THE LESSER KNOWN BALKANS IN ONE SINGLE EPIC TRIP
April 30 ⇾ May 12
September 01 ⇾ September 13
In addition to our regular group departures to the Western Balkans, we also offer tour services for private travel parties and lone wolves alike. As a traveller-oriented boutique operator, tailored trips and bespoke adventures are our bread and butter. Get in touch for more info on our customised journeys to the Western Balkans!
DAY 1 to DAY 2 - Skopje
Meet-and-greet at Skopje International Airport and transfer to our hotel of choice in central Skopje.
We'll spend the next two days touring Skopje, a fascinating Balkan capital full of ancient history, socialist heritage, brave-new-world pomp and ethnic diversity: ancient stone bridges, whitewashed Ottoman mosques, gold-filled Orthodox churches, imposingly melancholic brutalist shapes from the good old Yugo days, extremely pretentious and helplessly tacky monuments from the post-socialist era.
On our second day in Skopje we’ll also undertake an afternoon excursion to the quintessentially Yugo city of Kumanovo and visit the colourful bazaars and labyrinthine alleys of Shutka, the biggest Gypsy town in the world, located just a few miles north from Skopje’s downtown.
Overnights in Skopje.
DAY 3 - Prizren
We'll leave Skopje early in the morning and head north to the de-facto independent but not fully recognised Republic of Kosovo, or rather the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija as the Serbs prefer to call it.
After completing the usual border formalities at the dusty frontier town of Elez Han, we'll travel along the scenic mountain road crossing the Sharr Mountains National Park and head for Prizren, locally known as little Sarajevo, and arguably the prettiest and liveliest city in Kosovo.
Once in Prizren, we’ll enjoy a traditional Kosovar lunch in one of the many cafés built along the Bistrica River and enjoy a walking tour around the churches, mosques and Bektashi (sufi) shrines scattered around Prizren old town.
We'll then pay a visit to the medieval Kalaja Fortress overlooking then town and admire the sunset vista over Prizren and the surrounding plains.
Overnight in Prizren.
DAY 4 - Pristina
Today we'll move further north towards Pristina, the gritty Kosovar capital, where we’ll spend the day touring concrete apartment blocks, melancholic Spomeniks, and whitewashed Ottoman mosques.
An architectural highlight of our visit will be the outlandishly looking National Library, designed by Croatian architect Andrija Mutnjaković and consisting in an elaborate pattern of windows and domes enveloped by a sun-breaking metal net.
Pristina is also the political and economic centre of a newborn country and thus extremely interesting from a sociological and historical point of view as the proscenium on which to observe the complex and often controversial process of nation building.
Overnight in Pristina.
DAY 5 - Bajram Curri
Morning visit to the former mining settlement of Northern Mitrovica, home to both a besieged community of Kosovo-Serbs and one of the most striking spomeniks in former Yugoslavia: the massive ore-cart shaped Shrine to the Revolution Monument.
After a traditional Serbian lunch in Mitrovica, we’ll drive south through the Kosovar cities of Vitomiricë (home to a rare hammer-and-sickle shaped spomenik), Peja, Desan, and Gjakova, before eventually crossing into Albania.
Upon completing the relatively hassle-free border formalities, we’ll head straight for rough-and-ready Bajram Curri, a seedy frontier town renowned for its dark past of smuggling hub during the latest conflict in Kosovo.
Overnight in Bajram Curri.
DAY 6 - Theth
We'll leave the urban chaos of Bajram Curri behind us to immerse ourselves into the splendid nature of the region: a hike through the Albanian Alps, aka the Accursed Mountains, awaits us!
Starting from the idyllic hamlet of Valbonë, fighting our way up through the namesake pass and then descending towards the remote settlement of Theth, this splendid six-to-eight-hour trek will take us across an otherworldly beautiful landscape of high mountains, thick woods, and green meadows.
Please note: for those not fit enough and/or not willing to undertake the hike, we'll arrange transport from Bajram Curri to Shkodër by ferry via the scenic Komani Lake.
Overnight in Theth.
DAY 7 - Shkodër
After a lazy and deservingly restoring morning in Theth, we'll move down to the northern plains, heading for the once seedy and scruffy frontier town of Shkodër, near the Montenegrin border.
Shkodër has recently witnessed an economic and cultural rebirth and is slowly getting rid of its shanty towns and crumbling buildings albeit still retaining a peculiar run-down and slightly anarchic atmosphere.
We'll devote the afternoon to the town, visiting its historical sights (read Italian architecture, Ottoman fortresses and Socialist memorials) and sampling the scents and the flavours of its colourful markets and thriving street life.
Overnight in Shkodër.
DAY 8 - Krujë
In the morning we'll depart from Shkodër and head for Tirana, the booming capital of modern Albania.
En route to Tirana we’ll first stop in Shëngjin, a melancholic seaside resort settlement of long sandy beaches and wildlife-thriving marshlands, and then move on to Lezhë and Krujë, two historical Albanian towns renowned for their indissoluble association with the country’s national hero: Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg, nobleman and military commander who led a pan-Albanian rebellion against the Ottoman Empire.
