Region of Europe

The Adriatic & Balkans

Mountains that end in a clear sea, ottoman and habsburg layers in the same street, and Europe's least crowded coast.

The 9 countries of The Adriatic & Balkans, filled, with the rest of Europe behind them. Borders and coastline from Natural Earth, public domain. The whole map →

Zagreb

Croatia

A thousand islands, a Roman emperor's palace still lived in, and lakes that fall into each other.

3 regions · 7 cities · moderate cost

Sarajevo

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Where the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian worlds meet in one street, and the 1990s are still within touching distance.

2 regions · 4 cities · low cost

Belgrade

Serbia

A confluence capital with the best nightlife in the Balkans, and monasteries frescoed eight hundred years ago.

2 regions · 4 cities · low cost

Podgorica

Montenegro

A drowned river canyon that looks like a fjord, with black mountains straight up behind it.

2 regions · 3 cities · moderate cost

Skopje

North Macedonia

One of the oldest lakes on earth, a bazaar that never stopped trading, and a capital that rebuilt itself in marble.

2 regions · 3 cities · low cost

Tirana

Albania

Closed to the world until 1991, and now the least developed and least expensive coast on the Mediterranean.

2 regions · 4 cities · low cost

Pristina

Kosovo

Europe's youngest country by both age and population, with medieval monasteries and a mountain trail into two neighbours.

2 regions · 3 cities · low cost

Sofia

Bulgaria

Thracian gold, Orthodox monasteries, rose fields and the cheapest good skiing in Europe.

2 regions · 5 cities · low cost

Bucharest

Romania

Saxon fortified churches, painted monasteries, and the largest population of brown bears in Europe.

3 regions · 7 cities · low cost