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People ask whether the Balkans are cheap. The honest answer is: cheaper than western Europe, not as cheap as the internet says, and wildly variable depending on whether you rent like a local or like a tourist. Here is what two of us spent over three months this spring, working full time, moving overland between three capitals.
All figures are rounded, in euros, for two people. Prices are rising across the region, so read them as proportions more than quotes.
The route
| Leg | Dates | How we travelled | Roughly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgrade, one month | March | Arrived by train from the north | |
| Belgrade to Sarajevo | 1 April | Bus through the Drina valley | 7 to 8 hours |
| Sarajevo, one month | April | ||
| Sarajevo to Podgorica | 2 May | Bus through the mountains | 6 to 7 hours |
| Podgorica to Tirana | 3 May | Minibus across the border | 3 to 4 hours |
| Tirana, one month | May |
There is no practical through-train between these cities at the moment, so buses did the work. They were cheap, mostly on time and occasionally driven with alarming confidence.
The budget, month by month
| Category | Belgrade | Sarajevo | Tirana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent, one-bedroom flat | 750 | 620 | 600 |
| Utilities and internet extras | 40 | 30 | 25 |
| Groceries and markets | 360 | 320 | 300 |
| Eating out and coffee | 280 | 220 | 240 |
| Local transport and taxis | 35 | 30 | 40 |
| Coworking and work extras | 90 | 60 | 70 |
| SIM cards and data | 15 | 15 | 12 |
| Day trips and weekends | 120 | 150 | 180 |
| Monthly total | about 1,690 | about 1,445 | about 1,467 |
Add roughly 110 euros for the three overland legs, including a night in Podgorica. The full three months came to around 4,700 euros for two people, or a little under 800 each per month.
Where the money went that we did not expect
- Cash withdrawal fees. Several ATMs charged a flat fee per withdrawal on top of our bank’s. We found one bank’s machines without the fee and used only those.
- Border paperwork. Nothing official, but taxis to and from bus stations at odd hours added up.
- Heating in Belgrade. Early March was cold and the flat’s heating was billed separately.
- The second month slump. In Sarajevo we ate out more in week three, mostly out of boredom. It shows in no single line and in all of them.
Where we would cut next time
- Book the first week only, then find a monthly let in person. Every local let we saw was cheaper than what we booked online.
- Skip coworking in Tirana. Our flat’s connection was better than the space we paid for.
- One weekend trip per month, not two. The best weekends were the ones we stayed home and walked.
Is it worth it?
For us, yes. Three months of real life in three very different cities, working normal hours, cost less than a single month in many western capitals. Just do not expect it to be free, and do not expect the cheap numbers you read from ten years ago.