Grand Balkan Tour

Upon arrival at Belgrade Airport, our tour guide/driver guide will wait for you. Transfer to hotel. Overnight.

After breakfast, sightseeing in the capital city of Serbia, which lies at the confluence of two major rivers – Donava and Sava. Due to its location, Belgrade once was an intersection between east and west, north and south. We will see the Belgrade fortress, which has 7000 years of history. The fortress leads us directly to the old part of the city with the oldest cafes. Close by is the main street in Belgrade – Knez Mihailova Street. You will also visit Republic square, Skadarlija… Free time for independent sightseeing. Overnight.

Breakfast and check out of the hotel. From Belgrade, drive to Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. En route, we visit Niš, the largest city in southern Serbia. There we will see the Memorial to Constantine the Great, in commemoration of Constantine the Great, who was born in this city and the Skull Tower (Ćele Kula) – a monument to the Serbian revolutionaries (1804–1813). Arrival in Skopje is planned for the early evening. Overnight.

In the morning, we have a city tour: the Stone Bridge, Old Bazaar, old railway station, Mustafa-Pasha Mosque, Daut Pasha Hamam, and the monument of Mother Theresa, followed by free time. Then, from Skopje, we drive to Ohrid, a beautiful ancient city by the Ohrid lake, the deepest and one of the largest lakes in the Balkan Peninsula.

The morning is planned for walking sightseeing of the old town of Ohrid. It includes visits to the most important monuments and archaeological sites like the church of St Sophia, Tsar Samoil’s Fortress Church of St Jovan Kaneo. In the afternoon, a scenic drive along the lake will take you to the visit of the monastery of St. Naum and the springs of Lake Ohrid, 30 km from the city of Ohrid. Overnight.

After breakfast, we continue our Balkan Private Tour to nearby Albania. We drive via Elbasan to Tirana, the capital city. Arrival is planned for the early afternoon. Orientation tour: Skender Bey Square, the Mosque of Ethem Bey, and a visit to the National Museum representing the flow of Albanian history which also houses the finds from archaeological sites across the country. Overnight.

Drive to Montenegro. Before crossing the border into Montenegro, we stop in Shkodra, a major cultural centre. Continue to Budva, the famous seaside resort with the lovely picturesque Old town. Overnight

After breakfast, we drive to Kotor, a city in the Bay of Kotor, described as the Mediterranean’s only fjord, between the mountains and the blue sea. Enjoy a sightseeing of the dramatic Kotor, surrounded by walls, protecting the marbled cobbled streets with churches, shops, bars and restaurants on hidden squares. Then, continue on the winding panoramic road to Cetinje, the former Montenegrin royal city, once the smallest European capital. We will visit King Nikola’s Museum, founded in 1926, within the residence of the last Montenegrin ruler Nikola I Petrovic Njegoš. Return to Budva. Overnight.

Drive to Croatia, to Dubrovnik, a world-famous Dalmatian city, also called the Pearl of Adriatic; it has a rich and exciting history, which is seen on every step: city gates, forts, city walls with a coat of arms of the patron Saint Blasius, military warehouse… all remind us of the turbulent periods of the city with its marble streets, baroque buildings and the ancient city walls that have protected the sophisticated republic and city for centuries. Enjoy your free time in the lively streets of Dubrovnik. Overnight in Dubrovnik.

After breakfast, we will get to know the picturesque Mostar, which owes its name to the famous Bridge over the Neretva River. During your visit to this UNESCO World Heritage-listed city, you’ll see its historic Old Bridge, the colourful Old Bazaar with traditional handicrafts and well-preserved traditional Turkish houses. Free time to shop or enjoy lunch. Then we continue our Grand Balkan Private Tour for Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Here we can still see the dominance of the Ottoman style of mosques, complemented by Catholic cathedrals and Jewish synagogues. Overnight in Sarajevo.

In the morning, we join the guided tour of Sarajevo: spot where the Sarajevo Assassination took place, Gazi Husrev Bey’s Bezistan, Tašlihan, Jewish Museum, Ferhad Paša’s Mosque, Cathedral of Jesus’ Sacred Heart, Sarajevo “Roses”, Old Orthodox Church. Besides this, you will also see some other interesting places related to the various historical events. Later you can enjoy some free time in the famous oriental old town ‘Baščaršija’ and try some local food or shop for colourful handicrafts. Overnight in Sarajevo.

After breakfast, we head for Travnik, once the capital of the Ottoman vizier, from 1686th to 1850th. We do a short break there and then continue to Jajce, a ‘birth place’ of former Yugoslavia. There we will visit the museum that presents this vital session in 1943. Then we have some free time to walk around to see the scenic waterfalls and fortress. Then we drive to Banja Luka, the sec­ond largest city in Bosnia and Herze­gov­ina. It rep­re­sents the cul­tural, eco­nomic and admin­is­tra­tive cen­ter of the Repub­lika Srp­ska entity. After the short visit, we continue to Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia. Overnight in Zagreb.

Enjoy a guided tour of Croatia’s capital, which will reveal its most important cultural and architectural attractions: the Cathedral, the main Ban Jelačič square, the open market, the lively Tkalčič street… and after that enjoy some free time to explore the city further and sample some local food. In the afternoon, we drive to Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia.

Enjoy a guided tour around the capital city. You will find out why Ljubljana is the city of dragons, a city of bridges and, slightly unfairly, called the small Prague. Attractive cities are often described as ‘jewel boxes’, but the name really fits here. The guided tour will take you to the old baroque town, Prešeren Square, Congress Square, the City Hall, the Cathedral, the Butchers’ Bridge, the Dragon Bridge and the open market, very popular with the locals. Ride a funicular to the castle from Old Town not far from the market, and you will be rewarded by excellent views of the city and the mountains, and you can see 1/3 of the country if the weather is nice. We
continue to Bled, Slovenia’s most popular tourist resort in the afternoon. Take a ride around the lake and enjoy the photo opportunities of this picturesque Slovenian treasure with its emerald-green lake, picture-postcard church on an islet and a medieval castle clinging to a rocky 139 m high cliff. Return to Ljubljana. Overnight in Ljubljana.

After breakfast, drive to Postojna and visit the famous cave, one of the largest in the world, among Slovenia’s most popular attractions. Its stalagmite and stalactite formations are unequalled anywhere. An electric train will take you into the caves and then enjoy in the underground karst world, where nature was the principal architect through the millennia and has formed amazing formations. After the cave tour, you will visit the Predjama Castle which is a short hop from Postojna and is one of the world’s most dramatic castles. Continue Grand Balkan tour towards Lipica, the famous stud farm that lives for and on its snow-white Lipizzaner horses, first bred here for the Spanish Riding School in Vienna in the late 16th century. Drive to Piran, everybody’s favourite Slovenian coastal city, very picturesque and sitting at the tip of a narrow peninsula, one of the best-preserved historical towns anywhere on the Adriatic and a gem of Venetian Gothic architecture. In Piran, you will enjoy some free time for a stroll along the sea or the narrow Istrian streets. According to the planned flight, drive back to Ljubljana or Trieste/Venice in the late afternoon. Overnight

After breakfast, transfer to the airport according to the flight schedule.

Number of Participants: 2 Price per person*
Low season: 4,250 EUR
High season: 4,860 EUR

* This price is informal. The exact price can be sent when we receive the request with exact dates of travel and number of passengers intending to travel (2 -min and 7-max).