Am looking at transferring between the 2 cities, our Best of the Adriatic tour ends in Dubrovnik and we are flying from Sarajevo. Anyone ever done one?
Has anyone used Dream Balkans, Meet Bosnia or Funky Tours? Any thoughts? I was leaning towards a company that took a smaller number because if they offer hotel pick for each guest and can accommodate 20 people would take a long time.
Jenn
I used Meet Bosnis one time. They did everything I needed them to do, and at a fair price.
Then I discovered Dijana at https://docleatravel.com/.
Sort of surprising her new website doesn't cover Bosnia & Herzegovina or Croatia but she planned and managed transportation and made schedule recommendations and hotel recommendations in all three countrirs on multiple seperate trips sunce before COVID. This year 3 trips.
She even bailed me out when I had a crisis at home and had to bug out early on one trip. You know how nice it is when things are bad at home and all you have to do is call one person and explain and say "make it work and get me home in 2 days". She was amazing.
I am heading back to Montenegro in the Spring. So much beautiful to see and experience. I never get tired. Then Bosnia & Herzegovina in September. I will turn both trips over to her.
I'm not the only RS here to use her. Search the forum for Dijana for a few more references.
Thanks! I don't see see she offers any group tours of what I am asking and honestly don't think makes sense for a private tour. I'll keep her in mind if I have anything else.
Checking the price is free. This past September she got me from western Bosnia to Kravica Water Falls to Mostar and Blagaj Tekija and up to Sarajevo with a number of smaller stops It was reasonable.
We used Meet Bosnia earlier this year and had a great experience- this was for the Fall of Yugoslavia/Sarajevo Siege tour. The guide was really knowledgable and we learnt so much from the tour. We also used them to take us to the airport.
When we did our trip to Bosnia this year, we actually flew into Dubrovnik as it was most convenient for us. In case useful, this is how we got to Sarajevo- we used Taxi Pajo (https://taxipajo.com/en/home/) to drive us from Cavtat to Mostar, spent the night there (which I really recommend), and then took the very scenic train ride from Mostar to Sarajevo. You can find more info on the train here: https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/sarajevo-to-mostar-by-train.htm
You could also check out Tour Mage private transfers. https://tourmage.ba/balkan-private-transfers/
I have used them for a number of day trips.
While I would value the personal references from the others over this option,
there is a website findtransfers.com which will take your input
parameters and distribute to a variety of ground xport providers who will
respond with quotes. Very helpful if you're in a region with multiple operators
and you don't want to email each one individually, or, if you don't know what
options may exist.
Shoeflyer impossible to have too much info.
TTM, that's Elvis that Dijana at Doclea Travel set us up with? Sure, he was good. He did the driving on that Bosnia tour i describe above. But I watched him handling bookings on his phone while driving and if you dont get Elvis and you end up with one of his buddies ... well ..... im not sure. Thats why I like Doclea Travel, she knows the people and does the filtering so I dont have to. The trip prior to Bosnia was May in Montenegro. Dijana handled it. I ended up with three different drivers and all excellent. Then when my world collapsed and I had 48 hours to get home Dijana rearranged the flight and hotel drove up into the mountains and got me herself.
I noticed on the new website a cooking class. Do it. Okay I didn't do it but I watched her mother cook in her mother's house, then ate it on the porch with friends and her family. Isnt this what traveling is about? Perfect day.
Mr. Ë, you and I can fight endlessly over this. 🤣 If you need some extra trip help, Dijana is absolutely your person! She is quality and I will be a repeat customer this year, I hope. If you need a simple transfer in Bosnia, try either. I have ridden with several of Elvis’s (Tour Mage) drivers happily. He finds quality people when he doesn’t drive himself. I rode 2 days with a former driver for U.N. top officials and a couple of other days with other people, over 2 trips.
As you said, information is good. But both provide private transfers, as opposed to a group transfer, as far as I know.
And that new cooking class will be on the agenda for my next Montenegro trip in summer!
Thanks! We want a "transfer tour" not just a transfer (sorry for the confusion) and Dream Balkans, Meet Bosnia and Funky Tours have them, the other recommendations do not as far as I can see on the website. A private driver for a over 4 hour drive seems silly for us. We definitely want to stop along the way and enjoy the countryside. I will definitely consider them as we figure out our other options. I just booked the flights and a RS tour so trying to get hotels and transfer figured out.
I guess I didn't explain it well. My fault. The transfers i get in Bosnia are so I can stop and see things along the way. If you can find a group tour that does that, then that's great. Im spoiled and discovered a private tour / transfer and a hotel room in Bosnia is about the same cost as a bus ticket and a hotel room in Vienna. Look for stops at Kravica Water Falls, Mostar and Blagaj Tekija at a minimum. We stopped at a wonderful hillside stone village and a lake side restaurant as well but i dont recall the names. It was an all day trip.
Of one stop thst does come to mind was Konjic. This is nothing more than Bosnia as it was before thr tourists. Great ancient bridge across the river and hillside town. Maybe you can get the tour to check it out. Also breaks up the last half of the drive.
Make two days out of it and add Jajce and Travnik to the drive. This is a wonderful country. I return every year for fly fishing.
I thought FunkyTours was great to deal with, and the tour I took with them in Sarajevo was excellent. I recommend them wholeheartedly, very helpful and friendly. There’s a string of interesting sights that run along the Neretva River that I’m sure would be included in that transfer. It will be a long day, but worthwhile. I would certainly recommend them for tours in Sarajevo besides. Their Siege Tour was one of the highlights of my trip.
You might consider flying if you’re tight on time. Check with Croatia Airlines. I flew Sarajevo to Zagreb, and it was so cheap and easy it’s worth keeping in your back pocket.
I had a great experience with Funky Tours in 2023 and plan to use them again in the near future for a return visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina. I looked at their transfer tour, and we made many of those stops working our way from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik over three days as part of a longer trip. Ema was also able to arrange dinner in Sarajevo with three generations of a local family at their home; that was a very cool experience.
The trip report for the Poland + Bosnia & Herzegovina trip in 2023: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/the-young-adult-and-i-travel-again-a-poland-and-bosnia-trip-report
A longer report on one interesting day in Sarajevo: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/the-young-adult-and-i-a-day-in-sarajevo
By the way... I didn't recommend my hotel in Sarajevo on your thread about Sarajevo hotels because there was some street noise there, but it has a superb location and a great, great owner. It was recommended by Ema!
Dave,
Thank you for sharing your post, so sweet!
Jenn
