When individuals consider Europe, the primary locations that always come to thoughts are France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and perhaps Switzerland. Nonetheless, Europe is dwelling to dozens of nations, and one of the vital underrated areas for vacationers is the Balkans. Whereas there’s no common settlement on which international locations belong to the Balkans, the area typically consists of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia, with Romania and Slovenia generally thought-about a part of it as properly.
Regardless of being ignored by many vacationers, the Balkans provide beautiful landscapes, wealthy historical past, and vibrant cultures — all at a fraction of the fee in comparison with Western Europe. Whereas some locations should be dear by Filipino requirements, they’re typically extra budget-friendly than their Western European counterparts. If visiting the Balkans is in your journey bucket listing, preserve studying as we share how we deliberate our unforgettable Balkan journey on this article!
1. Safe the best visas.
As talked about earlier, the Balkan area typically consists of 11 international locations. Nonetheless, not all of them are a part of the Schengen Space.
Schengen Balkan International locations
Solely 5 international locations within the Balkan area are included within the Schengen Space. These are the next:
- Greece
- Croatia
- Slovenia
- Bulgaria
- Romania
Observe: Bulgaria and Romania at present solely settle for Schengen visas at their sea and air borders.
Among the many Schengen international locations within the Balkans, Greece is essentially the most sensible alternative for Filipino vacationers. Listed below are the explanations:
- Greece has its personal embassy within the Philippines, making visa processing extra simple.
- Athens Airport is well-connected, with reasonably priced flights out there from many locations.
- Greece is a shocking journey vacation spot, so it’s properly value including to your itinerary!
Alternatively, you may also apply for a Schengen visa via Slovenia, which is processed by the Belgian Embassy within the Philippines.
TIP! Design an itinerary that requires a number of Schengen entries, making your multiple-entry visa software extra justifiable. See pattern itinerary within the subsequent part.
Non-Schengen Balkan International locations
Listed below are the Balkan international locations outdoors of the Schengen Space:
- Albania
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Kosovo
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- Serbia
When you’re touring to any of those international locations, you’ll want a separate visa particular to that nation. As an example, in the event you’re solely visiting Albania, you’ll want to use for an Albanian visa. Fortuitously, there’s a workaround: when you have a multiple-entry Schengen visa, you received’t want a separate visa for a lot of Balkan states.
To reap the benefits of this, you’ll be able to apply for a multiple-entry Schengen visa via Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, or Romania — so long as your itinerary justifies a number of entries. Moreover, many non-Schengen Balkan international locations settle for a used multiple-entry Schengen visa, which means you should enter a Schengen nation at the least as soon as earlier than utilizing it to go to different Balkan states.
2. Plan your route correctly.
Cautious route planning is important — not solely to save lots of time, cash, and power but additionally to justify the necessity for a multiple-entry Schengen visa.
Creating Your Itinerary
As talked about earlier, solely 5 Balkan international locations are a part of the Schengen Space, whereas the remaining require separate visas. Nonetheless, with a multiple-entry Schengen visa, you’ll be able to enter many non-Schengen Balkan international locations without having further visas.
For this reason the itinerary you undergo the embassy is essential. Beneath is a simplified model of our Balkan journey route. It was extra sophisticated in actuality, however this provides you an instance of how one can plan your itinerary.
- Greece
- Romania
- Bulgaria
- North Macedonia
- Kosovo
- Albania
- Montenegro
- Croatia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Croatia
- Spain
This itinerary required us to enter the Schengen Space thrice, which strengthened our justification for a multiple-entry visa.
- First Entry: Arriving in Greece (Schengen).
- Second Entry: Exiting the Schengen Space from Bulgaria to North Macedonia, then re-entering when arriving in Croatia.
- Third Entry: Taking a facet journey to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, then re-entering Croatia.
With three Schengen entries, a multiple-entry visa was justified, permitting us to journey via the non-Schengen Balkan international locations without having separate visas.
Selecting the Finest Mode of Transportation
Past visas, planning your route correctly additionally means contemplating transportation availability. Google Maps is a superb device to examine essentially the most logical route between the international locations you wish to go to. Researching bus routes might help you keep away from pointless flights, making your journey extra budget-friendly and environment friendly.
Throughout our Balkan backpacking journey, we primarily traveled by bus. Not solely was it essentially the most reasonably priced possibility, however it additionally made for a extra immersive and adventurous expertise.
Checking the Political Panorama
One other vital issue when planning your itinerary is the political panorama of the Balkan area, as some international locations have border restrictions because of diplomatic conflicts. For instance, Serbia apparently doesn’t enable entry from Kosovo because of conflicts. Whereas this coverage could change over time, we took additional precautions when planning our route. As an alternative of touring from Kosovo to Serbia, we entered Serbia from Bulgaria first, then later traveled to Kosovo from North Macedonia to keep away from potential points.
