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 Five Capital Cities, Five UNESCO World Heritage Sites! Discover Ottoman splendors, Byzantine and Eastern Orthodox Monasteries, ancient sites and dramatic landscapes on this 13-day Balkan gay tour from Skopje to Sarajevo. Bordered by the Adriatic, Mediterranean and the rugged Dinaric Mountains, diverse cultures have jostled and left their legacy across the Balkan Peninsula, Europe's oldest continuously inhabited land.
Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina all lie entirely within the Balkan Peninsula, a word of Turkish origin meaning "chain of wooded mountains." Once part of the former Yugoslav Republic, Macedonia is a land of contrasts, ranging from Skopje, with its modern shopping centers and timeless Turkish baazar, to the medieval monasteries of Ohrid. Macedonia's blend of Orthodox mystery and the exotic Ottoman legacy combine with the world-class beauty at Lake Ohrid. If you wondered about places where Americans are truly liked, visit Kosovo with us — where a statue of Bill Clinton stands in the capital, Pristina. Largely Albanian-speaking and Muslim (though secular) Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008. Albania is Europe's last unknown, with enchanting classical ruins at Durrës, the charming museum town of Berat, vibrant cities like Tirana and Korça, colorful folklore and majestic landscapes of mountains, forests, lakes and sea. The coast of tiny Montenegro, where rugged mountains plummet to the Adriatic, is bejeweled with walled medieval cities, with a resplendid Venetian legacy.
Dubrovnik, Croatia is a magnificient medieval walled city that has been used as a location or filming of HBO's "Game of Thrones" and Neil Jordan's "The Borgias."
Bosnia & Herzegovina is simply stunning, struggling to regain its culture of tolerance where Croats, Serbs and Bosniaks mix and mingle. The ancient bridge at Mostar, rebuilt stone-by-stone after the war is an elequent testimony and Sarajavo, an Ottoman-tinged surprise. A trip through the Balkans will be enriching and inspiring. Since tourism from North America is almost non-existant, the infrastructure in these countries is nice and comfortable, but somewhat lower standards than what is found in Western Europe. The tour is a classic motorcoach tour, but distances are mostly short. We are rewarded with amazing sights, a thriving culture and warm, welcoming people.
Day 0 - Thursday, September 15, 2016
Depart the USA, Canada on any regularly scheduled flight to Skopje, Macedonia.
[Flights serving this itinerary are on United, Lufthansa, Turkish & Austrian. The airport code for Skopje is SKP and for Belgrade on the return is BEG.]
Day 1 - Friday, September 16, 2016
 Upon arrival in Skopje, Macedonia, you may book a transfer with Coda Tours to be met at the airport and transferred to the hotel. Check in to the Holiday Inn Hotel, centrally located in Skopje. The afternoon is at leisure to relax after the flight. This evening we will depart for a local restaurant for our Welcome Dinner, with fellow tour participants.
Meals: Welcome Dinner
Hotel: Holiday Inn Skopje Hotel , Skopje, Macedonia, 4*
Day 2 - Saturday, September 17, 2016
 After breakfast, we tour Skopje. Macedonia is a country of 2 million, 30 percent of them ethnic Albanians. Obstructed by Greece from becoming part of the European Union (due to conflict over the use of the name Macedonia), today Macedonia is a divided nation with an uncertain future. In the last five years, Skopje has become the world capital of kitsch. We will discover the massive statuary of Alexander the Great, his mother, Olympias, and father, Phillip II, and listen to a local artist give a personal view point of their artistic merits. We will also see the home of former local resident, Mother Teresa, and the beautiful Church of Saint Salvation. Finally walk through the Albanian quarter – a world removed from Orthodox Skopje.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: Holiday Inn Skopje Hotel, Skopje, Macedonia, 4*
Day 3 - Sunday, September 18, 2016
 After breakfast, we drive to neighboring Pristina, capital of the Republic of Kosovo, just 50 scenic miles away. We stop en route at the site of the June 28, 1389 Battle of Kosovo, where the fate of Serbia was sealed, marking the rise of Ottoman influence over the entire Balkan region for the next 500 years. We continue to Gracanica Monastery, completed in 1321 by Serbian King Milutin. This striking complex, one of the UNESCO Medieval Monuments in Kosovo, is an active religious center and Serbian enclave in largely Albanian-speaking and Muslim Kosovo.
