What is the most interesting route from Sofia, Bulgaria to northern Albania? [closed]

Question

I'm trying to decide which route to take from Sofia Bulgaria, where I am now, to northern Albania, but I don't really have much idea what specific points of interest are along the way.

• I could just head from here to Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, south around Kosovo, to Shkoder etc.
• I could head straight west into southern Serbia, then continue through Kosovo.
• I could head straight west into southern Serbia, then north around Kosovo.

I like getting a taste of new countries and have not been to Serbia or Kosovo. Ideally I would like to go right through Albania from north to south (continuing into Greece etc) and would prefer not to enter at some midpoint.

Are there interesting cities, towns, sights, or campgrounds in the part of Serbia I would go through? Or are the options among these types of things better by taking a more southerly route without Serbia?

Is Kosovo interesting enough to be worth the additional hassle of going that way? (I wouldn't go back through Serbia so no problem there)

Is there some particularly good spot I should head for in northern Albania?

I have an Australian passport and don't believe I need a visa for any of these countries. I'm hitchhiking with a basic tent and sleeping bag so I'm not tied to train or bus routes.

But all of that is really details. The basic question is:

Which route from Sofia to northern Albania has the most good stuff along it?

^{(Normally I would think such question would be officially not in eline with Stack Exchange policy but after seeing some similar do OK here and asking for advice on meta I decided to go ahead and ask this as both a real question and a test question)}

UPDATE

I'm currently thinking of going first to Niš, Serbia, which has some hostels, then either into Kosovo or Macedonia.

Answer 1

Can't advise on Kosovo, never been there.

I like the northern route:

• Nis (Serbia)
• Kopaonik National Park
• Novi Pazar -- several notable monasteries in the vicinity.
• Moraca river canyon (Montenegro) -- memorable road, remarkably steep drops
• Podgorica
• Either proceed directly to Skhoder, Albania (60km) or take a small detour down the Montenegrin coast down to Bar and Ulcinj first (120km), then go on to Skhoder.

I think this route would be more culturally diverse than cutting straight through Kosovo into Albania -- you'd pass through mixed Serbian, Slavic Muslim, Montenegrin, Albanian Catholic and finally Albanian Muslim areas instead of dominantly Albanian Muslim ones. It's also marginally safer, not sure how volatile Kosovo is at the moment (probably no real risk for an Australian, but difficult to know).

Answer 2

I just can add a small piece of information. Again I quote my LonelyPlanet from 2009:

Because Serbia doesn't consider Kosovo's entry and exit points to be official international borders, attempts to enter Serbia from Kosovo may be futile unless you initially entered Kosovo from Serbia.

Additionally if you plan to hitchhike into Kosovo, I wouldn't take a Serbian car, since

it is unwise to drive in Kosovo with a Serbian plate.

Hope that helped a little bit. For further information about Kosovo and Albania I could help maybe too ;)