Journey Through the Balkans

This 11-night escorted tour by Explore Worldwide threads through four Balkan countries once bound by Yugoslavia, setting out from the coastal town of Dobrota in Montenegro. The route quickly heads to Kotor, where medieval walls stretch far beyond Dubrovnik’s, and includes a boat trip around Kotor Bay’s scattering of small islands. Inland, the itinerary takes in Durmitor National Park’s glacial Black Lake and the impressive Tara River bridge, before crossing into Serbia to visit the 13th-century Mileseva Monastery and the Griffon Vulture sanctuary at Uvac Canyon.

The journey continues through mountain villages on Zlatibor and a heritage narrow-gauge railway, then into Bosnia Herzegovina. Sarajevo’s religious monuments—mosque, cathedral and synagogue—stand as reminders of its multi-ethnic past and fraught recent history. The tour also visits Nobel laureate Ivo Andric’s bridge at Visegrad and the rebuilt Ottoman-era Old Bridge in Mostar. Finally, a three-hour walking tour of Dubrovnik’s Old Town allows time to explore its red-tiled roofs and city walls that survived siege and wartime damage.

The pace allows for options such as a strenuous climb up to Kotor fortress, a boat trip or further walking at Durmitor, and a chance to time in Sarajevo’s markets or tunnels. The accommodation ranges from coastal hotels to mountain houses sharing bathrooms, reflecting the variety and contrasts of these lands.