Discover the Balkan Coast Self-Launched

Fly into Zagreb and check into a hostel or budget hotel in the lively Lower Town near Ban Jelačić Square. Spend the evening exploring the café-lined streets of Tkalčićeva and grab ćevapi at a local konoba. If time allows, ride the funicular to the Upper Town for sunset views over the red rooftops.

🚌Airport shuttle / tram from airport (~£3)

🛏Hostel/guesthouse near Ban Jelačić Square (~£18)

• →Arrive and settle in
• →Wander Tkalčićeva street
• →Sunset over Upper Town

Take an early morning bus from Zagreb's main bus station to Plitvice Lakes National Park (entry ~£30, book a timed slot). Walk the boardwalks past the travertine terraces, waterfalls and turquoise pools — the same UNESCO World Heritage highlight as the paid tour. After a few hours exploring, catch a direct afternoon bus from Plitvice down the Adriatic coast to Split.

🚌Bus Zagreb→Plitvice (~£8), Plitvice→Split (~£15)

🛏Hostel near Split's Riva (~£20)

• →Walk Plitvice Lakes boardwalks
• →See Veliki Slap waterfall
• →Afternoon bus to Split

Explore Split's UNESCO-listed Old Town at your own pace inside Diocletian's Palace — a living Roman ruin of luminous white stone. Walk the cobbled lanes, climb the bell tower of the cathedral for panoramic views, and join a self-guided or small walking-tour app for palace history. Spend the afternoon relaxing on the Riva promenade, or take an optional local bus out to the historic town of Trogir for ~£4.

🚌Local walking; optional bus to Trogir (~£4)

🛏Hostel near Split's Riva (~£20)

• →Wander Diocletian's Palace
• →Climb cathedral bell tower
• →Optional day trip to Trogir

Board the morning catamaran from Split to Hvar (~£20, ~1h). Drop bags at a hostel in old Hvar Town, then walk the main square, St Stephen's Cathedral and Franciscan Monastery cloisters. Hike up to the 16th-century Fortica Fortress at sunset for sweeping views over the harbour and Pakleni islands.

🚌Catamaran Split→Hvar (~£20)

🛏Hostel in Hvar Town (~£22)

• →Catamaran to Hvar
• →St Stephen's Square & Cathedral
• →Sunset at Fortica Fortress

Spend the day at leisure on Hvar. Taxi-boat out to the pebbly coves and beach bars of the Pakleni Islands, or walk inland through pine forests and lavender-covered stone villages. In the evening, enjoy local seafood and a glass of the region's Plavac Mali wine on the Riva.

🚌Local taxi-boat to islands (~£8)

🛏Hostel in Hvar Town (~£22)

• →Boat to Pakleni Islands
• →Beach and swimming time
• →Inland lavender-hills walk

Take the catamaran from Hvar back to Split (or the direct summer catamaran on to Dubrovnik), then catch a scenic coastal bus south along the Adriatic to Dubrovnik. Check into a hostel outside the old town gates and stroll the Stradun in the cool evening once the day-trippers have gone.

🚌Catamaran (~£20) + bus (~£15)

🛏Hostel near Dubrovnik old town (~£25)

• →Catamaran Hvar→Split
• →Coastal bus to Dubrovnik
• →Evening Stradun stroll

Take the local bus out to the lush Konavle Valley south of Dubrovnik, the same agrotourism region featured on the tour. Visit a family-run agroturizam for a traditional meal of local hams, cheeses, garden produce and Dalmatian wines nestled amid olive groves and views to the Adriatic. Return to Dubrovnik for the afternoon.

🚌Local bus Konavle (~£5)

🛏Hostel near Dubrovnik old town (~£25)

• →Bus to Konavle Valley
• →Family-run agrotourism lunch
• →Return to Dubrovnik

Spend the day in Dubrovnik. Walk the full ~2km circuit of the UNESCO city walls early to beat the heat and crowds, then dive in the crystal water at Buža Bar's cliff-edge sea pools just outside the walls. Catch the cable car up Mount Srđ for panoramic views over the old town and Adriatic, lingering for golden hour.