By being strategic along with your route, you can also make your Balkan journey smoother, more cost effective, and visa-efficient — all whereas having fun with the unbelievable variety of this fascinating area!
3. Seek for reasonably priced flights.
When planning our Balkans journey, we selected Greece as our entry level as a result of it provided the most affordable flights. When you’re reserving properly upfront or throughout seat gross sales, one of the vital budget-friendly choices from Manila to Athens is SCOOT, which operates flights with a stopover in Singapore. In actual fact, we’ve flown to Greece with Scoot on earlier journeys.
Nonetheless, don’t restrict your search to simply funds airways. It’s at all times value checking full-service carriers too. Typically, you’ll discover flights which are both cheaper or solely barely costlier than low-cost airways however include added advantages. For instance, after we booked our flight for our Balkans journey, we selected Etihad with a cease in Abu Dhabi. On the time, it was solely about ₱5,000 costlier than Scoot, however that worth already included add-ons.
When you observed in our pattern itinerary, our closing cease earlier than returning to the Philippines was Spain, though it’s not a part of the Balkan area. The explanation? Flight costs. On the time, the most affordable flight again to Manila was from Barcelona. Even after factoring in the price of a connecting flight from Croatia to Barcelona, the whole expense was nonetheless decrease than flying instantly from the Balkans. That’s why we determined to incorporate Spain in our route!
It’s essential to notice that when making use of for a Schengen visa, you don’t must e-book your flights but. As an alternative, you’ll want a flight reservation, which serves as a short lived reserving with out requiring full cost. Some individuals check with it as a “dummy ticket”, it sounds phony so we keep away from utilizing that time period. However no matter you name it, what’s essential is that embassies acknowledge flight reservations.
For our visa purposes, we get our flight reservations from Gazelle Journey and Excursions. When you want one, you’ll be able to go to this web page, fill out the order type, and examine the pricing and turnaround time. As soon as your visa is authorised, you’ll be able to proceed with finalizing your precise flight reserving.
4. Take into account the season and the climate.
Timing performs a vital position when planning a visit to Europe, together with the Balkan area. We’ve traveled to the Balkans throughout late spring to early summer time and once more from late summer time to autumn, and we are able to confidently say — the distinction in worth is large.
The summer time months (June to September) are thought-about peak season, which means larger costs for flights, lodging, and excursions. For instance, after we visited Croatia, we observed that as quickly as October arrived, tour costs dropped considerably. This development applies to resorts and flights as properly.
Out of all of the seasons we’ve skilled, autumn was essentially the most breathtaking. The climate was comfortably cool — neither too scorching nor too chilly — and the landscapes had been painted in beautiful fall colours, making it an unforgettable sight.
Past pricing and surroundings, seasonal climate additionally determines what it’s essential to pack. The Balkans have numerous climates, so temperatures can differ vastly relying on the place you go. For instance, the climate in Romania is completely different from Croatia’s Dalmatia Area.
In the meantime, coastal cities alongside the Adriatic and Aegean Seas — like Break up and Dubrovnik in Croatia — have a Mediterranean local weather. Inland areas, similar to Sofia in Bulgaria and Brașov in Romania, expertise a moist continental local weather, which means colder winters and extra vital seasonal adjustments.
When you’re backpacking via a number of international locations, count on the climate to shift from place to position. Make sure you analysis every vacation spot’s local weather upfront and pack accordingly to remain snug all through your journey.
5. Don’t assume all the pieces’s the identical.
The Balkan area is extremely numerous, not simply when it comes to local weather but additionally in tradition, language, historical past, and governance. Whereas there are similarities between international locations, every nation has its personal distinct identification. The alphabet, faith, political techniques, and even cuisines can differ dramatically as you cross borders.
Historical past
This variety can also be mirrored within the area’s advanced historical past. Many neighboring international locations have long-standing political tensions, which generally grow to be evident when talking with locals. Even historic excursions can current conflicting narratives, relying on the place you might be. For instance, North Macedonia and Bulgaria, Serbia and Bulgaria, Serbia and Kosovo, and even Bosnia and Herzegovina all have completely different views on historic occasions — and also you’ll probably sense this when visiting heritage websites or partaking in conversations.
Delicacies
Every nation within the Balkans presents a singular delicacies as properly. For instance, in Dubrovnik and Montenegro, seafood dominates the delicacies, whereas Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia favor meat-heavy dishes.
Faith
Relating to faith, international locations like Kosovo and Albania are predominantly Muslim, whereas Croatia is essentially Catholic. In the meantime, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania comply with Jap Orthodox Christianity, every with their very own branches — Greek Orthodox, Bulgarian Orthodox, and Serbian Orthodox.
