Drive Dubrovnik, Sarajevo, Mostar, Split

Posted by blankfamily (Seattle) on 03/28/23 04:48 PM

We are two couples in our 50’s traveling in Croatia and are interested in a side trip to Sarajevo for two nights with an overnight in Mostar. My thought is to take M-20 from Dubrovnik to Sarajevo and then E73 and A1 to Split via Mostar. Has anyone taken these routes? Are both highways scenic? Is it best to take the Mostar route both directions, or do you recommend taking the M-20 one direction for a change of scenery? Following is our proposed itinerary, but we are open to suggestions. We fly in/out of Dubrovnik and are traveling Sep 9-20-2023.

3 nights Dubrovnik / 2 nights Sarajevo / 1 night Mostar / 1 night Split / 2 nights Hvar / 1 night Dubrovnik

Thank you!

Posted by Tyler_

Vancouver

03/28/23 09:25 PM

169 posts

That’s a lot of driving for that amount of time imo.

The drive from Croatia to Mostar isn’t really that scenic, most of the mountains and high country you see is closer to the Croatian border and it becomes increasing flatter more inland you go.

Your trip has roughly 10-15 hours of driving for 10 days. Quite a bit of time spent in the car. Mostar is fine for 1 night. Are you going to Sarajevo for a specific reason? When we were in Mostar we were debating going there but the reviews I received and what it looked like for attractions didn’t really have me wowed

Posted by blankfamily OP

Seattle

03/29/23 05:53 PM

13 posts

Thank you for the feedback Tyler. The idea to visit Sarajevo came from Rick Steves trip planner. They recommend If you have 3 days visit Dubrovnik. 5 days add Mostar & Split. 7 days add Hvar or Montengro Bay or Sarajevo. Since we have 10 days, we thought we'd add Hvar and Sarajevo. However I'm not finding much feedback on people visiting Sarajevo from Croatia on either RS's travel forum or Trip Advisor's travel forum. I'm thinking we might bag Sarajevo and spend more time doing side trips from Split. I started another thread asking for help with our 10 day itinerary and what to do with the extra days. We are more into exploring new areas than lying on a beach.

Posted by Paul-of-the-Frozen-North

Sioux Falls, SD, USA

05/14/23 02:42 PM

3046 posts

We visited Sarajevo in 2014 for 3 nights. It was very interesting. I do have a family connection to the region. There is information about the assassination of Franz Ferdinand (109th anniversary on June 28). There are a number of pleasant restaurants. We took the "Time of Troubles" guided tour which took us to the Serb sniper locations, the bunkers near the airport, the remnants of the '68 Olympics in Sarajevo. There is also the old town with many artisans doing brass work. Costs in 2014 were not high.

In short, depending on your interests, there's lots to do, and I recommend Sarajevo. We used a private driver to go from Beograd to Sarajevo, and from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik. Bosnia-Herzogovenia has residual tensions, and local knowledge can be helpful

Posted by Mr É (economy, confused) 🍷

Magyarország / Rep of Texas

05/14/23 04:54 PM

17908 posts

I love Sarajevo and BiH in general; and yes the trip will be beautiful and facinating. So there are four of you, the cost of hiring transportation divided by 4 isnt going to be that bad and you will have someone who knows all the interesting stops long the way (and there are a number) and explain what has been going on in the region the last 30 years as knowing the history really adds a lot to this destination.

I would make the trip, but I would call this young lady and have her plan the trip for me so I get the most out of it.

Dijana Krkotic
Doclea Travel
+382 69 277 749 (phone or WhatsApp)
dijana@docleatravel.com
www.docleatravel.com