From the walls of Dubrovnik to the columns of the Acropolis, this 8 Days Dubrovnik to Athens Tour crosses five countries in a single week — Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia and Greece — by guided coach, with a ferry across the Bay of Kotor, a night on the shores of Lake Ohrid and a stay below the rock pinnacles of Meteora. It is planned and supported by IMAD Travel, an IATA-certified travel agency in Hyderabad serving travellers from across India since 2011. Prefer to travel at your own pace? Our team can also arrange this same route, or a similar one, as a custom package for your family or group, with your own dates and hotels — just quote the tour code IMAD-EU-61654 when you contact us.
WhatsApp +91 63003 03169 for Friday departure dates or a custom version of this tour. Tour code: IMAD-EU-61654
Hotels with buffet breakfast, the arrival transfer, five dinners, the coach with an English-speaking guide, city tours of Dubrovnik, Tirana and Athens, the boat to Lokrum, the Kotor Bay ferry, the evening transfer to Plaka and tickets to the Franciscan Monastery and Cathedral in Dubrovnik, a Meteora monastery, Delphi and Hosios Loukas are arranged before you leave.
Two nights in Dubrovnik
The journey begins on the Adriatic, in Dubrovnik, where you are met and taken to your hotel, with dinner the first evening. The next morning a local guide leads you through the old town inside its great stone walls — a jewel of world heritage perched on a cliff above the sea — with a stop at a viewpoint along the coast road and tickets to the Franciscan Monastery, home to the oldest working pharmacy in Europe, and the Cathedral of the Assumption. A short boat ride takes you to Lokrum, a green island of peacocks and the ruins of an 11th-century Benedictine monastery, known to many as a Game of Thrones filming location (the boat runs from April to October). The rest of the day is free to walk the city walls or swim, and dinner is included again. On some dates the hotel is in Cavtat, a pretty harbour town nearby.
The Bay of Kotor and Budva
Leaving early, you cross into Montenegro and follow one of the most dramatic coastlines in Europe, where steep mountains drop straight into the fjord-like Bay of Kotor. A short ferry carries you across the bay to Kotor, a walled town with a strong Venetian character, its lanes and churches climbing towards the fortress above. Lunch is in Budva, a small walled village surrounded by the sea, before the road leads into Albania and its capital, Tirana, where dinner is waiting.
Tirana, Lake Ohrid and North Macedonia
A morning tour shows you how Tirana has reinvented itself, with its mosques, the Clock Tower, the government ministries and the colourful buildings around the main square. Around midday the coach heads inland through Albania’s high mountains and small villages to the shores of Lake Ohrid, one of the oldest lakes in Europe, which forms the border with North Macedonia. Lunch is in Struga, a pretty lakeside town, and the night is in Ohrid, a UNESCO-listed town of Byzantine churches, Ottoman houses and a hilltop fortress. You have time to visit the Plaosnik monastery complex, where one of the first Slavic universities was founded in the 9th century, before dinner.
Bitola and the monasteries of Meteora
The road south stops in Bitola, a graceful city of Ottoman and neoclassical buildings where cafés line Širok Sokak, its main street. Crossing into Greece, the landscape becomes wild and rugged until the rock towers of Meteora appear. After lunch in the village of Kastraki, the coach drives through the whole valley, a UNESCO site, and you go inside one of the famous monasteries built on top of the pinnacles (entry included). Dinner is included in Kalambaka, at the foot of the rocks.
Delphi, Hosios Loukas and Athens
Crossing the plains of Thessaly, you reach Delphi, the sanctuary the ancient Greeks considered the centre of the world, set on the slopes of Mount Parnassus with views down to the Gulf of Corinth (entry included). After lunch you visit Hosios Loukas, one of the most beautiful Byzantine monasteries in Greece and a UNESCO site famous for its golden 11th-century mosaics (entry included), and arrive in Athens in the evening.
Your last full day starts with a city tour with a local guide: the Presidential Mansion, the marble Panathenaic Stadium where the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896, the National Library, the lively central squares and the new districts built for the 2004 Olympics. The tour ends at the foot of the Acropolis (entry is not included, so you can choose your time to go up). In the evening a transfer takes you to Plaka, the old quarter below the Acropolis, full of tavernas and music.
Who this tour suits
This 8 days Balkans and Greece tour including Dubrovnik, Kotor, Ohrid, Meteora and Athens suits travellers who want to see several countries in one short trip; history lovers drawn to Venetian, Ottoman, Byzantine and ancient Greek sites; and couples, friends and families who like a guided coach tour with hotels, guides, five dinners and the main visits already arranged. There are several border crossings and some long drives, so it suits travellers who enjoy the scenery along the way.
Best time to go and visa
May, June and September are ideal — warm days on the coast and pleasant weather at Meteora and Delphi; July and August are hot, especially in Athens. The Lokrum boat does not run from November to March. Departures are on Fridays. Croatia and Greece are in the Schengen area, so Indian passport holders need a Schengen visa; Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia have their own entry rules, which are usually easier for travellers holding a valid multiple-entry Schengen visa. Our visa team prepares the Schengen file and checks the current rules for every country on your dates — start about two to three months before travel.
Good to know before you book
Breakfast is included every day, plus five dinners in Dubrovnik (two), Tirana, Ohrid and Kalambaka; lunches are on your own. Border formalities can take time, so carry snacks and water on travel days. Entry to the Acropolis is not included. International flights into Dubrovnik and out of Athens are booked separately — our team can book them from any Indian city. Prices start from €1,125 per person (₹1,23,800 at €1 = ₹110, October 2026) on twin sharing, excluding GST and TCS, and are recalculated for your exact travel dates and season.
Other Europe tour packages from India
For more of the Balkans, see the 13 days Balkans tour from Transylvania to Venice or the 6 days Albania tour of Berat, Gjirokaster and the Blue Eye. For the Adriatic islands, take the 8 days Croatia tour of Dubrovnik, Split, Hvar and Korčula; for more of Greece, the 8 days Greece tour of Athens, Meteora, Delphi and Olympia or the 10 days Greece tour with Crete and Santorini. See every route on our Europe tour packages from India page.
WhatsApp +91 63003 03169 for Friday departure dates or a custom version of this tour. Tour code: IMAD-EU-61654