Language
The linguistic variety can also be fascinating. For instance, Romanian is a Latin-based language that makes use of the Latin alphabet, whereas Bulgarian is a Slavic language that makes use of the Cyrillic script. Greek, in fact, has its personal distinct Greek alphabet.
Vibe and Persona
Each vacation spot has its personal character. Past cultural variations, every metropolis or city exudes its personal distinctive allure. Brașov (Romania) appears like a quaint, fairy-tale city. Sofia (Bulgaria) and Tirana (Albania) have the bustling power of massive cities. In the meantime, Break up and Dubrovnik (Croatia) are straight out of Sport of Thrones, serving severe King’s Touchdown vibes. And Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Prizren (Kosovo) appear like large, open-air museums with their well-preserved historic websites.
Affordability
Costs additionally differ between locations. Whereas a lot of the Balkans is thought for being budget-friendly, there are notable exceptions. Dubrovnik and Break up are among the many costliest cities within the area. Once we first visited these elements of Croatia a number of years in the past, they had been already dear, however throughout our most up-to-date journey, we observed costs had skyrocketed, probably as a result of inflow of vacationers. When you plan to go to, be ready to spend extra in comparison with different Balkan locations.
The extra locations you discover, the extra you’ll recognize the area’s unbelievable variety. Each cease reveals one thing new, making the Balkans a really fascinating place to go to.
6. Examine your lodging on-line.
Among the finest issues about touring within the Balkans is the abundance of budget-friendly lodging. Nonetheless, worth isn’t the one issue to think about when selecting the place to remain. We at all times use two key standards when reserving: central location and accessibility.
We favor lodging close to the Outdated City or metropolis heart, inside strolling distance of key sights and beginning factors for strolling excursions. It’s additionally essential that our lodging is near main transportation hubs, similar to practice stations or bus terminals, for simpler transfers between locations.
Discovering lodging that match these standards was pretty straightforward, besides in Dubrovnik, the place we confronted a singular problem: most budget-friendly rooms solely accommodated two individuals — we had been a bunch of three. Consequently, we ended up reserving flats for many of our keep.
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Past location and affordability, it’s additionally essential to examine the constructing’s services, particularly in the event you’re staying in an condo throughout the Outdated City. Some buildings are older and lack elevators, which is usually a drawback in the event you’re carrying heavy baggage or have mobility issues.
For instance, in Brașov, Romania, we stayed at Zinne Residences, an enthralling place simply two blocks from the primary sq.. Nonetheless, it was on the second ground, which is third ground for us Pinoys, and because it was in an older constructing, there was no elevator. Equally, in Skopje, North Macedonia, we booked Condominium Emilija, which had a tremendous location — we may see the primary sq. proper from our window. The unit itself was spacious and cozy, however it was on the fourth ground, which is fifth ground by our requirements, with no elevator.
Earlier than finalizing your lodging, at all times examine which ground your unit is on and whether or not the constructing has an elevator. This small element could make an enormous distinction in your consolation, particularly after a protracted day of exploring. And, once more:
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7. Watch out for scams.
Like many main cities in Europe, scams exist within the Balkans. Though they aren’t as rampant as in Paris, Barcelona, or Berlin, scams nonetheless exist right here. The most typical kind of rip-off vacationers encounter right here often includes taxis.
We personally skilled a taxi rip-off in North Macedonia. We often favor public transportation, however generally, particularly when arriving late at night time, taking a taxi is the one possibility. Since there have been three of us, we figured splitting the fare wouldn’t be too dangerous.
Earlier than getting within the taxi, we agreed on a worth with the motive force. Nonetheless, after we arrived at our vacation spot, he abruptly demanded extra money. Once we refused, different taxi drivers surrounded us, making an attempt to intimidate us.
Sadly, taxi scams occur in different cities too. When you suspect a driver is overcharging, stroll away and discover one other taxi. To keep away from this, you’ll be able to ask your lodging host for an estimate of the standard fare from the station to your keep. Many hosts even suggest a trusted switch service to make sure you’re not overcharged. For instance, our host in Skopje went the additional mile to personally take us to the bus station so we wouldn’t need to cope with taxi scams.
In our six weeks of touring within the Balkans, we solely encountered two scams and fell for one. Nonetheless, there are different scams that vacationers have reported, similar to because the cash collector rip-off and overpriced menu rip-off. Fortunately, we didn’t encounter these, however researching frequent scams earlier than your journey might help you acknowledge and keep away from them.
8. Safe necessary journey insurance coverage.
Since we’re speaking about security, do not forget that when making use of for a Schengen visa, having journey insurance coverage is necessary. Not simply any insurance coverage — it have to be Schengen-accredited. For dependable protection, you’ll be able to e-book TravelJoy Plus via PGA Sompo. This ensures you’re protected all through your journey.
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