Train from Belgrade to Bar then bus to Ohrid trough Albania? Possible?
 

Hi, while planning this trip:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35107454

I came up with this little question...

It looks as though the night train from Belgrade to Bar Montenegro drops you off in Bar around 7:10 in the morning in Bar.

If you wanted to go from there to Ohrid Macedonia in one day, could you do it? You would go through Albania I assume? Is that by car? It looked as though no buses make the entire journy and you basically have to piece together bits and pieces to make it work? What exactly would this look like and is there anywhere to find out bus times for this?

What if you decided to take it slower and do it 2 days? Would that help? Is here a good place to spend the night along the way? Either in Albania or Macedonia? Or is it easy enough to make it in one day of travel?

Thanks a ton!!! =)

I wish we had more time to see more of Montenegro... but maybe this isn't the best time of the year for "fun and sun" I suppose hehe.

You could probably make the trip in a very long day, but it would be preferable to spend at least one night in Tirana -- Albania is a highlight of Eastern Europe.

From Bar, take a taxi (most likely a private taxi, but maybe shared minivan) to the Albania border -- walk across border -- take taxi to Shkodra -- take shared minivan to Tirana -- take shared minivan to border (I forget what route you take, but you'll need to tell them to drop you off near the border, around 3km or so, and then take taxi) -- walk across border into Macedonia -- taxi to Ohrid.

I did the trip, but I stopped along the way.

I've been to most of the places on your whirlwind tour, except Belarus and Moldova -- I think I did it in more than half a dozen separate trips, but I never had two months to work with. Its a great trip, and my advice would be to pencil in a route, secure whatever visas are necessary, and then be flexible. You may find, for example, that you want to spend more or less time someplace, and during the period you will be visiting, you'll have no problems finding lodging.

Michael

I posted a trip report with photos from my overland from Sarajevo to Ohrid on this site somewhere -- if you're interested, you could probably find it by searching for Albania or Ohrid (not many posts on those places).

Thanks so much! Yea I really think these are undiscovered jewels and it feels nice to see them before the masses arrive.

Thanks again for the tips! I'm not sure if we'll have time for Albania sadly... I'll give it another look though.

There isn't much information on this so every little bit definitely helps =)

Well I finally completed this leg of the journey and can say that it IS possible but takes a lot of dumb luck and a high tolerance for high stress travel.

Also, Albania is beautiful and the people are amazing so it warrants a day in Tirana in my opinion.

I just posted a bit trip report here for this leg of the journey through Albania for anyone who may be considering this in the future:

I hope it helps someone sometime!

http://tylernofziger.com/messageboar...f=32&t=368

=)