We visit the Pristina Museum, the Bazaar Mosque, the Clock Tower and the Mosque of Sultan Mehmet Fatih, followed by a stroll along the main street of Pristina.
We return to Skopje for overnight. Enjoy dinner on your own this evening in one of the lively local restaurants.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Hotel: Holiday Inn Skopje Hotel, Skopje, Macedonia, 4*
Day 4 - Monday, September 19, 2016
 Departing Skopje this morning, we drive southwest to the Monastery of St. Naum — dramatically set on rocky outcropping over Lake Ohrid, high above deep forest and the springs of the river Crn Drim. Here we board a boat for a cruise across the serene lake, which has captivated visitors since prehistoric times. Writing, education and Slavonic culture all spread out from remarkable Ohrid town in the 7th to 19th centuries. Among the extraordinary collection of monasteries, ancient buildings and medieval chapels, Ohrid has the oldest Slav monastery (St. Pantelejmon) — and more than 800 Byzantine-style icons. Orthodox Byzantine monks brought Christianity to Ohrid in the 10th century from Greece through the effort of Saints Cyril and Methodius.
We check in to our hotel set along the lake with dinner tonight in the hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: Ohrid Inex Gorica Hotel, Ohrid, Macedonia, 5*
Day 5 - Tuesday, September 20, 2016
 En route today to Tirana, capital of Albania, we stop at the fortified city of Berat, a splendid UNESCO-designated example of the coexistence of Islamic and Ottoman traditions. Its castles and fort date back more than 2,400 years. We visit the Old Quarter and the icon museum of Onoufri, Albania's master iconographer, and stop along the way at Helveti Tekke, a Bektashi Sufi shrine and another testimony to the long history of tolerance in the region.
We continue to Tirana, where we spend two nights.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: Tirana Sheraton Hotel, Tirana, Albania, 5*
Day 6 - Wednesday, September 21, 2016
 After breakfast we join our guide for a tour of Tirana and neighboring Kruja, — home of Albania's national hero, Scanderbeg, who famously recaptured the city and defended it from the Turks in the 15th century. We visit the Old Castle, Scanderbeg Museum and spend time at the Turkish-style bazaar before returning to Tirana for lunch and some time at leisure to explore this city on your own.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: Tirana Sheraton Hotel, Tirana, Albania, 5*
Day 7 - Thursday, September 22, 2016
 Today we travel north through an old and historic region of Albania. We visit Rozafa Castle, an Illyrian stronghold near Shkodë, and continue along the Adriatic coast to the walled seaside town of Budva in Montenegro. En route we pause for lunch and a cruise on Lake Skadarsko, largest in the Balkan Peninsula.
Our hotel and spa, where we spend the next two nights, is outside in Becici, a small coastal town on the Dalmatian Coast just outside Budva.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: Budva Splendid Resortg(21003934)a(1161358)) , Budva, Montenegro, 5*
Day 8 - Friday, September 23, 2016
 Today we drive along the spectacular Dalmatian coast to medieval, fortified Kotor, which commands a gorgeous, deep, natural harbor in Montenegro. A part of the maritime Venetian Republic from 1420 to 1797 (interrupted by periods of Ottoman rule), Kotor retains much of its Venetian legacy. Set on a dramatic bay, the city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for both its cultural and natural riches. It has one of the best preserved medieval towns of the entire Mediterranean. Autumn is a marvelous time to enjoy the Adriatic. Continue to Dubrovnik, Croatia and check in to our hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Hotel: Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik Hotel, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 5*
Day 9 - Saturday, September 24, 2016
 Explore Dubrovnik Old City. Followng a devastating earthquake is 1667, Dubrovnik was rebuilt in the Baroque style. It is a beloved city, full of international visitors. We will take a morning tour with our guide and have the afternoon and evening to explore on our own.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik Hotel, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 5*
Day 10 - Sunday, September 25, 2016
