How To Spend 1 Day in Bosnia and Herzegovina

In Dubrovnik, Croatia one of the most common day trips and even “things to do” according to TikTok and Pinterest is a day trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina (huht·suh·guh·vee·nuh), what some still consider a hidden gem as compared to its neighbouring countries of Croatia and Montenegro. Although a few options exist, we choose this lower cost option at $66 CAD on Get Your Guide that stopped in Mostar and the Kravica Waterfall.

The day started at 6:30 AM with a pickup from Pile Gate, which if you’ve been to Dubrovnik is very central to where you are going to be. From there the tour will typically make a few stops within the city, before you pass through the border. At the border the bus will typically line up everyone one by one as a gate officer goes through and stamps your passport for leaving Croatia, and another gate officer for Bosnia and Herzegovina stamps your passport again for entering.

Afterwards, the bus continues and stops at a Hotel in the coastal town of Neum for breakfast/coffee. Neum is a town located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. What’s interesting is that Neum is the only town on the Bosnia and Herzegovina coastline, which is said to be the second smallest in the world after Monaco (12.4 Miles as compared to 2.5 Miles there). Additionally, according to our tour guide, Neum first became recognized as a coastal retreat in the 1960s after the Adriatic Highway was built. As a result, if you were to visit you would also note that there are now plenty of facilities and a growing interest in water sports like scuba diving similar to Croatia. The main benefit in this case is that when compared to Croatia it is cheaper and quieter.

Mostar is known for its Stari Most bridge (pictured above). However, the town is also a great place to visit due to its unique history. For context, in the 1990s the country underwent a war when it split from Yugoslavia. To this day, you will find that Mostar is incredibly Turkish influenced to the point that you can buy Turkish delights on the main tourist strip and rather than seeing churches around the town, you are more likely to come across a Mosque.

When you visit the bridge you will likely be greeted by Mostar Diving Club, who jump off the bridge’s highest point. However, if you want to see them jump, make sure you bring cash so you can pay the 35 Euro (approximately) fee.

The other benefit is that Mostar is extremely affordable with Gelato in the touristy area costing only 1 Euro. It is worth noting that prices will be denoted in the country’s local currency, KM, which can be halved to find the total in Euros. For example, 10 KM is 5 Euro.

The only piece of advice I can solidly give you about visiting is to make sure you have enough cash as many of the restaurants and souvenir stores do not accept credit cards.

Arguably the best spot to get the iconic bridge photo would be when you pay to enter the Koski Pasha Mosque (the most well known mosque in Mostar). It gives you access to a small gate that overlooks the river and the bridge with an unobstructed view for 5 Euros. The caveat is that without a proper camera that is the best view of the famous bridge in Mostar you can get (photo above taken with iPhone).

Kravica Waterfall is about a 45-minute drive from Mostar. The admission to the park is about 10 Euros and may or may not be included in your tour. In the Get Your Guide tour, I am reviewing it wasn’t and neither was the local tax which was 3 Euros. So note when booking, it is the cost of the tour in local currency + 13 Euros.

While swimming in nearby attractions like Plitvice Lakes is usually not allowed, it is in these waterfalls. With an hour total visiting time including the short 400 m walk up and down to the falls, time for photos and a bathroom break, we found that taking a quick dip wasn’t something we would have time for. Instead we opted for ice cream (again 1 Euro a steal if you ask us) before continuing back to the border crossing into Croatia.

All in all, I would highly recommend this tour as a day trip from Dubrovnik and would budget about an additional 50 Euros to spend on souvenirs, lunch and extra spending money.

For more information about the rest of our travel itinerary in the Balkans, you can read the full blog here.