Balkans Uncovered — Self-Launched Edition

Land at Sofia Airport and take metro line M4 into the centre (about £1, ~30 mins) rather than a taxi. Check into a hostel or budget guesthouse near Vitosha Boulevard or the Alexander Nevsky area. Join the free (tip-based) Sofia Free Walking Tour at 11:00 or 18:00 from the Palace of Justice — it covers the National Library, Sofia University, Parliament, St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the National Theatre, St Sofia Church and the former Communist Party headquarters, exactly the buildings the coach tour drives past. In the evening eat a cheap banitsa and shopska salad, then go for a wander down Vitosha Boulevard. Buy your onward bus ticket to Belgrade at the Central Bus Station tonight or tomorrow morning.

🚌Airport metro M4 ~£1; everything in the centre walkable

🛏Hostel Mostel Sofia or a budget guesthouse near Vitosha Blvd (dorm £12-16 / private £25-30)

• →Sofia free walking tour (tip-based)
• →Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
• →Vitosha Boulevard evening stroll

Take the direct Sofia–Belgrade bus (several daily departures, roughly 7-8 hours, £22-28); the overnight departure around 22:00 saves a hotel night and gets you in early morning. Border crossing at Kalotina is straightforward. Alternatively a daytime bus leaves you the evening in Belgrade. Dump your bag at the hostel and walk Knez Mihailova, the pedestrian spine of the city, ending at Kalemegdan and Belgrade Fortress for sunset over the Sava-Danube confluence. Grab a burek and yoghurt for breakfast (£3) and a grilled pljeskavica for dinner (£6).

🚌Sofia–Belgrade bus ~£22-28 (7-8 hrs)

🛏Hostel in Stari Grad / Dorćol (dorm £12-18 / private £28-35)

• →Knez Mihailova walk
• →Belgrade Fortress and Kalemegdan Park
• →Skadarlija bohemian quarter

Do the free Belgrade walking tour in the morning for Knez Mihailova and the fortress with context, then spend the afternoon on the two optional stops the coach tour offers as paid extras: the House of Flowers (Tito's mausoleum, £4 entry) and the Nikola Tesla Museum (£5 entry, guided tour every hour — genuinely one of the best small museums in Europe). Skip the €50 vineyard excursion and instead take a public bus to Zemun for a riverside walk and a cheaper dinner with locals. Buy your Belgrade–Sarajevo ticket for tomorrow at the main bus station (departs around 22:00-23:00, overnight, £25-30).

🚌Trams and city buses ~£2 day pass; Zemun bus ~£1

🛏Same hostel in Belgrade

• →Belgrade free walking tour
• →Nikola Tesla Museum
• →House of Flowers (Tito's mausoleum)
• →Zemun riverside

Arrive early morning off the overnight bus and check in (most hostels will hold bags before check-in). Wander Baščaršija, the Ottoman bazaar, and do the free Sarajevo walking tour (10:00 or 17:00, tip-based) covering the old town, the Latin Bridge where Franz Ferdinand was shot, and the line in the pavement where East meets West. Have a traditional bosanski ćevapi lunch in the bazaar (£5) and Turkish coffee. In the afternoon walk up to the Yellow Fortress for views over the valley, or visit the Tunnel of Hope (War Tunnel) by tram to Ilidža plus a short walk — £5 entry — which the coach tour only offers as an optional extra.

🚌Belgrade–Sarajevo overnight bus ~£25-30; trams ~£1 per ride

🛏Hostel in Baščaršija / Old Town (dorm £10-15 / private £25-32)

• →Sarajevo free walking tour
• →Baščaršija bazaar
• →Latin Bridge
• →Sarajevo War Tunnel (Tunnel of Hope)

Take the morning train from Sarajevo to Mostar (07:15 or so, about 2 hours, £6-7) — one of the most scenic rail journeys in the Balkans, through the Neretva canyon. In Mostar, see Stari Most, watch the divers, explore the Kujundžiluk old bazaar and the old town's cobbled lanes; the local tourist office runs cheap guided walks (£4) or follow a self-guided route. In the late afternoon take a bus from Mostar's main station to Trebinje (about 2.5 hours, £8-10). Trebinje is a small walled Ottoman-era town and a very cheap base for Dubrovnik — old town dinner in the central square £6.

🚌Sarajevo–Mostar train ~£6.50; Mostar–Trebinje bus ~£9

🛏Small guesthouse or hostel in Trebinje old town (private £15-22 / dorm £10-14)

• →Sarajevo–Mostar scenic train
• →Stari Most and old bazaar
• →Mostar guided walk
• →Trebinje old town evening

Buses from Trebinje to Dubrovnik run a few times a morning (about 1 hour, £5-7). Get to Dubrovnik early and walk the medieval city walls first thing (£25 entry — the single biggest single-line cost of this version, but the coach tour also charges for it inside its price). Then explore the old town at your own pace: the Stradun, the Rector's Palace, the Buža cliff bar, and a swim at Buža or Danče. Rather than the €55 organised seafood boat trip offered as an optional extra, take the public Lokrum island ferry (£13 return) or a cheap local seafood lunch in the old port (£10). Bus back to Trebinje in the evening — keep your Trebinje bed for a second night and treat this as a day trip.