🚌Walking; cable car (~£15)

🛏Hostel near Dubrovnik old town (~£25)

• →Full city-walls walk
• →Cliff swimming at Buža Bar
• →Cable car to Mount Srđ

Take the catamaran or bus along the coast into Montenegro to the jaw-dropping Bay of Kotor. Settle in to a guesthouse in Kotor's walled old town at the water's edge, and walk the dramatic 1,350-step Ladder of Cattaro fortification trail up to St John's Fortress for one of Europe's finest panoramas over the fjord-like bay.

🚌Catamaran/bus Dubrovnik→Kotor (~£18)

🛏Guesthouse in old town Kotor (~£22)

• →Cross border into Montenegro
• →Wander Kotor old town
• →Hike to St John's Fortress

Take a local bus along the bay to the baroque town of Perast to admire its 16th-century towers, then boat out to the two tiny islets of Our Lady of the Rocks and St George. Continue to the oyster-farming hamlet of Stari Bar or the Kotor salt pans for a taste of the fresh local shellfish Croatia and Montenegro are prized for.

🚌Local bus + private islet boat (~£10)

🛏Guesthouse in old town Kotor (~£22)

• →Perast & Our Lady of the Rocks
• →Oyster tasting on the bay
• →Explore the coastline

Take the scenic coastal bus from Kotor along the Riviera to Budva, the lively Montenegrin coastal town with its own fortified medieval old town and sandy beaches. Walk the walls, climb the citadel, and spend the afternoon swimming at Mogren beach or exploring the nearby cliffs of Sveti Stefan.

🚌Local bus (-£6)

🛏Guesthouse in Budva (~£20)

• →Coastal bus to Budva
• →Budva old town & citadel
• →Mogren beach swim

Take the bus inland from the coast into Bosnia and Herzegovina, climbing through dramatic karst mountains to the Neretva Valley. Arrive in Mostar and check into a guesthouse by the river. In the afternoon, wander the cobbled old town bazaar up to the reconstructed 16th-century Ottoman stone bridge that gives the city its symbol.

🚌Bus coastal Bosnia→Mostar (~£12)

🛏Guesthouse near Stari Most bridge (~£18)

• →Bus to Mostar
• →Cross Ottoman-style footbridge
• →Wander the old bazaar

Spend the day in and around Mostar. Walk the iconic Stari Most bridge, rebuilt in the 1600s Ottoman style after its destruction during the war, and catch the traditional bridge-diver show. Explore the alleyways, mosques and Turkish houses of the old town, and take a short trip out to the Blagaj Dervish monastery tekhija tucked beneath a cliff at a spring.

🚌Local bus to Blagaj (~£3)

🛏Guesthouse near Stari Most bridge (~£18)

• →Walk Stari Most (Old Bridge)
• →Watch bridge divers
• →Trip to Blagaj monastery

Take a local bus south to the beautiful stone village of Počitelj clinging to the Neretva hillside, with its minaret, ruined fortress and UNESCO-listed Ottoman houses. Climb to the hilltop fort for river views, then return to Mostar for a final relaxed evening of cevapi and local wine by the bridge.

🚌Local bus Počitelj (~£4)

🛏Guesthouse near Stari Most bridge (~£18)

• →Explore stone village of Počitelj
• →Climb hilltop fortress
• →Relaxed final Mostar evening

Take the historic narrow-gauge scenic railway that hugs the Neretva and climbs over the mountains from Mostar into the heart of Bosnia, arriving in atmospheric Sarajevo. Check into a hostel in Baščaršija's Ottoman old town, then wander the cobbled streets where East meets West, through the bazaar, Sebilj fountain and ancient caravanserai.

🚌Train Mostar→Sarajevo (~£8)

🛏Hostel in Baščaršija (~£15)

• →Scenic Mostar→Sarajevo train
• →Arrive in Sarajevo
• →Wander Baščaršija old town

Use your final morning to explore Sarajevo's layered history: the eternal flame, the old 16th-century Gazi Husrev-beg mosque and the famous Latin Bridge where WWI began. Visit the evocative Tunnel of Hope museum telling the wartime siege story, and enjoy a farewell plate of Bosnian cuisine before departing or continuing onward.

🚌Local walking & tram

🛏Depart / onward travel (~£15)

• →Gazi Husrev-beg mosque area
• →Latin Bridge & old town
• →Sarajevo Tunnel Museum