For many years, the extraordinary beauty, culture, and hospitality of the Balkan countries have drawn tourists from around the world. Last year, Croatia alone recorded 20.6 million arrivals and 108 million overnight stays through the eVisitor system.

This trend shows no signs of slowing down, with Croatia once again listed as a top destination by the Ryanair airline this year. But the Balkans offer much more than just Croatia. In this article, we explore mobile Internet availability and speed in some of the most popular tourist spots across the region.

Our holiday ranking includes countries such as Croatia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Greece, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey.

Mobile Internet in the Balkans – Availability, quality, and speed

Mobile Internet speeds in the Balkans are influenced by several factors, including telecommunications infrastructure, geography, population density, and regulation. Countries such as Croatia and Greece, which have heavily invested in developing modern LTE and 5G networks, typically enjoy high download speeds and low ping values.

The region’s mountainous landscape also plays a key role. The challenging terrain of the Balkans can make it difficult to build and maintain telecommunications infrastructure, resulting in uneven network coverage and slower speeds in more remote and hard-to-reach areas.

Population density and urbanisation levels affect connection quality too; networks are generally more developed and faster in urban areas. Telecom regulations and government policies are important as well. For example, in countries outside the European Union, different roaming regulations can affect the availability and cost of mobile services for tourists.

All these factors together shape the quality and speed of mobile Internet in the Balkans, creating a diverse telecommunications landscape in the region.

What is the speed of mobile Internet in Croatia?

Croatia is served by 3 main mobile operators: Hrvatski Telecom, A1, and Telemach, along with 2 virtual networks, Tomato and BonBon. Prices for prepaid cards vary from €8 to €20 per month.

Croatia offers some of the best mobile services in the Balkans, especially in terms of wireless Internet speeds, with download speeds reaching up to 97.5 Mbps.

In terms of upload speeds, North Macedonia stands out with speeds of 24.1 Mbps. Meanwhile, Greece is known for the lowest ping value, at 19 ms, providing excellent connection quality.

On the other end of the spectrum, Albania and Turkey are among the worst-performing countries. Albania has an average download speed of 49.75 Mbps, an upload speed of 12.5 Mbps, and a ping of 23 ms. Similarly, Turkey lags with an average download speed of 40.33 Mbps, an upload speed of 13.95 Mbps, and a ping of 26 ms.

Maps of Quality and speed of Mobile Internet in the Balkans