🚌Trebinje–Dubrovnik bus ~£6 each way

🛏Same guesthouse in Trebinje

• →Dubrovnik city walls walk
• →Stradun and old town
• →Lokrum island ferry
• →Buža cliff bar sunset

Bus from Trebinje to Kotor via Herceg Novi and the border at Debeli Brijeg (about 2 hours, £8-10). In Kotor, climb the fortress walls (€15, worth it — 1,350 steps, 45 mins up, views over the bay) and wander the old town's narrow lanes; the Bay of Kotor is a UNESCO fjord that you can see just by walking the waterfront. In the afternoon take a bus from Kotor to Shkodra via Podgorica (about 3 hours, £12-15) or a shared minivan if you can find one at the station. Shkodra is a lovely, flat, very cheap lake town with a famous Rozafa Castle. Cheap Albanian dinner — tavë kosi or grilled fish — for £7.

🚌Trebinje–Kotor bus ~£9; Kotor–Shkodra bus ~£13

🛏Budget hotel or guesthouse in Shkodra centre (private £16-24 / dorm £9-13)

• →Kotor old town walk
• →Kotor fortress walls climb
• →Bay of Kotor waterfront
• →Rozafa Castle, Shkodra

Morning Shkodra walking tour (free, tip-based, from the pedestrian centre) covering the old town, the cathedral and the lake. Then midday bus to Tirana (about 2 hours, £5), and use the layover to walk the central loop: Skanderbeg Square, the Pyramid, Bunk'Art 2 (£5 entry — the coach version only offers a panoramic drive), and a cheap byrek lunch (£2). Take the late afternoon bus or shared minivan from Tirana to Ohrid (about 4 hours via Struga, £14-18) arriving evening. Ohrid is a lakeside UNESCO town and one of the cheapest and prettiest stops on the route — you get two nights here, unlike the coach tour's rushed two-night stop after five days on a bus.

🚌Shkodra–Tirana bus ~£5; Tirana–Ohrid bus/minivan ~£16

🛏Guesthouse in Ohrid old town (private £18-25 / dorm £10-14)

• →Shkodra walking tour
• →Skanderbeg Square, Tirana
• →Bunk'Art 2
• →Evening at Lake Ohrid

Full day on the lake. Morning: old town walking tour — the amphitheatre, the Church of St Sophia, the Church of St John at Kaneo on the cliff over the water, and the narrow lanes with their ancient crafts. Afternoon: take the local boat or the public bus along the lake to St Naum Monastery at the southern tip (£3-5 bus each way; boat trip £10-12 — the coach tour's optional boat trip). Swim off the rocks, visit the springs behind the monastery (£2), and eat a whole grilled lake trout (£9). Ohrid is the standout stop for most people on this route and you'll have more daylight here than the coach itinerary allows.

🚌Local bus to St Naum ~£4 return

🛏Same Ohrid guesthouse

• →Ohrid old town guided walk
• →Church of St John at Kaneo
• →St Naum Monastery and springs
• →Lake Ohrid swim and boat trip

Morning bus from Ohrid to Skopje (about 3 hours, £8-10). Check into a hostel in the old bazaar area. Afternoon: free Skopje walking tour (tip-based) covering Skanderbeg Square (the giant statue), Macedonia Square, the Stone Bridge, the old Ottoman bazaar (the largest outside Turkey), the Kale Fortress and the brutalist post-earthquake architecture of the new town — the 'following the footsteps of Alexander the Great' route the coach tour runs. Dinner in the old bazaar — Skopje is famously cheap, £6-8 for a full meal with rakija. Check Skopje bus times to Sofia for tomorrow and note Matka Canyon options.

🚌Ohrid–Skopje bus ~£9

🛏Hostel or budget hotel in Skopje old bazaar / centre (dorm £10-14 / private £22-28)

• →Skopje free walking tour
• →Old Ottoman bazaar
• →Kale Fortress
• →Stone Bridge and Macedonia Square

Take local bus 60 from Skopje to Matka Canyon (about 45 mins, £1) instead of a coach. Walk the canyon rim trail, visit the Vrelo cave by kayak or the small wooden boat (about £6-7 — the 500-denar boat trip the reviewer mentions), and have lunch at the canyon restaurant (£8). Back to Skopje by mid-afternoon for the direct bus or the Skopje–Sofia train service (bus is faster and more reliable, about 4.5-5 hours, £16-20). Arrive Sofia in the evening; treat yourself to a decent final dinner near the cathedral (£12).

🚌Skopje–Matka local bus ~£1; Matka–Skopje ~£1; Skopje–Sofia bus ~£18

🛏Hostel or guesthouse in Sofia centre (dorm £12-16 / private £25-30)

• →Matka Canyon rim walk
• →Vrelo cave by boat
• →Skopje–Sofia overland transfer

Breakfast in the hostel, last stroll through the Borisova Gradina park or a coffee on Vitosha Boulevard, then metro to the airport. If your flight is late, the Museum of Socialist Art (£4) or the Roman ruins under the Serdika metro station are free-ish ways to fill the morning.

🚌Metro to airport ~£1

🛏—

• →Borisova Gradina park
• →Serdika Roman ruins
• →Airport transfer