- Discover Skopje and Sofia, two of the most vibrant capitals in the Balkans
- Visit the Unesco-listed Rila Monastery in Bulgaria
- Discover the Tikvesh wine region and alluring Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia
- Explore Prizren, the culture capital of Kosovo
- Enjoy natural beauty, ancient sites and traditional Balkan cuisine
![Balkan Explorer](https://res.cloudinary.com/enchanting/q_80,f_auto,c_lfill,x_w_mul_0.47,y_h_mul_0.66,g_xy_center,w_360,h_270/exodus-web/2024/04/AdobeStock_270130702.jpeg)
Balkan Explorer
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- Balkan Explorer
Reviews
Add your own reviewEnlightening
A whistle-stop tour of stupendous scenery and fascinating history. Each day brought something new to wonder at.
Most Inspirational Moment
Our Local Guide Samra had experienced in her family the horrors of the siege of Sarajevo and to hear first-hand brought home how people's resilience of spirit can conquer such appalling treatment
Thoughts on Group Leader
Efficient, humorous, knowledgeable and all round good egg
Advice for Potential Travellers
Decent walking shoes!
A lot of driving and no photography in churches
This trip is billing as 1 – Leisurely. However whilst there’s not much walking there are a lot of long drives as you cover a lot of ground. Additionally all the hotels are a single night only, apart from 2 nights at Lake Ohrid, so there’s little time to decompress and unpack. The trip also covers a lot of churches and monasteries so if that’s not your thing, maybe pass on this trip. Frustratingly, despite the amazing and beautiful interiors of the churches, almost without exception you’re not allowed to take photos in them.
Most Inspirational Moment
Lake Ohrid was lovely. Being the only location where we had two nights it gave us a chance to relax, unpack, and decompress. Plus the lake and surrounding area is beautiful.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Kristina was a great tour leader. She was funny, insightful with the facts and background of the places we visited, and caring when someone on the tour needed extra help. She also caused me to gain several pounds with her love of ice cream and insistence of grabbing one everywhere we went (lol).
Advice for Potential Travellers
As mentioned, this can be tough with the long drives and mainly single nights in hotels not giving you much chance to relax. A few of the hotels also don't have lifts so you might need to drag your luggage upstairs yourself. Some of the places we visited also contained a large number of stairs too, so bear this in mind if you're not comfortable with that.
The magnificent seven finally completed 🥳
The warmest of welcomes from the wonderful Balkans. It felt SO good to be back !!! After falling in love with The Balkans in 2015 visiting Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina on the fabulous Bosnia and beyond tour, four of us chose to travel together again in 2016 on the Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania tour. We were lucky enough to get our tour leader Evelyn again! So I was incredibly happy to be able to ‘complete the set ‘ by finally visiting Kosovo, along with Bulgaria and North Macedonia again. We have visited everything from towns, cities, winery’s, a Beekeeper, stunning lake Ohrid, mountain’s and monastery’s! Drank Wine, beer, cocktails and plenty of Rakia…not forgetting lots of water! As always in the Balkans, the food portions are as big as the welcome you receive so take stretchy clothes as I put on 4lb ! Lol
Most Inspirational Moment
We took an optional boat trip on Lake Ohrid to the Bay of bones. 9 people went and it was 20 euro pp. We were out for approx 3 hours. Stunning views of the shore. Lovely captain on the boat giving us facts and pointing out various birds. The visit to the Beekeeper was my favourite part . You saw how the hives worked, got to taste amazing honey ( which lots of us bought) and ever saw a bee being born! Then we had lunch at his house. Fabulous home cooked food. Dinner at the private house was lovely too. We came out and did some stargazing as the sky was so clear! We saw the international space station pass over us ! Also our leader knew a great restaurant for our evening in Skopje. Near to the fountain in the main square.Fabulous food and lots of different choices that suited everyone's taste. I had squid ink risotto and it was one of the best meals I've ever had. Wine tasting at the winery was fun. We had a light 3 course meal with several wines.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Kristina Pesheva-Dinovska was fantastic. Always punctual, happy, laughing, full of energy. A real 'pocket rocket' . An encyclopedia of knowledge on history and politics in the region. Always tried to get the best deal for our group. Very sociable. Very respectful of the different religions and cultures we came across on the trip ( we visited churches, cathedrals, monasteries and mosques) Was very welcomed by our hosts and our captain on the optional boat trip on Lake Ohrid. Also our driver, Iko, was excellent. Would happily travel with both of them again and would highly recommend them.
