Solo travels in south eastern Europe

gap year group travel
Solo travels in south eastern Europe

Legend

Bus
Plane
Boat
Train

Teddington, United Kingdom ‐ Jun 5, 2022

Late that evening, I was home once more.
Edinburgh ‐ Jun 2, 2022

The last stop! Was the end of my solo travels though, as I flew to meet my family for the Jubilee weekend and celebrate my sister finishing her degree (as well as attending her architecture and arts end-of-degree show thing. Lovely weekend in an even lovelier place. Can't wait to go there for uni, I already feel like I know it very well.
Skopje, Macedonia ‐ May 30, 2022

My only train! 3 nights is perfect to do all a backpacker would want. Made some lovely friends, visited museums (the english info was lacking although the stuff was great), the walking tour was awesome as it is a bizarre place littered with statues. The bazaar is sick, the castle walls are a great sunset and city viewpoint again, as is the Millenium Cross up on the mountain nearby. Matka Canyon is also worth a visit- I'd recommend kayaking in the lovely lakes, as the cave tour is a little dull.
Bitola ‐ May 29, 2022

Cool place, great walking street (much more local shops & restaurants than Ohrid but still modern and attractive), and another cool archeological site within walking distance. Was a little overhyped by some articles I read, and very much off the beaten track- the popular hostel had 1 guest. It was also the only day in 6 weeks with a fair amount of rain, but my train the next day wasn't until 12:30 so I did everything I wanted to. Plus I watched Forest get promoted in an Irish pub- unreal memory.
Lake Ohrid ‐ May 28, 2022

Beautiful place, with 'a church for every day of the year'. Chill hostel too- if you have more time can do a few day trips. Is, again, beautiful to walk around, with a great viewpoint from the castle (still an archeological site) and a cute but touristy walking street. Felt a bit like Macedonian Salcombe, and after the top tier beauty of Kotor, I think the only 'very beautiful' status of Ohrid was something I didn't fully appreciate having experienced a saturation of natural beauty already.
Berat, Albania ‐ May 27, 2022

Again, got up and early to get here as I had one full day. Did a walk to a view point where you can overlook the town and castle (a UNESCO site). It is truly unique looking. Grabbed lunch w 3 hostel fellas before walking around the town and taking photos of the classic '1000 windows' before heading up to the walled castle (almost entirely residential) and chatting until sunset. We had a special dinner at Lili's. 4 tables in his garden, his wife as the cook. So memorable, cheap, and tasty.
Gjirokastër ‐ May 26, 2022

This is a MUST visit. It's a UNESCO heritage site. Wandering through the open cobbled old town is amazing, it's got unique stone roofs, a castle and an awesome ancient aquaduct bridge you can hike to. I arrived at 8am, visited a cold war nuclear bunker with hostel people, went up and around the castle and museum, had an amazing lunch (qifqi are a must try), went to Ali Pasha aquaduct bridge, did a tour of a traditional house, watched sunset and had dinner with people from my hostel- what a day.
Sarandë ‐ May 25, 2022

It's a decent enough coastal town, but I was a man with a plan so I mainly used it as just a base to go to the nearby Butrint national park (has a cool archeological site and museum) and Ksamil, which is touristy (for Albania) but validly so, with warm waters, an amazing sunset, sandy beaches and great cheap food. Had one of my favourite evenings chatting with friends, from chilling on the beach at 6, through sunset, and until dinner finished at 11. Then hitchhiked back to the Sarande hostel.
Himarë ‐ May 24, 2022

I decided to book my flight out of Skopje as late as possible (I needed to be in Edinburgh on June 2nd), but even still I had a lot of places I wanted to go in a short time. I generally think fewer places done properly is better than whizzing through lots, but overall I don't feel like I missed out on lots, definitely nothing essential, but I like temporal freedom to do non-essential, chill stuff. Anyway, Himare is lovely and chill with great beach sunsets and nice food- what more can you want.
Tirana ‐ May 22, 2022

The capital! Cool hostel and people again. Every hostel has free breakfast because it's so cheap to buy in bulk. There's a lot to do, from going up the cable car (and doing a go ape thing for £3 on top) to view the city, to a gun range and coffee bar, its got cool variety and a good atmosphere. I will always recommend the free walking tours in any city. The central square and a lot of the buildings are sick, and the Bunk'Art museums are a must see as Albanian history is fascinating.
Shkoder ‐ May 20, 2022

Such a cool place. Wanderer's hostel is also a vibe (part of the itravelbalkans.com group which i would highly recommend as there's a loyalty system, it's 10% off and they're good). It has such a pretty european colourful pedestrian street, and you can high bikes and cycle to nearby villages along the lake, which again, is beautiful. It is DIRT cheap. 180 lek (£1.35) for a pizza, 80 lek for a draught Amstel pint. Has the odd cool museum too. Would be great for a few days with a group I reckon.
Kotor, Montenegro ‐ May 18, 2022

