Welcome to Bulgaria. Please make your own way to the arrival hotel. Once you have checked in, the rest of the day is yours to enjoy at leisure. Relax at the hotel after your journey or take your first walk through Sofia and discover the atmosphere of the Bulgarian capital at your own pace.
After breakfast, meet your local guide and begin exploring Sofia. Visit the impressive Alexander Nevsky Cathedral before continuing to the historic St. Sofia Basilica. Your sightseeing also includes the National Art Gallery and Presidential Palace, providing an introduction to the city’s architectural, religious and cultural heritage. Following the guided tour, the remainder of the day is free for independent exploration.
Following breakfast, leave Bulgaria and travel towards North Macedonia. On arrival in Skopje, join a guided exploration of the capital. Visit Kale Fortress overlooking the Vardar River, then cross the historic Stone Bridge towards Macedonia Square. Continue to Mustafa Pasha Mosque and wander through the Old Bazaar, an area reflecting the city’s rich Ottoman heritage. In the evening, enjoy an included traditional Macedonian dinner.
This morning, guests may choose to join an optional visit to Matka Canyon, located just outside Skopje. Continue into Kosovo and arrive in Prizren. Explore the historic centre, including Shadervan Square and Sinan Pasha Mosque, while taking in the Ottoman character of the city and the surroundings of Prizren Fortress. Later, cross the border into Albania and continue to Tirana. Arrive in the evening, enjoy dinner and settle into your hotel.
After breakfast, discover some of Tirana’s best-known landmarks on a panoramic city tour. See Skanderbeg Square, Et’hem Bey Mosque and the Clock Tower before leaving the Albanian capital.
Travel through scenic countryside and cross back into North Macedonia, continuing to the shores of Lake Ohrid. On arrival, explore Ohrid’s historic Old Town with your guide. Follow traces of the ancient Via Egnatia and visit St. Sophia Church and Samoil’s Fortress, overlooking the lake. Dinner is included this evening.
Enjoy breakfast followed by a relaxed day in Ohrid. You may spend the day exploring independently or join the optional excursion to St. Naum Monastery, situated close to the Albanian border on the shores of Lake Ohrid. The monastery and surrounding area are known for their peaceful lakeside setting and natural springs. In the evening, experience a special Balkan Night Dinner featuring Macedonian dishes and local music.
After breakfast, depart Ohrid and continue south towards Greece.
Your first stop is Kastoria, a picturesque town on the shores of Lake Kastoria. Spend time discovering its lakeside setting and Byzantine heritage before continuing deeper into northern Greece. Travel onwards to Meteora, where immense sandstone pillars create one of the country’s most distinctive landscapes. Arrive in the Kalambaka area and check into your hotel.
Following breakfast, explore the remarkable monasteries of Meteora with a local guide. Visit two Byzantine monasteries dramatically positioned on towering sandstone formations and discover the spiritual heritage of this UNESCO-listed landscape.
Afterwards, enjoy some free time in the Meteora area before continuing by transfer towards Athens. Upon arrival in the Greek capital, check into your hotel and enjoy the evening at leisure.
Enjoy breakfast at your hotel. Your Five Nations Balkan Passage concludes today. Guests may continue with their own onward travel arrangements or extend their stay in Greece.
This is intended to give an idea of the type of accommodation that may be expected. The actual hotels used for any given tour may change due to many reasons such as group size, availability, time of year, hotel standard has dropped or simply we found a better hotel. We update the website immediately if and when any changes take place. If and when we do change hotels it will be to a hotel of equal or higher standard and will be at no extra cost.
Where more than one hotel is shown for a given an overnight stop this means that one of those hotels will be used.
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