the Balkans: Croatia, Montenegro & Albania

Croatia

Over a thousand islands fringe Croatia's Adriatic coastline, and the Dalmatian cities along it (Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar) are built largely from the same pale local limestone. Inland, the country shifts to lakes, waterfalls and forest, most famously at Plitvice. For much of the year the air is bright and dry, setting orange roof tiles sharply against the blue water.

Dalmatia holds Croatia's most recognizable sights. Dubrovnik's old town is ringed by intact medieval walls roughly two kilometers in circumference, walked at their best either at opening time or at dusk, when the limestone glows warm and the sea darkens behind it. Split is built into the ruins of Diocletian's Palace, a Roman imperial complex from around 300 AD whose stone halls now hold cafes, apartments and a cathedral. North along the coast, Zadar and Sibenik offer smaller, less crowded old towns, and the ferry ports give access to islands such as Hvar, Korcula and Vis.

The interior is a different world entirely. Plitvice Lakes National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a chain of sixteen terraced lakes linked by waterfalls and travertine barriers, threaded with wooden boardwalks that carry walkers directly above turquoise water. Krka National Park, nearer the coast, centers on broad, walkable falls. Both parks are heavily visited in summer, so arriving at opening time is the surest way to wander them in peace.

Where to take photos

• Dubrovnik City Walls — a continuous medieval rampart encircling the old town, giving elevated views over terracotta roofs, the harbor and the offshore island of Lokrum
• Diocletian's Palace, Split — a living Roman palace from the 4th century where ancient stone arcades frame the bell tower of the cathedral and the surrounding old town
• Plitvice Lakes — sixteen terraced lakes joined by waterfalls, seen from boardwalks and clifftop overlooks that reveal the full cascade
• Hvar Town — a Venetian harbor town with a hilltop fortress, the Fortica, looking down over yachts and the scattered Pakleni islands
• Krka National Park — wide travertine waterfalls reached on foot, easier and closer to the coast than Plitvice

Montenegro

Few countries this size cover this much ground. Montenegro's Bay of Kotor, a deep, twisting inlet often likened to a fjord, sits beneath sheer limestone walls, while the interior climbs to the peaks of Durmitor and the canyon of the Tara River. The medieval town of Kotor and the rebuilt island of Sveti Stefan are the coast's most famous sights.

The Bay of Kotor is the country's defining landscape: a sequence of linked basins ringed by mountains that rise straight from the water, dotted with stone villages such as Perast and the two small islets offshore, including the man-made Our Lady of the Rocks. The walled town of Kotor sits at the bay's innermost point, and a fortification trail climbs the slope behind it to the fortress of San Giovanni — a steep ascent rewarded with the classic view down the serpentine bay, clearest in early morning before the cruise crowds and the midday haze.

Inland, Montenegro becomes alpine. Durmitor National Park holds glacial lakes, beech forest and high limestone peaks, while the nearby Tara River Canyon is among the deepest gorges in the world, spanned by the slender Djurdjevica Tara Bridge. On the coast itself, Sveti Stefan — a fortified islet of stone houses connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway — is one of the Adriatic's most reproduced views, seen at its best from the road above to the south.

Where to take photos

• Bay of Kotor — a deep, winding Adriatic inlet beneath near-vertical limestone walls, with the view from the San Giovanni fortress trail looking straight down its curves
• Kotor Old Town — a compact walled medieval town of churches and squares, threaded with narrow stone lanes at the foot of the mountain
• Sveti Stefan — a fortified stone islet linked to shore by a slim causeway, seen at its finest from the coastal road above
• Perast — a quiet baroque village on the bay facing the islet church of Our Lady of the Rocks, reachable by short boat trip
• Tara River Canyon — one of the world's deepest gorges, crossed by the arched Djurdjevica Tara Bridge in the mountainous north

Albania

Albania is the least-developed stretch of the eastern Adriatic and Ionian coast, where the Albanian Riviera's beaches sit below bare mountains and prices remain low. Inland, the UNESCO-listed Ottoman stone towns of Berat and Gjirokaster preserve tiered houses climbing their hillsides, and the country is dotted with concrete bunkers from its decades of isolation under communist rule.

The southern coast, known as the Albanian Riviera, runs from the Llogara Pass down to Saranda, with the road descending through switchbacks to a string of villages and clear-water beaches such as Dhermi, Himare and Jale. It remains far quieter and less built-up than the coasts to the north in Croatia and Montenegro. Near Saranda lies Butrint, an ancient site layered with Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Venetian ruins set among wetlands, and the Blue Eye, a deep karst spring of intensely blue water.

Albania's interior holds its two most celebrated towns. Berat, the 'city of a thousand windows,' rises in tiers of white Ottoman houses whose rows of windows face the river, beneath a still-inhabited hilltop castle. Gjirokaster is a steeper stone town of slate-roofed houses and a large fortress overlooking the Drino valley. Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and both reward travelers who climb above the rooftops in the late afternoon, when the stone warms in the falling sun.

Where to take photos

• Berat Old Town — tiers of white Ottoman houses with stacked windows facing the Osum River beneath an inhabited hilltop castle, the 'city of a thousand windows'
• Gjirokaster — a steep stone town of slate-roofed houses below a large fortress, with sweeping views across the Drino valley
• Albanian Riviera — Ionian beaches such as Dhermi and Himare reached by the descending Llogara Pass road, backed by bare mountains
• Butrint — a layered archaeological site near Saranda holding Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Venetian ruins among coastal wetlands
• The Blue Eye (Syri i Kalter) — a deep karst spring near Saranda where water rises in an intense ring of blue

More guides to explore

The Mediterranean Coast

the Mediterranean Coast: turquoise water, ancient stone, and golden light

Zadar, Croatia

Zadar Travel Guide: The Sea Organ & a Roman Old Town

Kotor, Montenegro

Kotor Travel Guide: Venetian Old Town & the Bay of Kotor