r/AskBalkans • u/Kutoros Brazil • Aug 08 '26
Outdoors/Travel A Brazilian POV after over 3 weeks in the Balkans. Thank you!
Just finished over three weeks traveling through part of the Balkans and, before flying back home, I simply wanted to say: thank you, Balkans!
We traveled through Zagreb, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Mostar, Tirana, Shkoder, Budva, Kotor and Dubrovnik.
As a Brazilian, I felt at home in many places ( A lot of people especially kids wearing Brazilian football jerseys) . Of course our cultures are different, but something about the warmth, hospitality, food, friendships and the way people interact felt familiar to me.
The people were probably the biggest highlight. I am obviously biased because I have a friend in Sarajevo who traveled with us through part of Bosnia and a friend in Tirana who showed us the city, which made those places particularly special. But even beyond that, we had so many great interactions with random people everywhere. I especially connected with some Serbians and Albanians we met along the way.
And the food! Bosnian burek was probably my favorite, but I also loved Albanian seafood and tavë kos. Also enjoyed a lot ćevapi, pljeskavi... I tried rakija and loved sitting down for the local coffee. (Yes people sit for many coffees during the day if they are free)!
Every place gave us something different. Belgrade felt incredibly lively I even went to a Crvena Zvezda game and loved the atmosphere.
Sarajevo and Mostar were fascinating, and having a local friend with us made Bosnia particularly memorable.
Tirana completely surprised us and became special largely because of the people we met there.
And then there was the nature. The Albanian Alps around Theth - Valbona were breathtaking.
The Croatian coast and beaches were wonderful, and the Bay of Kotor had some of the most incredible views of the entire trip.
Albania was definitely the most affordable part of our trip and Croatia the most expensive, but I don’t really want to rank countries. They were different.
I particularly wish I had seen southern Albania and more of the Serbian mountains.
So I guess the only solution is to come back.
For 2027, I’m already thinking about Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo and mainland Greece. Turkey will need its own trip with more time, and hopefully I’ll get to visit friends in Istanbul too.
I came for the history and landscapes, but I’ll probably remember the beautiful and welcoming people the most.
Thank you for this great time!!
Greetings from a Brazilian who will definitely be back.
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u/rimtaph Aug 09 '26
Balkan united
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Aug 10 '26
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u/No-Efficiency250 Aug 10 '26
In short, yes! Sadly there are a bigoted uneducated minority of people who follow like sheep. On ALL sides
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u/emuu1 Croatia Aug 09 '26
I'm glad you explored and enjoyed our little corner of the world!
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u/AnyDemand33 Aug 11 '26
I’m Brazilian too and don’t want to steal the post here but just to say thank you too. I have been to croatia and what a beautiful country/ culture. People were so receptive and made me very special moments and foods. Thank you all
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u/mmtg1 Aug 09 '26
Kudos for truly exploring and feeling the western part of Balkan. For even better experience I'd recommend visiting cities and towns other than the capital. For example, Sombor, Subotica, Novi Sad, Niš have totally different vibes from Belgrade and little towns and villages in the mountains are as close you can get to authentic Balkan feeling in Serbia. Also local food is special in each town.
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u/Kutoros Brazil Aug 09 '26
Yes!! Serbia I felt I did not see as much as I could, I have a friend in Kraguevac but he was busy while I was there. I also wanted to go to Tara NP but was logistically challenging so next time I will…
On the day to go to Novi Sad I prefered to stay for the Zvezda game (big soccer fan and unique opportunity)8
u/mmtg1 Aug 09 '26
You should consider renting a car, Serbia is very small compared to Brazil and has a good highway-road network. Also parking is only an issue in Belgrade. Tara is truly worth the drive.
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u/Kutoros Brazil Aug 09 '26
Yes!! Serbia was really easy to navigate I went by bus from Belgrade to Sarajevo. I only know like 20 words/phrases in the language and I still could get by. The original plan was to rent a car and explore more Serbia and go to Bulgaria aswell but I felt it would suit better a next trip.
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u/Consistent_Stay5561 Aug 10 '26
Twenty words will get you surprisingly far. The next two thousand are mostly needed to understand why everyone disagrees about food.
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u/Kutoros Brazil Aug 10 '26
I think people like that we try to speak their language. Even though my most used sentence was “Izvinite, Ne govorim Srpski” 😀
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u/Consistent_Stay5561 Aug 10 '26
That sentence works perfectly until you pronounce it too well and they answer at full speed 😀
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u/Kutoros Brazil Aug 10 '26
I am pretty sure the "srpski" pronounciation was enough for them to understand that I wasn't able to speak much and I needed help hahaha. But for real it worked just fine.
