EEET2013 – Day 17 – Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

After experiencing the advanced and quick driving skills of Balkan bus drivers (irony), we decided to make a short stop during our last road trip between Sarajevo and Dubrovnik (Croatia).  Some research about the city and its history lead us to Mostar, a small picturesque city in the deep south of Bosnia and Herzegovina. You can reach the city either by train or bus. Both are quite cheap and more or less take the same time to get there, but the train just leaves very early in the morning or late in the afternoon, making it impossible to a) rest well or b) stay over for only a couple of hours. That is why we decided to take the bus.

View from the bus between Sarajevo - Mostar

Mostar is very known for its century-old bridge connecting two parts of the city over its river. As you can see here, the bridge was destroyed during the nineties’ war and rebuilt around 2000. Annually it attracts a lot of tourists who come for two reasons: the Old Bridge and the complicated but exemplary co-existence of, just like in Sarajevo, Muslims, Jews and Christians. 

The Famous Old Bridge, first build by the Ottomans during 16th Century

Some awesome pictures from the bridge, lunch with an awesome view on the bridge and the city, a hour of chilling next to and inside the river and souvenir shopping are pretty much the only things to do in this city and that is also pretty much everything we did. It is not a must-see city but if you want to discover another part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, next to the obligatory Sarajevo (& maybe Screbrenica) Mostar is for sure a recommendable stop on your way to/from Dubrovnik. About three hours from Sarajevo and four from Dubrovnik, Liesbeth and I were happy to chill out in the city between eleven A.M. and five P.M. which enabled us to rest and avoid being in a too hot bus during the hottest times of the day. With over 35°C, that was not an exaggerated luxury.

The same late-afternoon we took the bus to our last, but not least long-awaited destination: Dubrovnik – most southern, most expensive and most beautiful city of Croatia.

peace out_

Liesbeth&Thibault

For more info about Mostar and the Old Bridge: 1992 in Mostar & BBC Documentary

Even for lunch the view was almost perfect

Ideal location for some romantic pictures.