When individuals consider Europe, the primary locations that always come to thoughts are France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and possibly Switzerland. Nevertheless, Europe is residence to dozens of nations, and one of the crucial underrated areas for vacationers is the Balkans. Whereas there’s no common settlement on which international locations belong to the Balkans, the area typically consists of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia, with Romania and Slovenia typically thought-about a part of it as properly.
Regardless of being missed by many vacationers, the Balkans provide beautiful landscapes, wealthy historical past, and vibrant cultures — all at a fraction of the associated fee in comparison with Western Europe. Whereas some locations should be dear by Filipino requirements, they’re typically extra budget-friendly than their Western European counterparts. If visiting the Balkans is in your journey bucket record, maintain studying as we share how we deliberate our unforgettable Balkan journey on this article!
1. Safe the best visas.
As talked about earlier, the Balkan area typically consists of 11 international locations. Nevertheless, not all of them are a part of the Schengen Space.
Schengen Balkan Nations
Solely 5 international locations within the Balkan area are included within the Schengen Space. These are the next:
- Greece
- Croatia
- Slovenia
- Bulgaria
- Romania
Observe: Bulgaria and Romania presently solely settle for Schengen visas at their sea and air borders.
Among the many Schengen international locations within the Balkans, Greece is essentially the most sensible selection for Filipino vacationers. Listed below are the explanations:
- Greece has its personal embassy within the Philippines, making visa processing extra simple.
- Athens Airport is well-connected, with inexpensive flights out there from many locations.
- Greece is a shocking journey vacation spot, so it’s properly price including to your itinerary!
Alternatively, you can too apply for a Schengen visa by Slovenia, which is processed by the Belgian Embassy within the Philippines.
TIP! Design an itinerary that requires a number of Schengen entries, making your multiple-entry visa software extra justifiable. See pattern itinerary within the subsequent part.
Non-Schengen Balkan Nations
Listed below are the Balkan international locations exterior of the Schengen Space:
- Albania
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Kosovo
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- Serbia
In the event you’re touring to any of those international locations, you’ll want a separate visa particular to that nation. As an example, should you’re solely visiting Albania, you’ll want to use for an Albanian visa. Happily, there’s a workaround: when you’ve got a multiple-entry Schengen visa, you received’t want a separate visa for a lot of Balkan states.
To benefit from this, you possibly can apply for a multiple-entry Schengen visa by Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, or Romania — so long as your itinerary justifies a number of entries. Moreover, many non-Schengen Balkan international locations settle for a used multiple-entry Schengen visa, which means you could enter a Schengen nation at the very least as soon as earlier than utilizing it to go to different Balkan states.
2. Plan your route correctly.
Cautious route planning is important — not solely to avoid wasting time, cash, and vitality but additionally to justify the necessity for a multiple-entry Schengen visa.
Creating Your Itinerary
As talked about earlier, solely 5 Balkan international locations are a part of the Schengen Space, whereas the remainder require separate visas. Nevertheless, with a multiple-entry Schengen visa, you possibly can enter many non-Schengen Balkan international locations while not having extra visas.
Because of this the itinerary you undergo the embassy is essential. Beneath is a simplified model of our Balkan journey route. It was extra sophisticated in actuality, however this provides you an instance of how one can plan your itinerary.
- Greece
- Romania
- Bulgaria
- North Macedonia
- Kosovo
- Albania
- Montenegro
- Croatia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Croatia
- Spain
This itinerary required us to enter the Schengen Space thrice, which strengthened our justification for a multiple-entry visa.
- First Entry: Arriving in Greece (Schengen).
- Second Entry: Exiting the Schengen Space from Bulgaria to North Macedonia, then re-entering when arriving in Croatia.
- Third Entry: Taking a aspect journey to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, then re-entering Croatia.
With three Schengen entries, a multiple-entry visa was justified, permitting us to journey by the non-Schengen Balkan international locations while not having separate visas.
Selecting the Finest Mode of Transportation
Past visas, planning your route correctly additionally means contemplating transportation availability. Google Maps is a good device to verify essentially the most logical route between the international locations you need to go to. Researching bus routes can assist you keep away from pointless flights, making your journey extra budget-friendly and environment friendly.
Throughout our Balkan backpacking journey, we primarily traveled by bus. Not solely was it essentially the most inexpensive choice, but it surely additionally made for a extra immersive and adventurous expertise.
Checking the Political Panorama
One other essential issue when planning your itinerary is the political panorama of the Balkan area, as some international locations have border restrictions as a result of diplomatic conflicts. For instance, Serbia apparently doesn’t enable entry from Kosovo as a result of conflicts. Whereas this coverage could change over time, we took additional precautions when planning our route. As an alternative of touring from Kosovo to Serbia, we entered Serbia from Bulgaria first, then later traveled to Kosovo from North Macedonia to keep away from potential points.
By being strategic along with your route, you may make your Balkan journey smoother, less expensive, and visa-efficient — all whereas having fun with the unbelievable range of this fascinating area!