Being this a Soviet Tours trip, we will visit several socialist-era monuments and memorials, fading reminders of a failed utopia most elders still remember with ill-disguised nostalgia.
If we happen to travel in the area on Sunday, we’ll also stop near Milot for a visit to the not-to-be-missed weekly market: a gargantuan ensemble of rusty gewgaws, loud vendors and moaning cattle.
In the early evening we’ll eventually reach Tirana and enjoy a night stroll around the quintessentially totalitarian Skanderbeg Square.
Overnight in Tirana.
DAY 9 - Tirana
We'll devote the entire day to Tirana, relentlessly exploring its many facets from dawn to dusk.
Highlights of our stay in town will include:
the intriguing architectonic mixture of fascist rationalism, socialist modernism, Ottoman eclecticism and post-socialist experimentalism;
the colourful chaos of characterising the city’s street markets, improvised bazaars and random food stalls;
the heroic deeds of the partisans eternalised through a vast plethora of socialist-era monuments, mosaics, bass-reliefs and lapidari (memorials);
the pyramid-shaped abandoned mausoleum that once hosted the mortal remains of Enver Hoxha, the much-hated much-missed isolationist leader of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania;
the touching Varrezat e Dëshmorëve (Martyrs Cemetery) and the highly photogenic Mother Albania statue;
the vast and diverse array of religious sites, epitomising the country’s tolerant multiculturalism: ancient Sunni mosques, bell-tolling Catholic churches, gold-filled Orthodox cathedrals, and Bektashi temples;
the lively night scene in Blloku, formerly home to the Communist Party's elite and now the hippest neighbourhood around town.
Overnight in Tirana.
DAY 10 - Berat
We’ll leave Tirana at dawn and head for Durrës, a no-frills port town culturally closer to Italy than to the rest of the country.
En route to Durrës, we’ll make a short detour to Pezë, a small Albanian village that used to function as the headquarters of the National Liberation Movement, the communist resistance that fought against the fascist invaders in World War II, as it is still testified by the numerous lapidari and memorial plaques.
After a seafood lunch in Durrës and a pilgrimage to its gigantic partizan monument, we’ll transfer to Berat, a medium-sized hilltop town famous for its walled citadel, Ottoman-style mansions and cobblestone alleys.
We will, however, shun the usual tourist trails and focus instead on the Hoxhaist heritage of Berat, as the city is home to a vast array of socialist-era lapidari and partizan graveyards, a perfect epilogue to our tour through the ruins of communist Albania.
Overnight in Berat.
DAY 11 - Ohrid
After a last Turkish-style coffee in Berat we'll head back to Macedonia and precisely to the resort lake town of Ohrid.
On our way to the border we'll pass through a landscape of gentle hills, run-down villages and concrete bunkers, poignant remnants from the good old times of Enver Hoxha, who spent millions of dollars and tons of construction material to build almost 700000 of these mushroom-shaped defensive structures.
After completing the border formalities, we'll head straight to Ohrid for a day of culture and relax in this little Yugoslav town of ancient monasteries, gorgeous nature and kitschy beach bars.
Overnight in Ohrid.
DAY 12 - Tetovo
On our last tour day we'll explore Macedonia's Wild West, a region of ethnic diversity, complex geopolitics and beautiful sceneries.
We'll first take a detour to Krushevo and visit the Makedonium-Ilinden Spomenik, a prominent asterisk-shaped memorial built on the 30th anniversary of the Second Session of the Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia to commemorate the 1903 Ilinden Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
We’ll then head for Tetovo, where we'll have the chance to delve deeper into the complex ethno-political dynamics of the region and visit some truly beguiling places of worship, such as the Painted Mosque, the Leshok Monastery, and the Arabati Baba Teke.
Overnight in Tetovo.
DAY 13 - FAREWELL TO THE BALKANS
After sharing a last Macedonian meal together, we'll take care of your transfer to Skopje International Airport.
For those wishing to take the train/bus to reach further destinations: transfer to Skopje Train/Bus Station.
Possible tour extensions to this itinerary include: Communist Bulgaria and/or Ceausescu's Romania.
End of the tour.
1995 €
INCLUSIONS
Double/twin-room accommodation, all breakfasts, some lunches, private ground transportation (car/minivan), ferry ride across the Komani Lake, entrance fees for the attractions listed in the itinerary, English-speaking guiding and translation service, 24/7 in situ and remote assistance.
EXCLUSIONS
Single supplement, international flights, meals, drinks and tips, visas if required, entrance to attractions not listed in the itinerary, insurance.
The designations employed and the presentation of the material on this website do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of our company concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The territory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija is internationally recognised as integral part of Serbia. Regardless of your/our position on the issue and for all travel-related intents and purposes, however, much of the territory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija is no longer under the control of Serbian authorities.