The whole Bay of Kotor is like nothing else. Fjords surround the bay, with beautiful towns dotted around. Kotor itself has its own fortress (which you can get into for free via a back route and a ladder through a window!). The connecting old town is, as always, unique in its own way, but beautiful all the same. The old town novelty didn't die off. The Old Town Hostel has lots of fun activities like a sunset bbq and booze cruise, and has cool boat and Montenegro tours through an associated agency
Dubrovnik, Croatia ‐ May 16, 2022

Famous for a reason (beyond just being King's Landing in GOT). But SO expensive. Like £7 a pint. It cost 250 kuna (£28) to do the walk on top of the old town walls. Luckily we found 2 used tickets on the floor and blagged our way ,in but we were lucky. There is also a fortress about an 80 minute walk up from the Old Town Hostel (a return cable car up is 200 kuna). The sunset was definitely in the top 3, as it lit the old town while dropping behind the distant mountains. Deffo a short must visit.
Korčula ‐ May 15, 2022

Cute, mazey old town and stunning sunset. Way, way quieter than the other islands around it. Was nice for an evening and a morning on the way to Dubrovnik (and cheaper than going straight from Hvar to Dubrovnik, although that is probably because they didn't have the peak season ferries running yet.
Hvar ‐ May 10, 2022

What a place. Stunning, stunning old town and fortress. Dink's place hostel and the people there were so good that I ended up staying like 5 days instead of 2. Can hire mopeds and go around the island (lots of harbour towns, beaches and beautiful viewpoints). Can also hire a boat and go to nearby islands and beaches. And the nightlife is pretty decent too (has a good restaurant with live jazz too). Was just a special 5 days I won't forget, and a great home from home in the middle of the trip.
Split ‐ May 7, 2022

Very cool place. Great seaside town. Can imagine it being a tourist hellhole in the height of summer though. The hostel was literally like a student flat, in both a good and a bad way. I was there during St. Domnius day too, their patron's saint day. Good vibes. The promenade is lovely, the old town is like a maze, and the nearby walks and beaches are great. A great introduction to the Croatian coastline.
Zagreb ‐ May 5, 2022

I was too last minute booking a hostel, so ended upstaying with my two new friends's sofa. The city is beautiful but wandering around it is the main thing to do. We spent one of our two days going to Plitvice Lakes, which was spectacular. The walkways are very nice but do make it feel a bit like a tourist park. They don't ruin the environment though, it's well worth a visit if you're a waterfall fan. Zagreb also has some elite niche museums, especially the hangover and broken relationship ones.
Budapest, Hungary ‐ May 1, 2022

A truly amazing place. Top 3 favourite cities. So metropolitan yet comparatively cheap. Beautiful buildings (and baths) throughout, but also with distinct areas and landmarks that stand apart. Most people (including me) stay in Pest as that's where most of the modern city is (including the ruin bars and clubs). I had a real low after booking a terrible hostel for a solo traveller (Hive), but after moving I had an extremely busy, amazing few days and met two friends that were going to Zagreb too.
Chania, Greece ‐ Apr 30, 2022

Back for a night or two before the next chapter! I flew to Crete because it had good weather, orthodox easter the next weekend which gave me an urgent reason, and because it would be a chilled place where I could take my time and work out what I actually wanted to do and where to go on this leg of travelling. In a good way, I ended up way busier than I expected. After flirting with going to Italy with 2 aussies, I ended up booking a flight to Budapest, with the plan to travel south from there.
Plakias Beach ‐ Apr 28, 2022

awesome place, cool family-like hostel. Lots of cool secluded beaches and trails you can walk to. Was the first of many cliff jumping points. There was a weather warning for wind one of my two days there though, but it was quite nice playing cards and cooking inside with everyone hunkered down. Gave off the best camping vibes.
Rethymno ‐ Apr 26, 2022

cool town, again well located to visit places from, but I preferred Chania. I am also aware that I think I got lucky with the amazing people there. I would guess I just about caught the beginning of the season. I flew out to take part in all the Orthodox Easter celebrations they have which were so cool, and the lamb roasts and other easter foods are just unreal, like the whole Cretan and wider Greek cuisine. You never know where different people and conversations will take you.
Chania ‐ Apr 21, 2022

An amazing place. I stayed at Cocoon city hostel which I would highly recommend. It's so southern in Europe so the weather was already amazing. The hostel had a whatsapp chat so I went on different day trips with different, overlapping groups each day. It's such a great focal point from which you can chill, find beaches, hike, or do whatever else. You can day trip to anywhere in Crete with a car. The novelty of seeing snowy mountains from a beach doesn't wear off either.
London Gatwick Airport, United Kingdom ‐ Apr 21, 2022

Booked on Tuesday evening, flew out on Thursday afternoon. My first experience with Wizz Air too. £12 for a flight to Chania, Crete, Greece, plus £7 for Wizz Air priority got me a 10kg cabin bag. You can't complain. (I used a CabinMax bag which is designed to fit cabin bag rules exactly, plus it can unzip to expand 25% when you're not flying around. Such a good bag, and only £25). Missed the last bus from airport to hostel by 2 mins, but shared a taxi with 2 americans going to the same hostel.