Day trip from Dubrovnik to Mostar

If you are visiting Dubrovnik and would like a quick visit to neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, a day trip to Mostar is a great idea to experience a different culture and explore this beautiful 15-century old town.

Dubrovnik is not too far from Mostar. A day trip is pretty easy to organise and in my opinion, Mostar is actually one of the essential places to visit in the area.

It takes just about two and a half hour to drive there (about 140 km). The journey includes crossing the border between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina so make sure you don’t forget to take your travel documents with you.

Once there, here are the essential points of interest to see and do in Mostar, just to mention a few:

• The 16th century Old Bridge, locally called Stari Most (hence the name of the town) – a piece of architecture that is the landmark of the town and UNESCO’s World Heritage Site
• Kujundziluk – the towns old bazaar – a Turkish-era street market situated in heart of the town with Ottoman architecture, cobblestone narrow streets full of artisan shops offering bronze carvings, pomegranates and other fruits.
• Historic Mosque – Koski Mehmed Paša Mosque, Turkish House (Kajtaz), Sahat Kula (clock tower), Hammam (Turkish bath) – all situated in the Old Town.
• Watch cliff jumps/dives from Old bridge (summers only) where local young men jump from Stari Most into Neretva river (about 20 meters deep jump – see below video)
• Try local kebabs (Ćevapčići or Ćevapi)
• Relax on the banks of the river with Turkish coffee while watching the world go by
• Watch the sunset colours over the Neretva river (bonus experience if you are staying until late afternoon)

Places on the way that shouldn’t be missed:

Don’t miss the opportunity to visit Počitelj (its only 2 hrs drive from Dubrovnik – 115 km; GPS 43.134384, 17.730706 ).

If you have another hour or so on your disposal, on the way back from Mostar you can stop and spend some time in Pocitelj, a tiny town situated on the banks of Neretva river.

The town features some interesting Ottoman-style architecture and a couple of good local cafes. Have a short break here, get a cup of Turkish coffee and a piece of Rahat locum cake (locally made Turkish delight). Try local baklava (sweet dessert pastry ) my favourite, yummy 🙂

Vrelo Bune (aka source of Buna river) shouldn’t be missed too. It is just outside of Mostar (14 km south, 20 min drive) in a small town of Blagaj (GPS coordinates 43.256867, 17.902994 ).

Banks and waterfalls of this colourful small river offer lovely cool shade, especially welcomed in hot summer months.

Once there, visit Tekija (Blagaj Tekke), Muslim Dervish monastery (hermit house) built under the cliff 600 years ago. While you listen to the sounds of running water, grab an ice cream and enjoy.

If you have more time (which you probably won’t have – it is only a day trip) go a bit further and visit Medjugorje or Nature Park Hutovo Blato, a great place to visit for nature lovers.

Book in advance, public transport or self-drive trip?

Bearing in mind that getting to Mostar from Dubrovnik takes just 2 1/2 hours,  your best option is, in my opinion, to take a self-drive day trip.

Popular routes: Split to Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik to Split, Hvar to Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik to Hvar

Hiring a car in Dubrovnik is actually cheap – you can get a small car for about 30 Euro per day (book it in advance here) and parking in Mostar if fairly easy (park in Bulevar street).

So, take a car, enter GPS info (see above) in your favourite map app and go!

If you prefer to be driven, you can get pre-arranged tours that are offered by local tour companies (see a selection here). Most of these trips also include Pocitelj as a short stop-over point.

There is also a public transport option – getting by bus from Dubrovnik to Mostar.

There are at least three buses daily that leave from the main bus station in Gruž at 8:00, 16:00 and 17:15 and cost 117 HRK one way. However, the bus journey takes as much as 4 hours so it is not really suitable for a nice day trip.

Let’s say you take the morning bus (8 am), you will arrive in Mostar at 12 noon. And you already missed the only direct bus to get back to Dubrovnik! In this case, you would need to either overnight in Mostar or take a bus back via Makarska that takes about 7 hrs. No, this is not a good idea. Stick either by self-drive or pre-arranged bus tour.

Map of a day trip from Dubrovnik to Mostar:

More info:

• see additional info about Mostar here and watch this amazing video: