Bosnia vs Montenegro vs Albania

[Incal]

I actually trace my direct ancestry from this region

For real????

[Ylla]

Albania. But not for mindless beach holidays. I would love to spend time in Shkoder and Kruja. Visiting the historical sites, museums, hiking and exploring the local areas.

[Baki]

I lived in Albania and Kosovo for like half a year. I liked Western Kosovo and it's mountains bordering Montenegro and Northern Albania, in the Rugova Canyon and the accursed mountains there are some extremely beautiful mountains, you can go and eat in some hotels there in the mountains and hike or even sleep there. There is some old Roman road there, if you follow it you will cross over to Montenegro basically. The beautiful town of Prizren is basically only 15km away from Albania and you can easily take a bus to Albania from there or from Peja or Gjakova.
I biked really fast from Gjakova to Northern Albania. Just some KM away.

The food in Albania and the general atmosphere definitely has more Italian and Greek influence to it. And it was definitely more for me. I especially liked some of their food.
I am going back there again soon to explore more.

In Albania I was in Shengjin, Durres, Kukes, the mountains of Northern Albania which has incredible nature. There are some parks there with beautiful mountains.

I was also in Elbasan, Tirana (a very nice city) and Saranda (extremely beautiful coastal town of Albania). I also passed Vlora. I wanted to go to Shkodra and the explore more of the North-Western part
which has a large Catholic population. Other parts of Albania also have Orthodox. So it's definitely not just Muslims. Tirana is a place where people from all over the country are gathered. A lot of
people from Burrel, Shkodra or the South in general.


In general I felt very safe in the country and had no problems.

[Baki]

Another advice is to be careful of dogs on the streets in more remote areas. But there aren't that many but some.

Also Tirana is more expensive than other places. Make sure to check the reviews of the place you're staying. Anything under 30 euros in Tirana and you will most likely get some dirty place. But
I found a nice place for 30 euros. You're gonna have to give like 40 - 50 euros. There are of course shared accommodations etc.

In Saranda I paid only 20 Euros a night for a hotel room in the center and it was really clean and nice. The owner also owned a mall right next to the hotel.

[bandoge]

I've been to Montenegro in 2016. It was fairly cheap and the landscape is just so beautiful. We rented a car in Podgorica and toured the country in 5 days. We also took the Bar-Belgrade railway and it's really beautiful.

[Hulu]

Seya, did you go already to Albania? I was checking out some posts in Facebook of people complaining for the prices in the South and thought of you.

[Jankec]

Never been there but I would visit my Bosniak brothers and sisters. If we exclude Croatia and Greece, Mostar is one of the few nice places in the Balkan.



Sarajevo could be nice too. Maybe the spring is the best time for city tours, during the summer Id rather visit Albania beaches.

Your "Bosniak Brothers and sisters" live only on one side of this river. Don't make a mistake.

[Jankec]

I would personally pick Albania. All these countries are wonderful, so you can't go wrong anyhow.

I would like to visit Boka, Lovćen and Cetinje in Montenegro. I was in Sarajevo and it is a magnificent city too. In Albania maybe its southern part (Northern Epirus) which is under a strong Greek influence and has beautiful beaches.