mariamac92
Traveller
0 comments
Posted 7 years ago
Hi! We are going on our Balkan Tour next month and we are deciding which are the best routes in order to see as many countries as possible.
Our plan is:
Sofia -> Skopje by train (via Nis)
Skopje -> Pristina by bus
Pristina -> Kosovska Mitrovica by bus
Kosovska Mitrovica -> Kraljevo by train
Kraljevo -> Belgrado by train
Belgrado -> Podgorica by train
Podgorica -> Kotor by bus
Kotor -> Mostar by bus
Mostar -> Sarajevo by train
Sarajevo -> Zagreb by train
I have been reading many information about the different railways between the countries that we want to visit but I have some questions:
1. Is there some train from Sofia to Skopje or are all of them suspended?
2. I have found that there is a train from Skopje to Pristina, a bus from Pristina to Kosovska Mitrovica and another train from Kosovska Mitrovica (KOSOVO) to Kraljevo (SERBIA), is this right? Is there any train from Kraljevo to Belgrado? It would be great if you could give me some information about schedules and prices.
3. Any news about the Bosnian trains? Is there any train running?
Thank you!
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
1) Sofia to Skopje by train is not really a good option: The day train from Sofia to Belgrade is currently suspended and you have to change at the border at Dimitrovgrad:
Sofia 0940 - 1030 Dimitrovgrad
Dimitrovgrad 1123 - 1439 Nis
From Nis to Skopje currently no trains operate; only from May the night train Belgrade - Nis - Skopje - Thessaloniki will operate again: [ux]https://rail.cc/blog/belgrade-skopje-thessaloniki-train/[/ux]
So I recommend to take a direct bus from Sofia to Skopje which will be the better option for you - as next month there wont be a train from Nis to Skopje and you would have to take a bus on that part of the route anyway.
2) Yes, you can travel from Skopje to Pristina by train, then take a bus to Kosovska Mitrovica and continue by train to Kraljevo and onwards to Belgrade. Timetable for Serbia: [ux]https://rail.shop/sv[/ux]
[b]However[/b], at the border between Kosovo and Serbia, you wont get a stamp in your passport by Serbian authorities (as they still consider Kosovo being part of Serbia); this means that you are likely to get problems when you leave Serbia (without an entry stamp in your passport). You can avoid this by travelling with your ID card (if you are a EU citizen) and show the card instead of your passport at the border or if you travel into Serbia before you go to Kosovo.
3) No news - apparently no trains run from Sarajevo to Mostar or from Sarajevo across the border to Zagreb.
Regarding your route and the problem with entering Kosovo before you go to Serbia; you might rearrange the route as follows:
Sofia - Nis - Belgrade by train (or bus)
Belgrade - Kraljevo - Kosovska Mitrovica - Pristaina - Skopje by train and bus
Skopje - Montenegro through Albania by bus; most likely on the route Skopje - Tirana - Shkoder - Ulcinj - Kotor however this will take quite some time and you should plan with at least one overnight stop in Albania.
Kotor - Podgorica - Mostar - Sarajevo - Belgrade by bus
Belgrade - Zagreb by train
Another option would be Sofia - Nis - Merdare (border town to Kosovo) by train; then across the border and with taxi/minibus to Pristina - Skopje - Pristina and on as initially planned.
Flo 8)
Mimara
Traveller
42 comments
Hello,
unfortunately it is not possible to travel in the direction Macedonia-Kosovo-Serbia.
The problem are not missing stamps, the problem is that the Serbs maybe won´t let you into Serbia on your way from Mitrovica to Kraljevo.
For the Serbs, Kosovo is part of Serbia and when you enter Kosovo from Macedonia near Hani (or enter it from Albania or Montenegro) the Serbs say you entered their territory illegal, that means without a serbian entrance control.
Therefore the Serbs between Mitrovica and Kraljevo maybe say you must go back to Kosovo and leave Kosovo via Montenegro, Albania oder Macedonia.
So you should travel like Flo said, that means Sofia-Nis-Kosovo (and not go via Skopje). From Nis to Prishtina, I don´t recommend the train to Merdare because I don´t know where the first bus stop is after the border in Kosovo.
There are two daily busses from Nis to Gracanica via Prishtina (departure at Nis 7 am and 6 pm, Adio Tours), that should be the easiest way.
Of course, the Flo´s option Nis-Belgrad and back through whole Kosovo to Skopje and then to Albania, Montenegro,... is possible, too.
Note that in Kosovo the nicest part is not Prishtina, the nicest cities for me are Gjakova and Prizren.
The train station of Mitrovica (for direction Kraljevo) is not the Mitrovica main station in south part of the city. You have to go to the northern part of the city to a small station with only one platform, at google maps called "North Mitrovica train station" (Mitrovica sever).
Mimara
Traveller
42 comments
You can think about doing this day trip from Prishtina to Prizren:
[ux]https://rail.cc/blog/de/tag/prizren/[/ux]