Thanks for the incredible response! It is my first time but I still want to get a feel for the Balkans and it feels as though Croatia is westernizing rapidly. Do you think Budapest to Zagreb to Sarajevo to Belgrade to Skopje would be a good route? Last night I spent four hours procrastinating and read up on the history of the Yugoslav Wars, something not at all taught in US public high schools. There is a lot of really interesting stuff so I think it might be cool to go see some of the places that played central roles in the wars. Plus I got to learn about the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia naming dispute. What a fascinating political battle going on.

I'll definitely take Slovenia into consideration. It all depends on time. I'm typing this on my phone but I have a layout of approximate times in cities and travel times. Adding in city might be difficult. Though as I mentioned it is my first time so I might find I have more than enough time and I might be overestimating my time in cities.

Do you have any good resources for how long to spend in a city? I found plenty of estimates for my popular cities but from Wroclaw to Thessaloniki, the only city I can find any information about trip length is Budapest. For the most part I have 2-3 days each.

Drinking and getting puked on is not at all my goal. My goal for this trip is to get a taste of other cultures. When my parents brought me abroad as a kid, we'd always get lost the first day and eat somewhere in some alley. Get some real good local food. One of my fears is that all the people around me will be doing a trip like I am for cheap alcohol. Any advice on avoiding crowds and young partiers? I'm more worried about them coming back drunk and waking me up than avoiding them in the city though.