the cruise passengers that were already flooding Dubronvik barely reached Kotor – but unfortunately this has changed a lot in the last few years.
Perast
Perast is a beautiful coastal village 12 km from Kotor, close to where the mouth of this beautifully bizarre Bay opens.
Perast flourished in the 18th century, thanks to the free trade with Venice and the privilege granted to fight the pirates in the Adriatic.
Its coastline has some beautiful Barqoue palaces – but what is most unique are its two islands on the Adriatic, with a chapel apiece. One of them, Our Lady of the Rocks, is on the only artificial island built in the Adriatic!
Budva
We went East of Kotor to visit Budva, another Venetian town that is well worth a detour.
Even if it’s not as stunning as Kotor, this mediaeval town is also very charming.
It has been a very popular summer destination in the Western Balkans for decades thanks to its beaches overlooked by the old town walls.
Herceg Novi
Before crossing the border to Croatia, we visited Herceg Novi, at the mouth of the Bay of Kotor.
This town has two fortresses: Forte Mare, by the Sea and Španjola (Spanish fortress), where the Spanish tercios bravely resisted an Ottoman siege in 1539 for a couple of months, killing around 20000 Ottoman soldiers.
Looking back, I can say we did make the most of our day in Montenegro! But we have been again, together. We will tell you more things!
Stage 8: Croatia, part 2. Dalmatia
On the evening of Day 24, we crossed our 7th border within former Yugoslavia, and we entered its most famous area, the crown jewel of former Yugoslav tourism: the Dalmatian coast.
Dalmatia is geniunely Mediterranean. All this area was on the frontier between Christian states and the Ottoman Empire during the whole modern age, but the Turks could never take hold of it, even if they had in Ragusa (Dubrovnik) a Christian suzerain.
When we crossed the Montenegrin-Croatian border, international tourists soared by the thousands and prices got likewise higher. I had been in this area some years before and it had changed a lot in many ways (walking round Dubrovnik’s walls used to be free…). We decided to camp instead of staying in hostels… not the best idea as it rained heavily all night long.
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik, the old Republic of Ragusa, is an amazing city. In 1667, an earthquake destroyed the city, but its citizens rebuilt it promptly. It is from this time that most of the buildings in the old city date, delivering an incredibly harmonious city scape.
We walked through Stradun, Dubrovnik’s wonderful main street. But you should also get lost in its smaller narrow streets and admire its elegant Baroque churches. And don’t forget to visit the old port.
If you have been here before 2008 or so you understand that things really have changed a lot. The city in summer is overcrowded with tourists so it has lost a lot of its authenticity and it has become quite expensive. Anyway it is a place one must visit, but I would rather do it in winter nowadays.
Split
Honestly, this last part of our trip was too hasty, but the thing is I had been in this area not long before so I didn’t mind having to speed things up and my friends wanted to go back home soon.
After lunch, we drove 230 km to Split. Visiting these two amazing cities in the Dalmatian coast in one day is something I wouldn’t do under normal conditions and wouldn’t recommend to anyone.
The motorway was great and we arrived in time to walk around the old city of Split and visit the Palace of Roman Emperor Diocletian (who was born here), one of the most impressive Ancient Roman complexes still remaining.
It has been very well preserved because after the fall of Rome it has been occupied for centuries, turned into a small fortified town.
And finally, we enjoyed the sunset by the Adriatic Sea.
Šibenik
On Day 26 we drove to Šibenik, a former territory of the Republic of Venice, like other areas of the Adriatic coast. The city is known by basketball fans as the birthplace of star Dražen Petrović, who stunned the world just before dying young in a car accident.
Šibenik is one of the less touristic cities on the Dalmatian coast, but it hosts one of its most remarkable monuments: its 15th-16th century Cathedral of St. James.
This late Gothic-Renaissance catholic temple is one of the largest in the Balkans and one of the most beautiful too. An original feature of its façade are the heads, with different expressions, that stand out of the stone walls. They are the portraits of city procurators during the construction of the temple.
It is one of those buildings you never forget, just because of its uniqueness!
We also went up St. Michael’s fortress for an amazing view of the city and the nearby islands in the Adriatic sea.
Many people don’t stop in Šibenik when they go to Croatia – but you should! It is the most underrated city in Dalmatia.
Zadar
Keeping up with our frenetic rhythm, we drove to Zadar, 90 km North.
Zadar was also part of the Republic of Venice as its entrance gate with St. Mark’s lions remind us. It also has some Roman ruins, as well as remarkable architecture from the Middle Ages (like St. Donatus’ Church from the 9th c.) and the Renaissance.
The city still preserves its Venetian walls. In the 19th century, the part of the wall facing the sea was torn down and the city declared an open port. This area provides now a great setting for a walk in a summer night.
Plitvice Lakes
On Day 27 we went to Plitvice Lakes (Plitvička jezera) – this a natural park formed by 14 lakes joined by waterfalls in interior Dalmatia.
We camped nearby overnight and then passed the whole day exploring all the lakes and waterfalls of the park. It’s no wonder why it was one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Croatia and a very popular holiday destination since Yugoslav times!
Croatia has really so much to offer that these lines are not enough. So stay tuned for our Croatia guide!
Final day: Koper (Capodistria)
28 days after we first entered Slovenia, it was time to leave. We said good-bye to this marvellous region, former country, in Koper, which lies on the small stripe of coast that belongs to Slovenia.
Koper is a small town, but it’s Slovenia’s main port – so they probably are much better off than being just a town in Croatia or Italy (which have claimed the area).
The funny thing of Koper, or Capodistria in Italian, is that it’s like a cross between Italy and Yugoslavia. It was part of the Republic of Venice and the capital of Venetian Istria – hence its name. But it doesn’t end there.
Signs are written in Slovenian and Italian, so it is probably the only place where one can find a “Piazza Tito”. This is the central square in the old town, and its pretorian palace, loggia and gothic cathedral really look like North-Eastern Italy – like the rest of the city. It even has a small scale copy of the Rialto bridge in Venice!
Going back
On the way back, we stayed overnight in Béziers, covering over 1100 km on the first day. Like always, it was tougher than driving outward.
We had a great time, saw beautiful architecture and nature in this cross-roads between East and West with such a complex recent history. And what is more rewarding, we experienced Balkan hospitality first hand.
Seriously, it is not a cliché, but it’s real – people really give you their bed even if that means they have to sleep on the couch. It is a pity that such great people have that temper when it comes to looking for reasons to hate each other.
It was certainly a wonderful, once in a lifetime, experience. We saw all different facets of former Yugoslavia (except Kosovo), met and talked with locals and learnt how people really think and live there. And by the way, in the end most people don’t care so much about not liking their neighbours as politicians do.