 Mostar in the center of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The scenery climbing from the coast is spectacular, with Mostar dramatically set on both sides of Neretva River. We wander cobbled alleys and watch the famous divers from the symbolic Old Bridge (Stari Most), painstakingly rebuilt since its destruction in the war, and tour the Ottoman Muslibegovic House, a Bosnian National Monument.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: Hotel Mepas, Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 5*
Day 11 - Monday, September 26, 2016
 We drive to Sarajevo today via tranquil Blagaj to see the 16th-century house built for the Dervish cults at the source of the trout-filled Buna River. We continue to Sarajevo with its Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Orthodox legacy and monuments.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Hotel: Sarajevo Europe Hotel, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 5*
Day 12 - Tuesday, September 27, 2016
 Today we explore the wonders of Bašcaršija, Sarajevo's 15th-century bazaar and old town spread out along the Miljacka River. A moving highlight is a tour of the Sarajevo Tunnel. Built between 1992 and 1995, the tunnel allowed food, war supplies and humanitarian aid to come into the city — and for its people to get out. Stand on the site where the Arch Duke Ferdinand was shot, sparking World War I. Enjoy sitting in a café, doing some shopping or exploring more of this fascinating city in the afternoon.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Hotel: Sarajevo Europe Hotel, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 5*
Day 13 - Wednesday, September 28, 2016
After a morning at leisure, we transfer to the airport for flights home.
Meals: Breakfast
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• 12 nigts Accommodations as listed in the itinerary:
3 nights at Holiday Inn Skopje Hotel, in Skopje, Macedonia;
1 night at Ohrid Inex Gorica Hotel in Ohrid, Macedonia;
2 nights at Tirana Sheraton Hotel in Tirana, Albania;
1 night at Budva Splendid Resort in Budva, Montenegro;
2 nights at Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik Hotel in Dubrovnik, Croatia;
1 night at Hotel Mepas in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina;
2 nights at Sarajevo Europe Hotel in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Holiday Inn Skopje Hotel, Skopje, Macedonia
 The impressive Holiday Inn Skopje is in the middle of Skopje city centre and you can see the bricked walls of the Skopje Kale Fortress from our upper floors. You'll feel soothed as you step into the Lobby with gentle music and a warm welcome from attentive team.
You can meet friends for coffee while you tap into wireless Internet in Aperitif Bar at Holiday Inn Skopje. Work up an appetite in the MiniGym and Sauna before warming Macedonian plates of pork or chicken and local Balkan wine in Restaurant Iris.
 You'll find Skopje Old Town a few steps away, where the 15th-century old Stone Bridge crosses the River Vardar to the Ottoman-era Old Bazaar's mosques and covered market. Ascend grand Mount Vodno to admire the iconic 66-metre-high Millennium Cross, 10km away, and walk 15 minutes to cliff-top watchtowers at 6th-century Skopje Kale fortress.
Ohrid Inex Gorica Hotel, Ohrid, Macedonia
Inex Gorica is a tourist hotel complex, situated on the shore of the Ohrid Lake, 4 km away from Ohrid.
This luxury hotel offers a restaurant, a beach bar, and a bar/lounge. Complimentary wireless and wired high-speed Internet access is available in public areas and a computer station is located on site. Additional amenities include a rooftop terrace, a sauna, and a terrace.
Rooms open to balconies. The 125 air-conditioned guestrooms at Inex Gorica Ohrid include minibars and safes. Guests can use the in-room complimentary wireless and wired high-speed Internet access. Televisions are equipped with cable channels.  All accommodations provide desks and phones. Bathrooms offer bathrobes, slippers, and complimentary toiletries. In addition, housekeeping is offered daily and amenities available on request include irons/ironing boards.
Hotel Inex Gorica has an aperitif hall, a piano bar and an on-site restaurant which serves various national specialities. A terrace is at guests' disposal. Further dining alternatives, grocery shops and entertainment options can be found in Ohrid's centre, a 5-minute drive away from the property.
Tirana Sheraton Hotel, Tirana, Albania
 The five-star Sheraton Tirana Hotel is in a shopping and entertainment complex in the heart of Tirana. A fitness center, 2 swimming pools, a piano bar and a restaurant are all at the guests' disposal.
