I was a bit surprised to run across the following article, “Trip Lives up to Eastern Promise: Croatia, Montenegro and Albania provide a rewarding alternative to tourist traps,” for the simple reason that those are exactly the same three countries I will be visiting shortly.
Writer Cath Bennett did somewhat of a whirlwind tour in order of the most commonly visited (Croatia) to least commonly visited (Albania). She writes most fondly of Dubrovnik where she basked in a luxury hotel and strolled the town’s 13th century city walls. Montenegro, however, presented some hotel problems (no running water) but redeemed itself with the ancient city of Budva–a “veritable maze of winding streets featuring a mix of museums, shops and bars.”
Lastly, Bennett spent time in Albania–which she describes as a fascinating country of extreme contrasts where ox carts and Mercedes share the roadway.
It’s not the most detailed article, but it still gives a flavor of what to expect when traveling through this region of the world.