Balkans Rail Holiday - Tips and Suggestions please

[burns20]

I'm planning a trip around the Balkans by the following route.

Has anyone any tips/past experiences or suggestions of places for good food/beer (microbreweries a plus) or any museums or heritage railways to visit whilst there.

My route is as follows but is subject to change;

Pristina-Skopje-Nis-Belgrade-Bar-Kotor-Ploce-Sarajevo-Zagreb-Split

Thanks in advance

P.S. Anyone flown with Belle Air from Stansted to Pristina?

 

[Panceltic]

Hello,

your plan seems interesting! I would only like to point out that the route you picked makes really long detours, but if your main purpose is to travel as much as possible by train, then I can understand you! The Kotor-Ploče part, however, will have to be done by bus.

If you have any further questions, I'm happy to help!

 

[burns20]

Yes, to cover as much track and also to see the scenic lines and places are the main objectives.

Buses frm Bar to Kotor are fairly frequent but onwards to Ploce seem rare.

 

[Panceltic]

If your itinerary is expandable, then why not return from Split to Ogulin (in the direction of Zagreb) where you can get a train to Rijeka which is Croatia's second largest city if I'm not mistaken. From there you can go to Slovenia (maybe do some more train travel here), then return to Pula in Croatia via a very scenic route (this is a summer only train). Ryanair flies from Pula to Stansted.

 

[telstarbox]

Trogir (west of Split) doesn't have a station, but is well worth a visit. There are frequent buses and small passenger ferries between Split and Trogir.

If you're flying back from Split airport it's very close by, and the 37 bus runs Split - Airport - Trogir frequently.

http://ultrazvuk-tarle.hr/hrvatska-apartman/images/uploads/trogir01.jpg

 

[Panceltic]

Just checked the timetable - Ljubljana-Pula train has been discontinued in December I'm sorry, but I really don't know what's happening with more and more international trains being discontinued!

 

[181]

This railway: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0argan_Eight appears to be interesting, although I don't know much about the practicalities of visiting it, how often it runs, how often they use steam locomotives (not always, I think), etc. The German Wikipedia page contains more information than the English one, including a link to a relevant English-language page on the Serbian Railways site.

There are a few 'real' non-preserved working steam locomotives in Bosnia -- see http://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/europe.htm -- and possibly even elsewhere in the region, although (except for a fireless loco in Slovenia reported in 2010) there are no recent positive reports on the site other than from Bosnia. Some museums and plinthed locos are also mentioned, in several countries. If you visit any of the steam locations, I'm sure the site owner would be grateful for an update.

This site: http://www.balkanology.com/ may be useful for general Balkan travel advice.