Planning to travel through the Balkans someday? Do you have any idea of how much there is to see in Southeastern Europe?! Luckily, I’ve prepared this ultimate Balkans travel bucket list with must-see places, awesome events, and wonderful experiences you simply have to try if you’re coming over.
For keeping it handy, I also made a Balkans travel bucket list info-graphic at the end. You can save it, pin it, print it, whichever works best for you and your travel style. 🙂
Are you ready? Here we go:
Albania
◻ Discover the Albanian seaside
◻ Hike through Theth National Park
✔ Go on the Komani lake ferry ride
Bosnia and Herzegovina
◻ Jump off the Mostar Bridge
◻ Visit Kravice Waterfalls
Bulgaria
◻ Hike Vitosha Mountain
◻ Watch the sunset from Rila Mountain
✔ Smell the roses in Balchik Castle’s gardens
✔ Visit Devetashka Peshtera
Croatia
◻ Explore Plitvice Lakes
◻ Swim under the waterfalls of Krka National Park
✔ Check out Dubrovnik‘s city walls
◻ Listen to the Sea Organ in Zadar
◻ Discover the Croatian vineyards
Greece
✔ Visit the Parthenon, on the Acropolis of Athens
✔ Watch the sunset in Oia, Santorini
✔ Dance at a Greek night
✔ Visit Meteora
Kosovo
◻ Have a coffee on Raki Street, in Prishtina
◻ Visit the National Library
◻ Visit Prizren’s fortress
Macedonia
✔ Discover the Macedonian lakes
✔ Explore Vrelo Cave, in Matka Canyon
◻ Visit Strumica during carnival
Montenegro
✔ Climb to the top of Kotor’s San Giovanni Castle
✔ Visit Budva’s Citadela
✔ Sleep in Perast
Romania
◻ See the wild horses from the Danube Delta
◻ Hike the Maramures Green Heritage Trail
✔ Cycle or drive on the Transfăgărăşan
◻ Visit Cluj during TIFF (Transilvania International Film Festival)
✔ Go to Sibiu during FITS (Sibiu International Theatre Festival)
✔ Party in Vama Veche
Serbia
◻ Dance all night on a Belgrade floating club
◻ Go up the Hill of Contemplation, in Belgrade
◻ Go to Exit, the music festival in Novi Sad
◻ Explore the Fortress of the Danube
Slovenia
◻ Climb to Ljubljana’s Castle
◻ Explore the Postojna Caves
◻ Visit Metelkova Mesto, in the centre of Ljubljana
◻ Go river rafting near Lake Bled
Multiple Balkan destinations
◻ Sail the Adriatic Sea
✔ Eat the traditional burek
✔ Drink the ever-present raki
◻ Drink three Unicorns in a row
◻ Go rafting on the Tars (Tara) River
✔ Kiss a local 🙂
More ideas for the ultimate Balkans Travel bucket list?
Wish to contribute to the Ultimate Balkans Travel Bucket List? Let’s get in touch! I’ll add you (and your blog) to a contributors list for this post. First come, first listed 🙂
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You should add Knossos on Crete to the list. If you like myths and ancient stories it is really a cool place.
I am impressed with how much of the bucket list you have already checked off. I was wondering about “kiss a local” being on the multiple location list. Just how much kissing are you intending to do? Would kissing two or more locals qualify as successful completion? Would drinking three unicorns in a row help?
Hi, I actually didn’t get to do them all. They are still on my to-do list. I mean, take the unicorns: I’ve been told about them, but, like proper unicorns, they are hard to find.
I had the kissing a local thing in my head in Albania, in Shkoder. Not to check something off, but because I really enjoyed the company. 🙂
As far as the multiple locations, funny :)) But no, it’s just stuff you can do almost wherever you go in the Balkans. 🙂
Sadly I have only got one country checked off your list. Time for me to go explore Eastern Europe. I have always wanted to go to the Balkans especially Bosnia. Thanks for this great list.
I’ve done Bulgaria, Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia and Greece. This October we will see Slovenia and Croatia! Next time, the resit!
Balkans are just so scenic and the towns have spectacular sights and histories attached to them. I loved Croatia and Montenegro but still have to visit many others.
Funny, I never considered Greece being the Balkans.
As a matter of fact, I haven’t been to any of these places – at least not as an adult, I spent holidays with my parents in Bulgaria, but that was about a hundred years ago; we actually took the train from Prague to….I don’t know which beach destination – and would totally love to visit. I think that this region will become quite popular over the next years, so one should go now.
I really want to explore the Balkans! I definitely would like to see the vineyards in Croatia, and all the fabulous lakes/caves and parks in Croatia and Slovenia. Great bucket list!
Exploring the Balkans is on my list. Would love to see the vineyards, great ideas!
Balkans are on my list as well! Jump off the Mostar Bridge sounds like a particularly interesting thing to do! So does the dance all night on a Belgrade floating club! I’m a big castle fan as well. I would want to visit them all!
The Balkans is one of our favourite regions we’ve travelled through and has some of the friendliest people we’ve encountered! We would definitely love to return some day. Not sure about jumping of the Mostar bridge though!
These are great items! I hope to get back to visiting the Balkens, we only visited Croatia and Bosnia! I would definitely add Island hop while in Croatia too! So beautiful!
Informative and well explained article. Great Balkans bucket list. I have bookmarked it for future references. Thanks for sharing such an valuable and useful article.