Luxurious, spacious rooms and suites have deep-stained hardwood floors, air conditioning, a flat-screen TV, a minibar and a fridge. Private bathroom provides free toiletries and a hairdryer.
 Guests can work out for free at the fitness center, enjoy drinks in the Infinity Piano Bar and Lounge and sample fusion cuisine at the Metropolitan Restaurant. Wi-Fi is free in all public hotel areas.
Central Tirana can be reached within a 10-minute walk. Presidential Palace is just a 2-minute walk from Sheraton Tirana. The city's many embassies and business centers, as well as bars, shops and restaurants are also within easy reach of the property. Tirana National Park is right in front of the hotel.
Budva Splendid Resort, Budva, Montenegro
 The luxurious 5-star hotel Splendid Spa Resort is set right on a long sandy beach in the heart of Becici, just one mile from Budva's Old Town. Supreme spa area with heated indoor pools, saunas, hot tubs and steam baths with Swarovski crystals is at guests' disposal.
The elegantly decorated rooms and suites include air conditioning, an LCD satellite TV and a private balcony overlooking the Adriatic Sea and Becici Bay. The comfortable bathroom offers a bathrobe, toiletries and hairdryer.
 The on-site restaurant serves supreme Montenegrin and international cuisine with freshly prepared ingredients. Wide selection of local and world famous wines is available.
The private sandy beach with sun umbrellas and lounge chairs is at guests' disposal. Guests can relax by the pool where drinks and snacks are served throughout the day. Spacious and modern Casino Royale is available on site.
Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik Hotel, Dubrovnik, Croatia
 Located on the doorstep of Dubrovnik's Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik boasts an indoor pool and a wellness centre with saunas, a hammam, fitness and massage facilities. Free WiFi access is provided in all public areas.
Set in a historic building built in 1895, this discretely lit hotel combines late 19th century charm with modern technology, mixing warm colours with wooden and marble finishings. Air-conditioned rooms here come equipped with a flat-screen satellite TV. The private bathrooms are fitted with a bath or a shower.
 A wide selection of Mediterranean seasonal specialities based on local ingredients, complemented by fruity Dalmatian wines, is served at the Porat Restaurant. The spacious terrace on the top floor Executive Lounge offers panoramic views of the Adriatic, Dubrovnik's ancient walls and the red palace rooftops.
Coffee, light lunches or snacks including the renowned Dalmatian ham can be enjoyed at the Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik's lobby bar, which provides a view of Fort Revelin. Guests can relax there with a glass the local Rakija brandy, or cocktails while listening to live music.
Hotel Mepas in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina
 Offering free access to an indoor pool and a spa and wellness centre, Hotel Mepas is located in Mostar, in the very centre of town. A shopping centre with various entertainment and shopping options is located right below the hotel. Free WiFi access is available.
Each room here will provide you with a TV, air conditioning and a minibar. Featuring both a shower and a bathtub, the bathrooms also come with a hairdryer and bathrobes. Extras in all rooms include a seating area, satellite channels and pay-per-view channels.
 At Hotel Mepas you will find a restaurant and a fitness centre. Other facilities offered at the property include a congress centre, a tour desk and luggage storage.
The shopping centre also features a cinema, caffee bars, shops, a bank, an exchange office, a hair salon, and a bowling centre.
Sarajevo Europe Hotel, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
 The 5-star Hotel Europe, with over 130 years of tradition, is centrally in Sarajevo. It offers free Wi-Fi and parking, 24-hour front desk and free swimming pool and gym access.
Europe Hotel is entirely air-conditioned and it provides rooms with cable TV, a spa center with a Turkish bath, saunas, massage rooms, beauty treatments and a hairdresser.
The Europe is at the prime location between the Ottoman Old Town core, Bašcaršija, and the central part of Sarajevo showcasing the Austro-Hungarian buildings.
 The Becka Kafana (Viennese Café) serves delicious coffee beverages and the restaurant offers local and international cuisine.
All major historic and cultural attractions, such as cathedrals, mosques and synagogues in Sarajevo are centered within a one mile radius from Hotel Europe. Within 50 ft there is a grocery store, restaurants and bars and a park..
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