Budgeting my travel in eastern europe

Im trying to work out my budget for my backpacking in eastern Europe. im finding it easy to work out how much hostels because theyre listed on english websites (and are looking a lot cheaper than i was led to believe)
im having trouble working out the costs of getting from place to place. so far ive worked out that i should be able to get from athens to istanbul for €60-€70 and istanbul to sofia for about €25 but past that, im finding ithard to find out the cost of travel as all the websites with official information are gnerally only avaliable in the local language and the answers people give vary a lot.
does anyone have any tips of the. best way tofind out the cost of travel between coutries in eastern europe. im going to be visiting bulgaria kosovo FYROM albania montenegro and croatia among others.also, will bookin travel in advance save sigjificant money?

thanks

Ol

wikitravel should have some (not always up to date but usually quite close). For instance on the Skopje page it has Sofia to Skopje by bus at 15 Euros. Booking in advance (where possible) usually saves money but in general travel is going to be pretty cheap. The two prices you have already found are probably the 2 most expensive journies you will make.

also I don't know how I could forget http://www.seat61.com/ for all train related information

thanks dude. i didnt forget about seat 61, i just didnt know of it so thanks for that, im obviously not as well researched as i thought.

I wouldn't be too concerned. Just working things out as you go will be generally be fine in this part of the world. For all the places outside Greece and Turkey If you budget 10-20 Euros for longer trips you will not be too far off.

I don't know about your planned route, but I would definitely suggest trying to fit Bosnia in there if possible (Mostar and Sarajevo).

As above..its pretty cheap to get around these countries.

What are you looking at for an overall daily budget?

ive beem considering bosnia but i dont know a lot about it. at the moment my trip is based around staying with friends in athens and kosovo. all the other destinations are just places i like the sound of, up to croatia as ive always wamted to go. ive got about 3700 which inwant to last as long as possible. from what I can see, hostels are really cheap until croati and including about 10 days of staying with friends im pretty sure i can make it through the first month on under £1000. im still right in the middle of planning so anywhere you guys reccomend would be much appreciated
oli

I think £20 a day is not out of the question for an average day. Hostel £5-10, food £5 and then £5 to spend on entrance fees. Obviously there are days when you are going to spend a lot more, however staying with friends is also going to save you some money. Greece and Turkey are a little more expensive overall than the rest of Eastern Europe.

Personally I would skip Bulgaria, unless you have a specific reason to visit. I would fly into Istanbul (cheap easyjet flight). Travel overland through Greece to Athens. Then Macedonia - Kosovo - Albania - Montenegro - Dubrovnik (Croatia) - Bosnia (Mostar - Sarajevo) - Split (Croatia). Then work up the coast of croatia.

Depending on time and money you could fly back to UK from Zagreb or pick between Slovenia, Hungary or Serbia to continue you trip.

Im Flying Into Athens Because Ive Got A friend There And Her Time off Coincides With My Leaving Date. She Reccomended I Go To Bulgaria as She Used to Live There And Loved It. As Im Going To Be In Istanbul Second and Its only A 25 Euro Bus Go Sofia I figured Bulgaria Makes Sense. My Route Is Planned Around wanting Very Much To Visit Athens Istanbul And Dubrovnik So Ive Decided To Go Everywhere Between. ive Found someone To Host Me In Istanbul On couch surfing and Since Im Also Staying with Friends In Two Other Places I Think By The Time i Reach Croatia Im Only Going To Be A third Of The Way Through My Budget. Once ive Planned This First leg Up To croatia I Need To Start Thinking More About Were I Go From There. Id love To Travel Up To Germany As I Love It There but Its Not The Most Budget Friendly Of Countries. As I Say, Planning Is Going Well But Im open To Suggestions Of places To Go And Things to

Thanks

Oli

have you tried www.ryanair.com? They have really cheap flights/cars/ect its kinda like expedia... I have never had a problem, but I have a friend who uses it all the time and she's only had a couple issues. But she still keeps usuing it. As far as hostels, hostelsinternational.com have standards to be on the site, hosetlworld/hostels/ect are independent hostels and do not have certain standards, they are usually cheaper and have a bit younger crowd. Also, if your return is open ended, you should check out www.helpx.com its a cool site, kinda like couch surfers but instead of just crashing you can help out the people in exchange for room and board. Like help with harvesting vineyards, or painting a house. I've heard really good things from friends that use it because they get to really know the city from the locals, and they have people actually hosting them around. Good Luck!