My Balkans backpacking trip report
My route was:
Budapest — 2 nights
I stayed in Maverick Central Market. Good location, easy to meet people, fine for a start.
Belgrade — 4 nights
Smart Hostel. Clean, relaxed, good common space. I liked Belgrade more than I thought I would, mostly for walking around, cheap food, and not feeling like I had to “do” too much every day.
Sarajevo — 2 nights
NK Apartment. Next to Sarajevo City Center, it is a beautiful apartment building with convenient shopping and dining.
Mostar — 2 nights
Stayed at Hostel Majdas. Probably my favorite hostel of the trip. Transport was very convenient.
Kotor — 3 nights
Hostel Pupa. Very close to the old town, good location, with supermarkets and restaurants nearby.
A few things I need to mention
Some of the distances look short on the map, but the roads, borders and station waiting time can easily take up most of the day. I tried not to plan anything important after a long ride.
4 nights in Belgrade was actually not too much. It gave me a cheaper base for a few days, and I didn’t feel like I was packing again. For a budget trip, slowing down sometimes saves money too.
Not full cooking every night, but simple breakfasts, coffee, supermarket food, leftovers, that kind of thing. It made a real difference over two weeks.
Small cash was useful everywhere. Card was fine in bigger places, but I was glad I didn’t rely on it completely.
I also kept phone data basic. I used Redteago during this trip, and though its basic unlimited plan for Europe slows down after 300MB/day, but I had hostel Wi-Fi most nights and offline maps saved, so it was fine for the usual travel stuff.
Anyways, if I did the route again, I’d probably give Sarajevo one more night, mostly because two nights felt a bit tight once the bus time was included. Kotor was beautiful and I’m glad I went, but it was also the most touristy stop on my route. I wouldn’t skip it, I just wouldn’t stay longer than three nights if I was trying to keep the trip cheap