Recommendations on my next country, getting a little tired of the balkans

Hi! I am currently traveling in Montenegro, Having also just come from Croatia and Bosnia. While it's been joyful, I feel that the regional offerings have reached an end point and I may be ready for a new scene. Alternatively, I could continue to explore other nearby countries if you experienced Balkan travelers believe it to be worthwhile. Some countries I have a current interest in (perhaps, all having the starting criteria of being budget friendly) are Albania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine. I am of course by all means open to anything else in the region but I am really trying to go for something that is a different feel from where I have already been.
I think that I have seen enough old buildings for now and frankly, have never been particularly interested in architecture or museums. If do however enjoy climbing and playing on things, such as the kotor fortress that I just hiked up to. I am very interested in connecting with the locals (something that I have found challenging thus far), food, and nature.

It's also worth noting that I need to be in Paris on Nov 13, so I reason that by the time I am done with Montenegro, I will have a week to explore my new mystery destination. Thus I'd like to keep it in the eastern Europe region. I am dodging most of western Europe for budget reasons right now but I would consider any destination if it were reasonably affordable and not too cold.
Please help me thorntree people!

I loved both Albania and Bulgaria. I only went to Kotor in Montenegro but didn't think much of it. And Croatia is far more 'western Europe' than either of these countries. As much as I like them in ordinary life, I tend to draw the line at countries that have a Zara in every city.

Albania is the logical choice.Very interesting country,nice people (though not many speak English...Italian is very widely spoken and understood).Logistically by far the easiest from Montenegro.And inexpensive.

Ukraine is cheaper in general,but you would need to get there (and back)and its very spread out...your timeframe is too short IMHO.

Serbia ? In fact a part of it...
Kosovo ?
I'm just coming back from Macedonia.
Interesting too...

Michel

My options may be changing considerably due to the flight connections available. Belgrade is now on the list, though I know nothing about it, it serves as a decent way to get from Montenegro to Paris, where I ultimately need to be.

Tell me more about your impression of Serbia, Belgrade especially!

Serbia is great and it's a real gem in the area.
People are friendly and it's very easy to move around.
Plenty of places of interest.
More than cities too.
I don't have the same impression of Belgrade.
Not uninteresting but it's not my favorite city at all.
Novi Sad is, in my opinion, much more interesting.

Michel

yet another clueless tourist in the region... (and I dont know how serious one can take you because only 3 days ago you considered visiting Iraqi-Kurdistan in the time being ?!?)

since you are from the US and you would probably never visit this region again you should go for this route: Tirana-Ohrid-Skopje-Belgrade.

not sure where youre looking for flights but your only two realistic "budget" friendly flight options in the closer region to reach any of the Paris airports is from either Belgrade or Skopje as both have direct low cost connections to Paris with Wizzair. However booking tickets only few days in advance considerably increases the price (just checked and it would cost around 110-120€ , hand luggage only).

Iraq is still on the table but I am likely to rule it out due to cost. Interestingly as a singular destination it has similar transit times as some of the neighboring countries to Montenegro. I found a very cheap flight to Berlin on the 8th from Podgorica, 2 hrs, the debate now is whether I should take it (greatly simplifying the trip though I know nothing of Berlin either) or to the give Montenegro and another surrounding country more time (more complicated and I fear redundancy but as you said, I probably won't be back in this region again)

Kotor to Shkodra (Albania) is a simple, albeit rather long (5? 6? hour) bus journey. Not sure how accessible the Albanian Alps are now, but Northern Albania offers plenty of beautiful mountain scenery and a very different feel to Montenegro, Bosnia and Croatia. If too snowy, you could venture further south. From there you could move into Kosovo, which despite a shared culture also has a somewhat different feel to Albania. The 'climbs' up to the fortresses in Prizren and Zvecan are fun. From there, on to Skopje, which is full of interesting/bizarre new monuments and has a different atmosphere yet again.

Thank you for your input everyone! It's clear to me that I will have to visit this part of the world again, so many countries, all with something great to offer apparently!

Yes, not difficult to travel around for a while.

Michel

rather long (5? 6? hour) bus journey.

Long? You're not Australian, are you.

You have much more interesting places or cities than Skopje in Macedonia.
In my opinion, no need to go there (Macedonia) if it's only for the capital city.
I was there ten days ago.

Michel

It's long given the short distance involved.

That's common in the Balkans...short distances but slow roads ;-)

True. I was surprised to discover that the 8hr train ride from Belgrade to Budapest was the same distance as Sydney to Canberra which, even with our pathetic trains, takes around half that time.

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