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Driving Bosnia

Hey everyone! In a two weeks I am doing an Eastern European mini road trip: Zagreb-Ljubjana-Lake Bled-Piran via the Julian Alps-Rovinj-Plitvice/Zadar-Split/Hvar-Dubrovnik-Mostar-Sarajevo-Zagreb going up through BH.

First of all, I would love for any pointers for any of these cities, I am hesitant about stopping in Piran and Rovinj (which one is better)

Second, I have read some mixed reviews about Bosnian roads which I believe are pretty out dated regarding road safety etc. Any thoughts?

Last off, does anyone have any thoughts about driving up through Bosnia to get back to Zagreb?

Posted by
1 posts

mandy, i am thinking of doing the exact same roadtrip in september/october. how did it go? any changes you would make?

Posted by
3 posts

James E.

Driving in Bosnia was definitely an interesting experience. The roads are in perfect condition and navigating was relatively easy with Google Maps downloaded offline and good instructions from the AirBnB host. Beware though as to the corruption from the police officers!

They see rental cars and pull them over looking for a bribe. Pretty much the second after we crossed the border en route to Mostar we were waved over by a police officer stating that I was going 90 in a 60 zone and the fee would be a couple hundred dollars. There was no radar or anything official, so I figured I could bribe my way out of it. I said that I do not have that money, all I have is 30 dollars worth of Kunas, he accepted that, and we went on our way. Again we got pulled over in Sarajevo for turning on a no turning street (we even returned to the area to look for the sign and couldn't find it). The second he pulled me over I had my friend empty out my wallet except for the equivalent of 10$. I flashed him the biggest Canadian smile I could, handed him my passport, and showed him that I had no money and we were on our way out of Sarajevo, and he accepted it and let us carry on. Point of the story is that corruption is rampant there and there is no way to avoid it so maybe just keep a little room in your daily budget for questionable tickets and keep calm and friendly with officers.

Even with those slight hiccups, I would still recommend driving BiH, the highways are large and well paved, the route is clearly marked, and the landscape is lovely!

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ellenhoeg1:

We ended up doing Zagreb-Ljubljana-lake Bled-Trieste (via Julian Alps)-plitvice-Zadar-Split-Mostar-Sarajevo-Zagreb and it was so incredible! The highlight of the trip was driving through the Julian Alps and Sarajevo.

I'm sorry this took me so long to respond, seeing as your trip is near, do you have any more specific questions?