Author: Laura Sanders

This week, we invited award-winning journalist and travel writer Laura Sanders to be a guest blogger and tell us why the Balkans are on her radar in 2024. Laura explored Bosnia, Croatia and Montenegro last year. After being wowed by Mostar’s Ottoman architecture on holiday, she returned and dug deeper for assignments from Conde Nast Traveller, The Sun and The Telegraph Travel. Few places are real “hidden gems” in today’s world when seemingly everybody has been there, done that and posted it on Instagram. But last summer, my faith in a truly intrepid escape was restored when I ventured beyond the familiar frontiers of Croatia to see more of the Western Balkans. It was a breath of fresh air (in every sense) and left me wanting more. ‘Authentic experience’ isn't a buzzword here. Other than parts of Croatia, the region remains largely undeveloped for tourism. That pure, unfiltered interaction between guest and host happens organically. Hotels and restaurants are locally owned and excursions are, for the most part, led by natives.  In the depths of a cost of living crisis, and with lots happening in the Balkans, here's why the region is on my radar this year. Albania, the new ‘rising star’ in the Balkans Some 15 years after Croatia’s emergence on to the global tourism market, Albania steps into the limelight. Deemed ‘Europe’s rising star’ by National Geographic, several publications have primed it as the next big adventure travel destination for 2024. For good reason; the Accursed Mountains are brimming with new thrills from kayaking on the mystical Lake Shkoder to exploring villages that time forgot. Albanian Tourism Minister Mirela Kumbaro is already getting ahead of the curve on overtourism, vowing ‘you will not have mass-market holidays on the beach at Albanian resorts,’ reports The Independent. But the fact remains,