3. Seek for inexpensive flights.
When planning our Balkans journey, we selected Greece as our entry level as a result of it supplied the most cost effective flights. In the event you’re reserving properly upfront or throughout seat gross sales, one of the crucial budget-friendly choices from Manila to Athens is SCOOT, which operates flights with a stopover in Singapore. In actual fact, we’ve flown to Greece with Scoot on earlier journeys.
Nevertheless, don’t restrict your search to simply funds airways. It’s all the time price checking full-service carriers too. Typically, you’ll discover flights which might be both cheaper or solely barely costlier than low-cost airways however include added advantages. For instance, once we booked our flight for our Balkans journey, we selected Etihad with a cease in Abu Dhabi. On the time, it was solely about ₱5,000 costlier than Scoot, however that value already included add-ons.
In the event you observed in our pattern itinerary, our remaining cease earlier than returning to the Philippines was Spain, though it’s not a part of the Balkan area. The explanation? Flight costs. On the time, the most cost effective flight again to Manila was from Barcelona. Even after factoring in the price of a connecting flight from Croatia to Barcelona, the overall expense was nonetheless decrease than flying instantly from the Balkans. That’s why we determined to incorporate Spain in our route!
It’s vital to notice that when making use of for a Schengen visa, you don’t have to guide your flights but. As an alternative, you’ll want a flight reservation, which serves as a short lived reserving with out requiring full fee. Some individuals check with it as a “dummy ticket”, it sounds phony so we keep away from utilizing that time period. However no matter you name it, what’s vital is that embassies acknowledge flight reservations.
For our visa functions, we get our flight reservations from Gazelle Journey and Excursions. In the event you want one, you possibly can go to this web page, fill out the order type, and verify the pricing and turnaround time. As soon as your visa is permitted, you possibly can proceed with finalizing your precise flight reserving.
4. Contemplate the season and the climate.
Timing performs an important position when planning a visit to Europe, together with the Balkan area. We’ve traveled to the Balkans throughout late spring to early summer time and once more from late summer time to autumn, and we are able to confidently say — the distinction in value is large.
The summer time months (June to September) are thought-about peak season, which means greater costs for flights, lodging, and excursions. For instance, once we visited Croatia, we observed that as quickly as October arrived, tour costs dropped considerably. This development applies to motels and flights as properly.
Out of all of the seasons we’ve skilled, autumn was essentially the most breathtaking. The climate was comfortably cool — neither too scorching nor too chilly — and the landscapes had been painted in beautiful fall colours, making it an unforgettable sight.
Past pricing and surroundings, seasonal climate additionally determines what you might want to pack. The Balkans have various climates, so temperatures can fluctuate significantly relying on the place you go. For instance, the climate in Romania is totally different from Croatia’s Dalmatia Area.
In the meantime, coastal cities alongside the Adriatic and Aegean Seas — like Cut up and Dubrovnik in Croatia — have a Mediterranean local weather. Inland areas, corresponding to Sofia in Bulgaria and Brașov in Romania, expertise a moist continental local weather, which means colder winters and extra important seasonal adjustments.
In the event you’re backpacking by a number of international locations, anticipate the climate to shift from place to put. Make sure to analysis every vacation spot’s local weather upfront and pack accordingly to remain snug all through your journey.
5. Don’t assume every thing’s the identical.
The Balkan area is extremely various, not simply when it comes to local weather but additionally in tradition, language, historical past, and governance. Whereas there are similarities between international locations, every nation has its personal distinct identification. The alphabet, faith, political techniques, and even cuisines can fluctuate dramatically as you cross borders.
Historical past
This range can also be mirrored within the area’s advanced historical past. Many neighboring international locations have long-standing political tensions, which typically develop into evident when talking with locals. Even historic excursions can current conflicting narratives, relying on the place you might be. For instance, North Macedonia and Bulgaria, Serbia and Bulgaria, Serbia and Kosovo, and even Bosnia and Herzegovina all have totally different views on historic occasions — and also you’ll probably sense this when visiting heritage websites or participating in conversations.
Delicacies
Every nation within the Balkans gives a singular delicacies as properly. For instance, in Dubrovnik and Montenegro, seafood dominates the delicacies, whereas Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia favor meat-heavy dishes.
Faith
Relating to faith, international locations like Kosovo and Albania are predominantly Muslim, whereas Croatia is essentially Catholic. In the meantime, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania observe Japanese Orthodox Christianity, every with their very own branches — Greek Orthodox, Bulgarian Orthodox, and Serbian Orthodox.
Language
The linguistic range can also be fascinating. For instance, Romanian is a Latin-based language that makes use of the Latin alphabet, whereas Bulgarian is a Slavic language that makes use of the Cyrillic script. Greek, after all, has its personal distinct Greek alphabet.
