Balkan itinerary for 10 days

I haven't been to Belgrade or Tirana but I'm pretty sure they deserve more than 1-1.5 days because they are big cities - certainly different in scale than Dubrovnik or Kotor or Mostar, which are tiny by comparison. Unless you're just using cities as gateways only and realize that you're only going to see a sliver in one day. It looks like you've got less than a day in Mostar - is that worthwhile given the time spent shuttling there? It's very compact but I felt like I didn't have enough time to see it in one day. I got there from Sarajevo so I don't know how long it takes from Dubrovnik. It is a real gem - I would highly recommend it.

Did you say 10 days? It looks like it's 8 full days. Are you pretty confident about the bus schedules between the various countries?

I know this may be just a crazy idea, but why not devote all 8 days to one country like Bulgaria or Romania? They both offer enough diversity that you'll be able to see many things. I think you're trying to get a sample of several countries but you have only a few days in each so I don't know if you'll truly get a sense of, say Croatia, only by visiting Dubrovnik. Or Montanegro by visiting Kotor, or Bosnia by only visiting Mostar....you get the point.

That's a fascinating area, but I'd be nervous about attempting such a tightly scheduled trip via public transportation. My quick Google search turned up only one scheduled Tirana-Kotor trip per day, and it leaves at 8:30 AM. The Dubrovnik-Mostar route I found is in the afternoon.

Since border-crossing buses are so uncommon, it's generally a good idea to reserve a seat in advance.

Dubrovnik: Very beautiful, but 100% tourist. Only a few hundred Croatians live in Dubrovnik these days. Sort of like Venice. Since I travel more for the culture than the architecture the one full day we spent there was adequate (two nights). I did enjoy it and I am glad I saw it, but it was still very, very much a Disneyland sort of place.

If you can afford it, get a driver to take you down the coast and around the Bay rather than the Bus. Make the day of it. I suggest this as the best part of the trip is the towns and villages along the way. We made a number of stops at beaches and places to eat and drink. Wonderful trip. We gambled and stayed in Perast rather than Kotor and it turned out we gambled correctly. We visited Kotor one afternoon but found it to be a small version of Dubrovnik in every respect; just not as good or as impressive. Perast on the other hand was very "real" and because of its proximity to the bay, very beautiful.

We then drove overland using the high road to Podgorica. Podgorica in and of itself isn't much to see. But the trip was pretty special. We stopped at a few towns and villages, ate the local cheese and Prosciutto along the way. From Podgorica (Titograd) we flew to Belgrade. We only spend one full day in Belgrade (two nights) and probably could have stayed occupied for two days, but I think that would have been about it. Still loved it. We hired a guide for the day and she did a good job. From Belgrade we flew to Budapest. .