Roadtrip to Herzegovina

I´ve noticed that lately Herzegovina is the more popular than the Bosnia part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. For those who wonder, the border between those two is not clear, but you can think of it as south being Herzegovina, and the north being Bosnia. The north part has a more continental climate, while the south has a sort of a Mediterranean climate. In Herzegovina it´s always warmer and less polluted than in Sarajevo. Mostar is a gateway for people from Sarajevo during those cold foggy and even smelly days.

In this article, I will distinguish Bosnia and Herzegovina, but in normal everyday communication I use Bosnia as a shorter version for the full country name; hence, I say Bosnia meaning Bosnia and Herzegovina. To make it less confusing when I say just Bosnia, or just Herzegovina, I mean the geographical parts of my country.

As I said, Herzegovina seems to have become a more popular destination. I have several reasons in mind why is that so:

•  The photo of the new old bridge in Mostar is being shared throughout the whole world and frequently makes the top lists of places to visit.
• Međugorje is being visit by a lot of Catholics, because they believe Virgin Mary is appearing there. While visiting Međugorje they also do some tourist sightseeing.
• Croatia´s tourism is blooming, especial the southern coastal part. Traveling from there to Herzegovina is very fast and easy, so that could be one of the reasons tourists visit Bosnia and Herzegovina as well.

Then again, the popularity may be due to the fact that Herzegovina really deserves it. Traveling through it is always a treat. A narrow road next to intensely blue river carved between rocky hills is a thrilling sight. Generally, the whole Herzegovina is very rocky. The rivers in Herzegovina arevery clean, cold and have amazing blue/green colour, such as Neretva, Buna and Trebišnjica.

Now let´s continue with my list of recommendations for places to visit in Herzegovina.

1. Počitelj

I am putting Počitelj first, because of the places on my list I think this is the least known one among foreigners. Počitelj is a village on the cost of Neretva made from stone in stone. It resembles a medieval fortress, but a very Mediterranean-looking one one. Počitelj is spectacular, but be prepared because it is very hot and place is made of stone. Moreover, it requires a lot of stairs climbing. It gets very hot, and I would recommend this destination for autumn or spring days, rather than summer.

2. Mostar

I have already mentioned it in this article, and you have already probably heard about it. Stari Most or Old Bridge (yes, most means bridge in Bosnian) is the most famous spot in Mostar. Beneath it runs the green and majestic Neretva. If you´re lucky you might see people, trained people, jumping from the bridge. Sometime in July there is a competition festival Skokovi s Starog Mosta (Jumps from the Old Bridge) that is a recommendation to those interested in seeing jumps from the Old Bridge. Also, during warmer days it is possible to see guys around the bridge ready to jump for a compensation. As far as I know, they are professionals and members of the Jumpers Club in Mostar, so you shouldn´t have worries hiring them. I think it is also possible to do training at the aforementioned club and then jump from the old bridge.

Most of the architecture in the Old Town is from the Ottoman period. The Old Town is made from stone houses (similar to those in Počitelj), stone bridges, and stone pavements. Absolutely charming is the best term to describe the Old Town. The housed mostly comprise from souvenir shops and cute cafes. When in Mostar, I´d highly suggest you try the Oldbridž craft beer. Oldbridž is actually Bosnian spelling for Old Bridge. My favourite is Oldbridž Black, and the only one I don´t like is Oldbridž Brown. If I remember correctly, I know they serve Oldbridž beer in Black Dog pub.

3. Vrelo Bune (spring of Buna river) in Blagaj

Less than half an hour away by car from both Mostar and Počitelj is the spring of river Buna. This places has some very popular photos that traveled the world as well. What you will encounter if you go there is a spring of a very blue and cold river from a cave in a cliff. Sounds exciting?

The water is drinkable. I drink water there right from the river.

On one side of the river is Blagaj Tekke, a Dervish monastery, which you can visit for 4BAM. On the other side are a lot of cafes with more than fair prices. When I was there, an espresso costed 1BAM.

4. Kravice

Weirdly, Kravice actually means small cows (the English language is really missing some diminutives) when translated to English. The place Kravice are big waterfalls on the Trebižat river. Beneath the waterfalls is a swimming area. I swam there, but it wasn´t easy as the water is extremely cold. Nevertheless, it´s worth trying it once. There is a changing room nearby as well as very tidy public toilettes. When I visited it, there were a lot of Italians there. You could here more Italian than Bosnian. My guess is that there was an organized group visiting Međugorje and that this was on their route too.

5. Neum

Bosnia and Herzegovina has 20km of sea coastline and Neum is Bosnia´s door to the Adriatic sea, it´s only town on the Adriatic coast. It´s been many years since I´ve been there. It was before I had a mobile phone with a camera, so I don´t have any photos of it. I guess a revisit is in order.

Bonus: On my list of places to visit in Herzegovina

Trebinje

I would love to visit Trebinje, but it seems kinda far away for a daytrip. If it makes it off my bucket list, I will surely write about it.  

Photo gallery