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10 days of independent travel after best of adriatic tour

I have a Best of Adriatic tour booked end of April and booked a flight that flies out of Dubrovnik about 10 days after tour ends. Any itinerary suggestions? Booked a rental car and tentatively some hotels-Kotor and Sarajevo and Mostar (wanted to spend more time there), and my wife would like to go to Medjugorje - catholic.

But it is still pretty open and looking for recommendations from the seasoned travellers on the forum.
Interested in national geologic features. hiking, old town walks, swimmable areas, monasteries, and keeping a lid on expenses.

Not into the late night, party stuff. The description of Bosnia-H in the RS guidebook makes me think BH is more my speed.

We fly in 2 days early in Zagreb and will explore there prior to the tour and take train to Ljubljana.

But still trying to figure out how best to spend the time we have allocated after the tour.
Looked into changing our flight to return via Sarajevo so we don't have to double back to Dubrovnik for a 7:30 am flight but if we make that change then the ticket becomes nonrefundable. Or is 11 days (10 nights) too long to travel after Best of Adriatic tour?

Thanks for whatever advice-guidance you could provide.

Posted by
25559 posts

You are going to my favorite places.
The trouble with renting a car in Dubrovnik and dropping it off in Sarajevo might be the drop off cost. You might find a company that will let you do it. But I really don’t know. Then parking might be an issue. More than once with a driver that knew the area, we have driven down back streets to a guy he knew that parked cars In front of his business. Well, you don’t know those guys so it’s a bit tougher. Not sure of the cost either. Street parking in Sarajevo isn’t terribly expensive, but I don’t know how to pay. But figure all of this out and sure, driving is viable. Add in the time for renting, returning, looking for parking, etc. It’s going to real. But I suspect renting a car will save money if you can work out the details, over hiring transfers but maybe not less than doing busses and transfers. Also remember that a nice hotel in this part of the world is 50 € add even 200 € for a long-haul private transfer with stops to see the villages and landscape along the way is still cheaper than the hotel alone in Vienna. I am not rental car expert, these are just the things I would look into.

Posted by
25559 posts

Here is a trip from Dubrovnik to Sarajevo. I have done all of it but in parts on different trips. This is some wonderful country and fits your description of what you like. Few cities in the world are more interesting than Sarajevo, so that is a good choice. I skipped Mostar below because that’s on your tour. https://maps.app.goo.gl/uEtNBatjKevtUAHh7
Kravica Waterfall (here is your swimming), https://youtu.be/BJfmJVvGGs4?si=vpjfQ-qvrHLCgnuI
Međugorje, https://youtu.be/LzxIVtSCA1M?si=BCM2zPZClFlGVVmU
Blagaj Tekkesi, https://youtu.be/CrhhgoN5tXY?si=dzrzkQC8NFnFSZap
Hotel Kraljevac (probably my favorite most relaxing hotel in the world), https://youtu.be/QNpUWXV3RkI?si=ebreyQRsqSap2tSg
Jajce, https://youtu.be/hWVj5BmpQWI?si=XLWNtAb_a7QSYeG9
Travnik, https://youtu.be/NBna529LNSk?si=E6Yx7ULUb2UXUx6O
Sarajevo, https://youtu.be/WhwnkXvmrRA?si=suCZjUs84vJOE4EA

Here is a tour in the opposite direction that goes to Montenegro. I love Montenegro and I have done all of this except the drive from the Tara River Canyon to Sarajevo. My goal is one trip to BiH and one to Montenegro each year. https://maps.app.goo.gl/9xN9zw91MwvtRzVPA
If you combine this with the BiH tour you have a look back to Dubrovnik. But it’s a huge trip and in 10 days you will have to skip a lot to make it work.
Herceg-Novi, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOqLXoeE_o4
Perast, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd6ErEHPHmg
Hotel Conte, https://youtu.be/zYJcm2zlXA8?si=w7VstV-oLoVEQLr7
Kotor, https://youtu.be/G7QgBl7XNKU?si=pK1etsEr8UcAlofr
P1 Mountain Road https://youtu.be/QSz5hZVNxQ8?si=kAUpMBWDbSSztzt5
Prosciutto at Zora on the P1 https://youtu.be/08il6EXog3o?si=PkQ6Rrueu6c_-U98
Budva, https://youtu.be/TKhHJsb9A0w?si=WsnjJJ_j95TfFAvO
Stari Bar, https://youtu.be/OBU56OT78fw?si=tzF65lSmOXSEpWKZ
Ulcinj, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaPcThRQdi4
Lake Shkodra, https://youtu.be/2CQg4qei3Lc?si=RN0HoEY2QF9ysAmk
Ostrog Monastery, https://youtu.be/ixrJu6qv46M?si=9QWkwFz29VmgmpbD
Hotel and Restaurant Sokoline, https://youtu.be/0fdbD9upFP4?si=KAnxVV80rYk4sZpd
Tara River Canyon, https://youtu.be/9aGMZB8hB5Y?si=MQ-xXvRlIDkYEzpI
Motel MB Tara, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QhSY9uWkrY
Sarajevo,

For me it’s the little stops between the big ones that make a trip special, which is why I generally do private transfers rather than buses. Once you pick a route, if you are doing everything yourself, then you really should pick the mind of an expert for the detail. It will be worth whatever you pay for it. If you hire transfers you talk to them well in advance and set up some stops.

Posted by
25559 posts

The small places. Meet the owners. Meet their children. Eat their meals.

Sample olive oil a half dozen ways. Learn the differences.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/CPVv5w2Cz13toBpS7.

Or a winery in an otherwise abandoned 500 year old hillside village Garnet winery https://share.google/NfUvkBEKQfKefluId

There is a town in BiH with a bridge and river almost as wonderful as Mostar, but more wonderful because no tourists. And the restaurant on the river edge .... wow...

Sorry, but none of this is in a book and neither is easy with a bus.

Personally, I would do the long tour with transfers and busses, probably have to skip a few things and fly out of Podgorica after seeing Kotor.