jougoslavia with a baby

For the first time we were traveling with our little daughter Alberte and she was not even 3 months old! We were very excited as Alberte had suffered a lot from colic in the first few months. We found some cheap flights to Zadar in Croatia with RyanAir, and the plan was to spend the next few weeks visiting Croatia and some of the surrounding countries via a rented car. In the 2 1/2 weeks of the trip we managed to see Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and a short trip into Albania. With an infant in the luggage, a road trip with lots of kilometers on the roads turned out to be an excellent decision. Alberte was asleep as soon as the wheels started rolling and made the trip much easier. We would definitely recommend a road trip with an infant. We were well aware that the trip didn't include any mountain climbing or river rafting, but instead we had to be resourceful with a stroller in hand. From home, we only had airfare, car rental and a couple of nights' accommodation in place. But on our tour of the countries, it was incredibly easy to find accommodation. Signs everywhere say "appartmani", which are private individuals who provide small apartments for a fee in their own house. This is the best and cheapest way to stay in the countries. If you have the opportunity to find accommodation in the cities of Dubrovnik and Sarajevo in advance via the internet, we would recommend this, as cheap accommodation here was hard to find. The trip started in Zadar, Croatia. With a full tank of gas, we drove along the beautiful Croatian coast, stopping in the cities of Split and Dubrovnik. Then we headed into the mountainous Montenegro. Here we spent a couple of days in Kotor. Kotor was truly one of the highlights of the trip, an incredibly beautiful city with beautiful mountains and bay. We continue with a stop in the city of Ulcinj near the border with Albania. The next day we head into impoverished Albania, which is a stark contrast to Montenegro. On our tour of Montenegro, we also visit skadar national lake, which is definitely worth a visit. However, always be careful when driving around the lake in the mountains, as guardrails are generally non-existent. A long drive inland with lots of mountain driving takes us to the ski resort town of Zabljak on the border with Bosnia. The town is 1500 meters above sea level and is therefore relatively cold with snow lying here and there. It's a very different city, with wooden houses and a building style not seen in many other places in the country. In Bosnia, we visited the city of Mostar with its very famous bridge and old town. It is also from this city that we arranged a homestay in a small Muslim town up in the mountains. It was a great experience with hiking, culture and good food. There were no tourists and only the local imam who showed us around the town could speak English. In the Bosnian capital Sarajevo we stayed a few days before heading back to Croatia and one of the country's highlights, Plitvicka Jezera National Park. The last few days in Zadar before returning home were spent on a day trip to the island of Pag. The island is located north of Zadar and is connected by a bridge. However, it is not a very exciting island and is not worth a visit. Nevertheless, the Balkan countries are a definite hit with lots of exciting experiences! The price level was definitely most expensive in Croatia, cheapest in Bosnia and somewhere in between in Montenegro. It was especially surprising how cheap Bosnia's capital Sarajevo was in terms of food and drink. By comparison, a city like Dubrovnik in Croatia was at least twice as expensive. May was a great month to visit the countries. The temperature was mostly around 25 degrees with plenty of sunshine. We recommend either May or September as summer months can be far too hot at these latitudes and winter is freezing cold!