Day Trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina seems to be looked over by many tourists. Especially since Croatia, its neighbor gets all the attention. Bosnia has had a violent past and honestly is still recovering from years of war. The history of Bosnia is extremely rich and diverse, probably more so then most other places I’ve visited. We were staying in Split, Croatia for a few days and decided to take a day trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Split, Croatia is a great destination to set up a home base if wanting to explore the Balkans. Split was incredibly touristy so finding tour companies offering day tours was not a problem. But I like to plan ahead and booked a day trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina (I’m going to abbreviate it to Bosnia for now on) online via Viator. Viator offered a day trip to Bosnia stopping in the towns of Počitelj and Mostar, then making a final stop at the beautiful Kravica Falls.
Although I feel that Bosnia deserves several days of exploring, sometimes that is not an option. I like day tours as they provide a small sample of the country and usually day trips make multiple stops to places I’d never even think of. We were in for an 11-ish hour day so our day started early. We were picked up in the middle of Split by our tour guide. We shared a small bus with a few other couples and began our journey to Bosnia. There is a border crossing, so plan for that. Being with a tour company the crossing was a breeze. Mostar was the main attraction of the tour, but we had the opportunity to stop in the town of Počitelj for a bit before pressing on to Mostar. Počitelj was about a two hour drive from Split.
Počitelj
We stopped in Počitelj for about in hour, just enough time to walk to the castle and explore some side streets. Počitelj is a walled city located along the Neretva River. I was fascinated by the architecture of Počitelj, as I’ve never seen architecture from the Ottoman Empire. This was my first time seeing a Mosque.
Overlooking the town of Počitelj, was the Citadel. Currently in ruins, the castle was built by Tvrtko I of Bosnia in 1383. First thing we did when arriving in Počitelj was to hike to the Citadel. The walk wasn’t but 15 minutes to the top. We climbed the stairs of the tower that remains in tact, the views from here were beyond worth it. Afterwards, we walked the narrow paths through Počitelj back to the bus and made our way to Mostar.
Mostar
About a 30 minute drive from Počitelj is the city of Mostar. We had about 3 hours to explore Mostar. Ideally, you could spend a whole day here, but we managed our time wisely and was able to see Stari Most (the famous bridge), walk the bazaar, explore some side streets, and even get lunch.
Mostar has a lengthy history dating back to at least 1452. Mostar was first used as a Garrison by Turkey under the Ottoman rule. The bridge in the center of town, originally constructed of wood was replaced by stone and the name Mostar was given to the city (Mostar means bridge in Serbo-Croatian). In 1993, the bridge was destroy due to the civil war in the country and was rebuilt in 2004. In 2005, the bridge and historic center of Mostar was listed as a UNESCO site. I also included the bridge in my post, My Favorite UNESCO Sites. Today, tourists can walk across the bridge and if lucky enough see people jump from the bridge into the Neretva River below. When we visited we saw two jumpers stand up there for what seemed to be an hour trying to get a crowd together. Unfortunately, after waiting for so long, they never jumped!
After walking across the bridge, we decided to browse the Old Bazaar Kujundziluk. The bazaar was along a narrow cobble stone street. Now a days, it was full of touristy items but there were some cool craft shops and decorative drink sets.
To me, one of the most fascinating features of Mostar was getting about one to two blocks off the main road. There was a night and day difference between the touristy section of Mostar and the side streets. Many buildings were still bullet riddled to this day or just left as is since the war ended. The two photos below area a good example of what many buildings looked like in Mostar away from the tourist areas.
While walking around some of the side streets, we found a bakery that offered Burek. Burek is popular in the area and is a flaky pastry usually filled with meat, cheese, or vegetables. The burek was so cheap, flavorful, and huge I consider it one of my favorite foods. You can read more about Burek in my other post, Favorite Food Around the World.
Burek was definitely filling, but before departing Mostar we had to try some local eats. Our tour guide recommended eating at Šadrvan. We ordered a national plate that had a mix of traditional Bosnian cuisine. Included in the dish were Cevapi, which are sausages made of minced meat or mutton. Dolma, are stuffed peppers. Japrak, is minced meat wrapped in blanched leaves and Djuvec which is a Bosnian rice with vegetables. The food was excellent, so hats off to our tour guide for the recommendation.
I can’t talk about food without mentioning Beer. Of course at Šadrvan, I had to order a local beer. I had a bottle of Mostarsko Pivo. The beer was just alright. I rated it 2.25 out of 5 on Untappd. I also had a Sarajevsko Premium in Mostar and it was nothing special.
Kravica Waterfalls
Our last stop on our day trip to Bosnia included a stop at Kravica Waterfall. We had about an hour here at the waterfalls. The falls were about a 15 minute walk from the parking lot. The falls are created by the Trebizat River. Kravica Falls is made up of multiple different falls emptying into a beautiful pool of water below.
Kravica Falls is quickly gaining popularity and can get pretty crowded. Many people come here to swim or even kayak in the pools created by the falls. There are a few shacks around the falls that offer food and drinks. You can easily spend a day at the falls. We were here in August and the water was warm enough for swimming but we ended up grabbing some drinks and walking along the pools enjoying the beauty of Kravic Waterfalls.
That's a Wrap for our Day Trip to Bosnia
We really enjoyed our day trip to Bosnia and saw a lot. The day started with a visit to the walled city of Počitelj, we then spent time in Mostar, and finished our day at Kravica Waterfalls. Although I could have spent a whole week in Bosnia, I felt a day trip was a great way to learn about the country, see some towns/sites, and try some Bosnian cuisine. Next time I visit Bosnia, I would love to see Sarajevo, the capital and possibly drive around the country visiting some of the smaller towns and explore more of its nature.
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