Decided to post a trip report here as there are few on this amazing country. I read a number of posts here that proved helpful and I appreciate those posters! Solo traveled to BiH and Montenegro, just returning August 2022.
Arrived to Sarajevo around 2 pm, my hostel owner gave me a ride. The airport is tiny and a huge crowd gathers outside. I stayed in the Bistrick neighborhood, a short downhill to the river and a very short walk to the cable car station. I was conflicted as it was overcast, but my other full day had even worse weather forecast so I went. Lovely ride and ok view at the top due to clouds. I had fun walking the bobsled track. Lots of people ride the cable car but few hike! Returned and had some better weather and views going down.
Walked down to city hall and hiked another hill to the yellow bastion and fortress ruins. Got my hills done! Walked down through the main square and shopping lane and saw the famous Zeljo and decided to stop for dinner. No alcohol served there and it cost all of $6 with a tip for delicious cevapi. I also spent $2 on a large quantity of Turkish delight as we had some communication confusion.
Next day I had a lost in translation breakfast on the square, visited Gazi- Husrev Beg's museum and library, museum of genocide victims, Brusa Bezistan museum and finally had a kebab wrap for lunch. Kept going to see the old turkish house before my tunnel tour. Our guide was the Sarajevo policeman and gave numerous first hand experiences that brought the siege to life. On return I walked to the Olympic museum and then the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I had to pick between that and Natural History based on time. I picked the more political history option for sure. After trekking back on the other side of the river to check out some pretty buildings I went back to Zeljo for more cevapi. I picked a different one of their 3 locations. I really just didn't want to walk up my hostel hill twice! It did had a great view of all the minarets lit up. Ps, it didn't rain but still quite overcast.
The next morning I was off to Mostar. Upon realizing I'd need to buy a bus ticket in person I decided I better give myself some time at the station. Figured out the trams which are a cheap and simple loop. Got my bus ticket and had 25 minutes. Not sure if I wanted to back track a bit to the cafe and buy breakfast. What if it was as chaotic as Split last summer? Well it wasn't, and furthermore there were 3 cafes in the 14 bay train station. Naturally! There are no shortage of cafe/bars in BiH.
Arrived around noon, walked to my hostel. Do avoid the main tourist drag with a bag! Went to Behar 2 at the suggestion of this forum. Delicious kebab salad! I walked a loop as far as the bridge and came back via the Mostar edition of genocide victims museum, the Bosnamuseum and the Stari Most museum. The bridge and jumpers were of course a highlight. Tried dinner at Babilon but no seats so next door to Theatro. They all have the exact same menu and I had perfectly good kebabs with a perfect bridge view.
Next day I had a tour through Hostel Nina where I was staying. We started with a view of Mostar and history lesson from our guide who kept shrapnel pulled out of this leg in the car. He offered a lot of insight about how the war experience and lingering tensions varied with geography. The second stop was a 'secret' cold war era tunnel to store fighter jets with a bunker in the middle. Next stop was the Buna river source and beautiful Dervish house.
Then we went to Pocitelj, a fortified Ottoman Era village. Do try the delicious pomegranate juice. Final stop was Kravice falls for food and swimming. It was nice to be there on the later side as it cleared out a good bit. That night I went back to Behar 2 and with no space at the restaurant overlooking the water, I sat across the lane and had a delicious trout.
The next morning I left for Montenegro which I will post about on that forum.