Mostar
We transited from Dubrovnik to Split with a day trip to Mostar in Bosnia & Herzegovina — a detour that involved no small amount of paperwork. Leaving and re-entering the EU via driving checkpoints required passports and patience, but thankfully that was all handled by our driver and tour guide, Stipe.
We booked the transfer through Croatia Private Tours, and Stipe met us at our Dubrovnik hotel and would ultimately drop us at our Split hotel. He handled all the border transactions, provided lovely conversation and trivia, and took care of everything we needed along the way.
The Town
We stopped in Mostar for about two and a half hours — enough for lunch, touring, and shopping, always in touch with Stipe at the local coffee shop via WhatsApp if we needed anything.
Mostar still bears the scars of the Yugoslavian conflicts from several decades ago. Parts of it looked like any other city — commercial and residential buildings, buses, stoplights — but the cute part on the river with the shops and tourists is where the charm lives.
The Bridge & the Divers
From the guys diving off the Stari Most bridge — and charging you to take pictures of them — to the many opportunities for gelato (remember the proximity to Italy) and food, it was a great stop. English is spoken well enough in restaurants and hotels, less so in the shops.
I reminded Leigh as we strolled around: “Here we are, just walking the streets of Bosnia” — harkening back to what we used to hear in the news a few decades ago. It’s a different world now, and a beautiful one.
Onward to Split
We met Stipe back at our pickup point, where he got us a couple of cappuccinos, and headed off on the remainder of the journey to Split.