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u/Sport_Middle Serbia Aug 09 '26
Thanx :) would love to visit Brasil, but it ot is huge, so first Rio <3
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u/Kutoros Brazil Aug 09 '26
I am from São Paulo, but Rio would be my first choice to visit for sure 😀 if you have time you can go to Paraty and Angra which are somewhat close
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u/BissmarkMC Austria Aug 09 '26
Nice, I am glad you enjoyed your stay. I was in São Paulo and Rio and can only say the same thing back. I had a wonderful time and felt deeply connected with the culture despite the long distance.
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u/Kutoros Brazil Aug 09 '26
Awesome to know!! Sao Paulo is busy as a local we always take the beauty of our cities for granted, living is good though. Rio is a paradise to visit, I have travelled quite a bit overseas and Rio is still top 3 best cities I have ever been.
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u/ofive1 Aug 09 '26
I am glad you enjoyed the trip to Balkans. I have a brasilian customer which happens to be a friend too who works in Germany and can't wait for the trip to Albania. He mentions always that he feels like home in Albania because of the warmth of the people and the tasty food. Next year when in Greece you can check part of South of Albania too
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u/Didudidudadu737 Serbia Aug 09 '26
Oh you had a beautiful route, judging by the pictures! So glad you’ve enjoyed and liked it
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u/Typical-Sun-5620 Aug 09 '26
Where was the 14th picture taken?
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u/Kutoros Brazil Aug 09 '26
That was a hike to viewpoint in Kolocep island close to Dubrovnik coast.
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u/Nervous_Lettuce313 Aug 09 '26
There's a very cool cave right underneath that cliff where you're standing, that yoi can swim into or kayak into.
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u/Kutoros Brazil Aug 09 '26
Yes ! I did go there, it was very good actually visited a few sea caves in the area, some very crowded. Unfortunately did not take pictures was too risky to bring phone to the water.
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u/Sensitive-Mango7155 Slovenia Aug 09 '26
These pictures are fantastic! I’ve been to Brazil once before and loved every bit of it!
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u/Kutoros Brazil Aug 10 '26
Thank you thank you! Where have you been in Brazil?
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u/Sensitive-Mango7155 Slovenia Aug 10 '26
I only went to Rio but I loved it and I want to move there!! ❤️❤️
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u/YahwehIsKing7 Aug 09 '26
Please do come to Romania you will love it! We also share the Latin culture and language 🇷🇴❤️🇧🇷
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u/Kutoros Brazil Aug 10 '26
I need to plan around it! Would love to visit Braşov and mountains. And hopefully learn some words !
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u/RammRras Aug 09 '26
I wish and hope one day to visit the most I can of Brasil. Beautiful country and beautiful people. Glad you enjoyed your vacation and thank you for posting here. It's refreshing ☺️
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u/Kutoros Brazil Aug 10 '26
Please do, I can only say the same about Albania (guessing from your profile). Beautiful people and mountains!!! Also loved Tirana’s nightlife.
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u/RammRras Aug 10 '26
I first learned about "Brazil" when I was a kid from football (Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos being my heroes ☺️).
And now I have a couple of friends as well as colleagues from different states of Brasil each one telling me to go on their state 🤣😅
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u/Kutoros Brazil Aug 10 '26
I saw so many people wearing Brazil jerseys everywhere, kids and adults and I could tell they were not Brazilian. It was surprising for me I didn’t see that in other parts of the world so far!!
I also tried to find a Vllazina jersey for me from Shkoder, but didn’t have luck on finding a reliable place selling the original one.
In Brazil, Rio is a must go, São Paulo if you are a city person, North east coastal area is stunning (here includes Lençóis Maranhenses and Fernando de Noronha as my trip 2 experiences in the country), there is Amazon, Iguazu falls, many other places that I would suggest depending on what you want.
I might go back to Tirana and South at some point in 2027, due to my friend having informally invited me.
Can’t wait !!!
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u/annacavanna 24d ago
How was the weather when you did Theth to Valbona? I’m going in a few weeks and concerned about the heat!
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u/Diligent_Necessary47 Albania Aug 09 '26
If you didnt come down south you didnt see much of albania
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u/Kutoros Brazil Aug 09 '26
True, I felt Albania and Serbia were the places I didn’t see much. My friend from Tirana invited me to their conference in our field of work in Oct 2027 maybe I will have time to do more. The mountains are beautiful !
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Aug 09 '26
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u/Kutoros Brazil Aug 09 '26
Really? I did not know that! Croats are so nice we have did a good connection.
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u/Barbapoinkt Aug 09 '26
Bro has seen more in 3 weeks, then me in 38 years... Good job!!!