Bosnia and Herzegovina hasn’t always been high on my list of places to go, however as we were going to Croatia, we decided to go to the beautiful Mostar for a day and night.

Getting there was easy. We caught a bus from Dubrovnik to Mostar which took around 3.5 hours. The reason it took longer was because we had to cross the border around 3 times, meaning there were passport control checks at each of those points.

Mostar faced travesty around 20 years ago so the city is slowly rebuilding itself. You can still see buildings and roads that require construction, however it is still a really beautiful city and a very popular tourist city. The city has a mix of European as well as oriental/Middle Eastern influence as it was once ruled by the Ottomans.

To Do

The Old Bridge is the most famous landmark in Mostar and is the reason so many tourists come here to see this!

There is a smaller bridge called Kriva Cuprija (Crooked bridge) which is equally as nice and cute.

The bazaar in Mostar is filled with traditional rugs, jewellery, clothes, lamps and crockery. It is great to walk through as it feels like you’re in the Middle East. It is also packed with tourists during the day. During the night, it quietens down a lot and that’s when we enjoyed it the most.

The Koski Mehmed-Pasa Mosque has the best views of the bridge, river and the old city. It costs 6 marks to get into the mosque or 12 marks for the mosque, minaret and the courtyard. There are 89 steps up the minaret and the staircase is super narrow, so it is not for the claustrophobic. However, it is totally worth going up as you will be rewarded with amazing views!

To Eat

The prices here are cheap and one of the cheapest you can find in Europe. In comparison to Dubrovnik where we were before (where everything is hugely jacked up), you can easily find a meal for €3-10 easily.

When in Bosnia, you must try cevapi which is Bosnia’s version of a kebab. The dish comes pita with 8 to 10 pieces, raw onions, sour cream and somun. We went to try this for lunch at Tima-Irma and this was a great place! It only cost 7 marks (€3.50) and it was big enough to share!

For dinner, we went to Sadrvan. The waiters were wearing traditional Bosnian dress and this restaurant had fantastic traditional food. We had the mixed grilled platter and klepe which is Bosnian dumpling with tangy cheese and meat (kind of like ravioli and covered in a garlic yoghurt as well as wine. All this cost less than €25 and was so, so delicious!

I really enjoyed visiting Mostar as the people are super friendly, its good value for money and there is amazing beauty here. As I was only able to visit one city, I am keen to explore more parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the future!