First solo trip in Eastern Europe

Good day everyday, i'm an exchange student from Singapore and am planning a 17 day trip before school begins to explore Eastern Europe. Would like to hear any comments or possible alterations to my rough itinerary listed below. I'm travelling from 14/1 to 30/1, but am unsure if its wise to do eastern europe in winter.

14/1 - London to Ljubljana (arrive in the afternoon)
15/1 - Ljubljana
16/1 - Zagreb
17/1 - Zagreb
18/1 - Mostar
19/1 - Mostar
20/1 - Sarajevo
21/1 - Sarejevo
22/1 - Belgrade
23/1 - Belgrade (night train?)
24/1 - Skopje
25/1 - Ohrid
26/1 - Ohrid
27/1 - Skopje
28/1 - Skopje
29/1 - Skopje
30/1 - Skopje (flight in the afternoon)

Would like to be in Skopje on 29 and 30th as i like to be in the country of departure earlier in case i miss any flights. Have 2 spare days (skopje 27/28) in case i would like to explore other places longer.

Any one has any idea for possible night trains/buses for my itinerary so i could save some cash on accommodations would help also!

Please advise if this is do-able and travelling in winter months there are still things to see and do!

Cheers!

Well,it's going to be a lot colder than Singapore for sure ;-)

But no reason why not,if you are equipped for the cold.And you don't mind it too much.

On the itinerary. .You are covering a lot of ground, in a short time.

You will spend a lot if this trip in transit. Personally I'd cut out a couple of destinations and stay longer in others...depending on your interests .

OTOH you have far too much in Skopje: -)

You could easily take 3 days from there and add it on to others..or fit in a couple of smaller places on the way.

Hey! Thank you for your recommendation! Is there night buses/trains that i can use to travel from city to city?
Planning to use those extra days in other cities if i really like them to stay longer in them, that's why there seems to be so many days there!

Some of these you can do by train. .have a look at the dbbahn site.

Most by bus,though not always night bus.

Alright! Thanks so much for the information! :)

You're welcome...

You can get lots of info from this website

www.rome2rio.com

Personally I would go to Turkey, but that's just me. It is going to be cold in E Europe and its not ideal. However if you do go you are spending too much time in Skopje.

FYI there is a festival in Bulgaria starting 29th January that personally I would not miss. It's in a pretty crappy town (Pernik) but you could stay in Sofia or Blagoevgrad (side trip to the Rila Monestary, not to be missed) and then take a day trip up there. It's the Surva festival, it was just made a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage this year.

http://www.surva.org/
https://www.google.com/search?q=surva+festival&espv=2&biw=1286&bih=801&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiEz63o2JXKAhVB3WMKHeRRA2AQ_AUIBygC

I dont have that much info about current transport options in the region, since it's been a few years since i have been there and that was in the summer. But i would suspect that your trip from Zagreb to Mostar would be difficult and would have to go trough either Sarajevo or Split, maybe perhaps Banja Luka. It might be better to go directly from Zagreb to Sarajevo and then do Mostar as a day trip from there. The train ride trough the mountains is absolutely stunning.
If you have 2 extra days, Split could be a worthwhile destination.

Hi!

Your intended route is just fine, great destinations and indeed something could be done out of it. I will go day by day, so that we can see what can we do about it in order to ensure the optimal result for you. As far as I have understood, the only thing you insist upon is to stay two nights in Skopje before your planned departure. Let's go...

14/1 - Arrival in Ljubljana in the afternoon hours. The most convenient thing for your transport to the downtown is to use the bus. There is the most convenient bus company Alpetour: http://www.lju-airport.si/pripone/2095/Vozni_red_letalisce_2015_verzija_5_5_2015.pdf , the price of the ticket is 4.10 EUR. In case that their time table is not suitable for you, you can use other companies that run shuttle buses, but with higher prices. Ljubljana overnight.

15/1 - Ljubljana sightseeing. Nice and compact town. Ljubljana overnight.

16/1 - Departure from Ljubljana to Zagreb by train. In my opinion the most convenient is the one departing Ljubljana at 08:25 with arrival in Zagreb at 10:45. You will be definitely satisfied with this town. Zagreb overnight.

17/1 - Zagreb sightseeing. Zagreb overnight. Here you can use the overnight bus for Mostar instead because like this you are saving time and money for one accommodation. Here I definitely suggest that you buy a bus ticket in advance through Croatia bus website: http://www.croatiabus.hr/en/home/ . The most convenient bus, in my opinion is the one that departs Zagreb at 22:30 and arrives in Mostar (West - zapad) 06:20. Overnight in the bus. Here I have to add just a small explanation. In most cases the ticket for bus journey doesn't cover the price for the baggage that is paid on the spot at the usual price of 1 EUR per large piece.

18/1 - Arrival in Mostar. Definitely a gem of southern Bosnia & Herzegovina. By far one of the most recognizable towns that Bosnia & Herzegovina created through its history. Mostar overnight.

19/1 - Mostar sightseeing. Take a bus that departs from Mostar (Istok - East) at 15:00 and arrives Sarajevo at 17:45 or a latter one that departs Mostar (Istok - East) at 18:15 and arrives in Sarajevo at 20:50 . Unfortunately, this route should be covered by train because of the stunning scenery, but the train line between the two towns is experiencing huge revitalization works, so it is out of function right now. Sarajevo overnight.

20/1 - Sarajevo, one of the most special towns of Europe, definitely. Sarajevo sightseeing. Sarajevo overnight.

21/1 - Sarajevo sightseeing. Sarajevo overnight.

22/1 - Depart from Sarajevo (careful: from bus station Lukavica - Istočno Sarajevo) for Belgrade at 08:00 and arrival in Belgrade at 15:15. Belgrade accommodation. Belgrade overnight. Here, on this route, there are no direct trains.

23/1 - Belgrade sightseeing and in the evening you can enjoy some of Belgrade`s vibrant nightlife. Of course if you are interested about it. It is Saturday anyway. Belgrade overnight.

24/1 - Belgrade sightseeing and in the evening overnight bus directly for Ohrid. I know it is maybe a bit tiresome, but it is rewarding in the end. The reason is that there are two trains from Belgrade to Skopje, one consumes the entire day and the night train arrives in Skopje at 04:20, so it is more than inconvenient. So, I would recommend this bus that departs from Belgrade at 21:30 and arrives in Ohrid tomorrow at 11:00.

25/1 - Arrival in Ohrid. Accommodation and sightseeing. Ohrid overnight.

26/1 - Ohrid sightseeing. Ohrid overnight.

27/1 - Mornig departure from Ohrid by bus at 07:30 for Skopje where it arrives at 11:00. Skopje accommodation. Skopje overnight.

28/1 - Skopje sightseeing. Skopje overnight.

29/1 - Skopje sightseeing. Skopje overnight.

30/1 - Skopje sightseeing. Transfer to the airport. To make a transfer from Skopje to the airport, you should definitely use Vardar express bus company. Here you will find their time tables: http://skp.airports.com.mk/default.aspx?ItemID=491 .

As you can see this is pretty straightforward with only two "minor" minuses, two overnight bus journeys. One more thing. I would stick to this itinerary, by with just one change. I would prolong one day in Zagreb and slash one day in Skopje. It is quite enough for Skopje two overnights and almost three whole days and for Zagreb it should be two overnights to get more familiar with the town. In case you need some other practical information, do not hesitate to ask. I live in the area. This is basically my home.

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