Vibe and Persona
Each vacation spot has its personal persona. Past cultural variations, every metropolis or city exudes its personal distinctive attraction. Brașov (Romania) appears like a quaint, fairy-tale city. Sofia (Bulgaria) and Tirana (Albania) have the bustling vitality of huge cities. In the meantime, Cut up and Dubrovnik (Croatia) are straight out of Recreation of Thrones, serving critical King’s Touchdown vibes. And Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Prizren (Kosovo) appear to be big, open-air museums with their well-preserved historic websites.
Affordability
Costs additionally fluctuate between locations. Whereas a lot of the Balkans is understood for being budget-friendly, there are notable exceptions. Dubrovnik and Cut up are among the many most costly cities within the area. After we first visited these components of Croatia a number of years in the past, they had been already dear, however throughout our most up-to-date journey, we observed costs had skyrocketed, probably because of the inflow of vacationers. In the event you plan to go to, be ready to spend extra in comparison with different Balkan locations.
The extra locations you discover, the extra you’ll recognize the area’s unbelievable range. Each cease reveals one thing new, making the Balkans a really fascinating place to go to.
6. Examine your lodging on-line.
Probably the greatest issues about touring within the Balkans is the abundance of budget-friendly lodging. Nevertheless, value isn’t the one issue to think about when selecting the place to remain. We all the time use two key standards when reserving: central location and accessibility.
We favor lodging close to the Outdated City or metropolis middle, inside strolling distance of key points of interest and beginning factors for strolling excursions. It’s additionally vital that our lodging is near main transportation hubs, corresponding to practice stations or bus terminals, for simpler transfers between locations.
Discovering lodging that match these standards was pretty simple, besides in Dubrovnik, the place we confronted a singular problem: most budget-friendly rooms solely accommodated two individuals — we had been a gaggle of three. In consequence, we ended up reserving residences for many of our keep.
By the best way, these are all of the promo codes that you need to use. We’ve reductions for motels, excursions, and eSIM for web connection. We even have particular charges for journey insurance coverage, unique for TPT subscribers.
Past location and affordability, it’s additionally essential to verify the constructing’s amenities, particularly should you’re staying in an residence throughout the Outdated City. Some buildings are older and lack elevators, which could be a drawback should you’re carrying heavy baggage or have mobility issues.
For instance, in Brașov, Romania, we stayed at Zinne Flats, an enthralling place simply two blocks from the principle sq.. Nevertheless, it was on the second ground, which is third ground for us Pinoys, and because it was in an older constructing, there was no elevator. Equally, in Skopje, North Macedonia, we booked Condominium Emilija, which had a tremendous location — we might see the principle sq. proper from our window. The unit itself was spacious and cozy, but it surely was on the fourth ground, which is fifth ground by our requirements, with no elevator.
Earlier than finalizing your lodging, all the time verify which ground your unit is on and whether or not the constructing has an elevator. This small element could make an enormous distinction in your consolation, particularly after an extended day of exploring. And, once more:
- If Klook is your go-to reserving web site, please use our promo code THEPOORTRAVELERKLOOK for as much as P300 OFF or TPTKLOOK5 for as much as P500 OFF. These codes may change sooner or later so finest to simply go to thepoortraveler.internet/klook to redeem up to date low cost codes!
- In the event you favor to guide by way of AGODA, use our promo code AGODATPT for 10% low cost.
7. Watch out for scams and safe obligatory journey insurance coverage.
Like many main cities in Europe, scams exist within the Balkans. Though they aren’t as rampant as in Paris, Barcelona, or Berlin, scams nonetheless exist right here. The commonest sort of rip-off vacationers encounter right here often entails taxis.
We personally skilled a taxi rip-off in North Macedonia. We often favor public transportation, however typically, particularly when arriving late at evening, taking a taxi is the one choice. Since there have been three of us, we figured splitting the fare wouldn’t be too dangerous.
Earlier than getting within the taxi, we agreed on a value with the driving force. Nevertheless, once we arrived at our vacation spot, he instantly demanded more cash. After we refused, different taxi drivers surrounded us, making an attempt to intimidate us.
Sadly, taxi scams occur in different cities too. In the event you suspect a driver is overcharging, stroll away and discover one other taxi. To keep away from this, you possibly can ask your lodging host for an estimate of the standard fare from the station to your keep. Many hosts even suggest a trusted switch service to make sure you’re not overcharged. For instance, our host in Skopje went the additional mile to personally take us to the bus station so we wouldn’t must take care of taxi scams.
In our six weeks of touring within the Balkans, we solely encountered two scams and fell for one. Nevertheless, there are different scams that vacationers have reported, corresponding to because the cash collector rip-off and overpriced menu rip-off. Fortunately, we didn’t encounter these, however researching frequent scams earlier than your journey can assist you acknowledge and keep away from them.
Since we’re speaking about security, do not forget that when making use of for a Schengen visa, having journey insurance coverage is obligatory. Not simply any insurance coverage — it have to be Schengen-accredited. For dependable protection, you possibly can guide TravelJoy Plus by PGA Sompo. This ensures you’re protected all through your journey.
Updates Log
2025 7 21 – First uploaded
