+1 for Budapest.

I lived there for a year in 2008-09 and loved it. Low cost of living, beautiful women, friendly and intellectual people, and great nightlife. I much prefer it to Prague, where I also lived for 1.5 years. Prague is probably the more popular destination in the region, but it's much more touristy and commercialized and I found the people to be much less friendly than in Budapest.

Good luck in your journey.

Alan

Anybody know anything about teaching English around the Balkan countries?

OP I'm here for help/advice if you ever consider Belgrade, Serbia as part of your trip destination.

You won't have much luck with that. In Serbia English is a part of educational system that goes up to university level. Besides that there is Institute for foreign languages and other schools that theach foreign languages run by private individuals.

If you are English teacher I guess your best shot is to get connected with British Council or similar and see if they need/seek part time guest lecturer.

Anyone living or spent some time to tell about Moldova, Bucharest, Skopje, Pristina, Sofia, Tirana? Plan to grind 2-4 hours a day and live nice in cheaper places of Europe and giving my 5 cents to their economy Budapest was my fav place so far in whole Europe but maybe one of those I mentioned worth visit too?

Basically interested about how they speak English, how to find trustworthy landlord etc. Any info on nightlife, food and atmosphere in general much appreciated!

http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/eur...eapest-cities/

I spent 2004 partially in Skopje, and near Pristina - of the two I would definitely recommend Skopje over Pristina. Pristina is mostly Islamic, and even though Albanian & Kosovo Muslims are probably the most liberal on Earth, they still keep their distance from non-Muslims (especially the women). When I was in Skopje most of the nightlife was centered around the mall, but that may have all changed since then.

I doubt this is still the case, but Skopje had +EV blackjack rules at Alexander's Palace in 2004, allowing early surrender vs. aces.

Thank you! Do you think online poker is legal there or should I use proxys if I go there?(i´m bad with computers). I´m pretty much tattooed dude and in Budapest already I faced some scepticism and people considering me criminal or bum there. Dated muslim girl couple years ago but she was more of a modern type of muslim with "normal" clothing etc. Seems like not big deal but it affects communication with strangers, asking ways to certain places etc. Did you feel safe during your stay in Skopje, did you get scammed etc?

Pristina is definitely a lot less livable a city than Skopje. I preferred Pristina for visiting, but could definitely see Skopje as a much better place to live.

Skopje's accommodation is horrible value, though.

Albanian Muslims are more like Turks in Istanbul--you'll see very little in the way of headscarves and stuff. But it will still be a significant cultural barrier between you have between them.

If you're interested in Albanian stuff, Tirana is an absolutely awesome city. I loved it there--very cheap and a totally unique culture. It kind of feels like a cross between Latin America and Eastern Europe--much more commercialism out on the street than you see elsewhere. Lots of bars and sidewalk cafes, especially in Blloku.

Skopje definitely has a beggar child issue. One of them tried to pickpocket me, and cabs at the bus station are atrocious (I just walked to downtown instead). But Pristina is probably the most dangerous out of all them if you're worried about real crimes. Still, the Balkans have very little actual crime in comparison to other parts of the world. It's a pretty calm place.

Also, if you like the outdoors, go to Lake Ohrid. It's really an incredible place.

Much appreciated Tirana and Skopje on my mind as options then. Basically I love getting connected to nice local people (in many places tourists are huge idiots) not liking how finnish tourists act for example. I like cheap prices, good nightlife, beautiful girls and reliable internet and landlord obv. I´m not culture person in that way that I would visit museums or theatres but nice to see good architecture of course. How you think people speak english in those places?

Pickpockets pretty common in all Balkan countries but like you already talked some about violence rates etc. are things I´m more interested about.

Anyone is living in Romania? I need to ride to Odessa from Varna. I have found some trin connection to Bucarest and im looking for another one to Odessa. Or maybe someone know if there is some ferry from Varna to Odessa?

Someone might find this useful...

http://www.expatserbia.com/moving-to...ng-in-belgrade