Advice for Potential Travellers
This tour is marked as leisurely but I have advised Exodus to change their trip notes. There is only one hotel you stay in for more than one night so you are constantly on the move. Most of the hotels DO NOT have lifts, so even though your bags are carried to your room you are not! And there are stairs EVERYWHERE! Also some of the places you visit have old cobbled streets which are slippery. We had 3 people on the trip who had reduced mobility and had to either miss out on some things or get taxis to places because the walk and/or climb was too arduous. They all said had they known before hand they would not have chosen to book this particular tour . I also think some people are not booking it because it's classed as leisurely. I'm 5"10 and was walking approx 10,000 steps per day, often more than that.
Great Trip
A really enjoyable and leisurely trip. The distances covered aren’t long which makes for a more leisurely pace.
Almost all the accommodation exceeded expectations.
Most Inspirational Moment
Really enjoyed staying at two wineries Views over lake Ohrid.
Thoughts on Group Leader
She was excellent. Nothing was too much trouble.
Great way to explore the region
This is a very nice trip, with no time to get bored. We visited 3 counties in 10 days from the biggest to the smallest cities in the region. It was an interesting contrast. We explored several, churches, monasteries, mosques, UNESCO sites and restaurants. This part of the world is not yet so discovered, it often felt we are the only tourists from abroad. We learn a lot about the history of the area thanks to our skilled leader and tried some local food specialties. The portions are huge there!
We had a lovely group that added to the positive experience.
Most Inspirational Moment
Every place we visited had its own charm. Lake Ohrid was fantastic. It is beautiful yet not so crowded. We had some free time there and I had the chance to go for a short swim in the lake. I was very pleasantly surprised by Skopje. It is beautiful!
Thoughts on Group Leader
Nebojsha was very knowledgeable, calm and friendly. He liked to socialise with the group which was appreciated.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Take a waterproof jacket, the weather can be unpredictable, and a swimming costume to take advantage of the spa hotel in Skopje and/or to swim in Lake Ohrid. Make sure you have enough space on your memory card.
Great trip
As the trip title suggests, this is great way to explore Macedonia, with a couple of days in Bulgaria and a day in Kosovo thrown in. The trip took in a good mix of cities, small towns, national parks and lakes (and a lot of churches, monasteries and mosques!) and included local visits to wineries and a beekeeper’s; all well guided/hosted. Although the trip is a leisurely one, the itinerary is very full which was great for the amount we saw and did in 10 days, but did mean that we had less free time than other trips I’ve been on. The trip was well planned and organised with only a couple of longer drives (needed to see as much as we did) and all the staff and local guides were great. Overall it was a great trip through some beautiful and fascinating countries and I would love to go back to the region.
Most Inspirational Moment
Hard to choose from such a full trip but my personal highlights were Rila Monastery , Lake Ohrid (and the cathedral tortoise), the morning/lunch at the beekeeper's and the night at the winery.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Nebojsha was a great; friendly, organised and incredibly knowledgeable.
Advice for Potential Travellers
We had limited time in Sofia and Skopje so if I were to do the trip again I would consider adding an extra night or two to the trip to have more time in one or both cities. Be prepared for the very generous portion sizes - you will not be hungry on this trip!
Start
Finish
Availability
Land Only Trip Price
Optional Single Supplement
Friday Friday
13 Sep 2024 13 Sep 2024
Sunday Sunday
22 Sep 2024 22 Sep 2024
Availability
Sold Out
Land Only Trip Price 2 220 €
Optional Single Supplement
+306 €
Available upon Request
Availability
This departure is guaranteed to go ahead and is now fully booked, although we may have people holding spaces without payment. Please contact our Sales team for further information.
View Trip NotesWould you like to include flights with your booking?
- ATOL protected
- Competitive flight prices
- Full refunds in the event of FCDO cancellations or major disruption at your UK departure airport
- Specialist support to rearrange flights and transfers
- Regional flights available from many UK airports
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