3 Days in Bosnia: Sarajevo and Mostar

Three days is enough to see the two places almost everyone associates with Bosnia, and not much more. This route suits people adding Bosnia onto a longer trip through Croatia or the wider Balkans, a stopover between Dubrovnik and Sarajevo, or a first visit meant to test whether a longer trip is worth planning later.

It is not the route for national parks, small towns or a slow pace. If you have more time, the 5 day itinerary adds Herzegovina properly, and the 7 day itinerary is the version most people actually want.

1. Day 1

   Arrive and walk Sarajevo's old town

   Settle in near Bascarsija or the Austro-Hungarian centre, then walk the strip from the Ottoman bazaar to the cathedral. Coffee in the old town, cevapi for dinner, and an evening walk once the day groups have left.

2. Day 2

   Sarajevo's history and viewpoints

   Spend the morning at the Tunnel of Hope museum near the airport, which explains the siege of the 1990s more clearly than anywhere else in the city. In the afternoon, take the cable car up Trebevic for the view back down the valley, or walk up to the Yellow Fortress for sunset.

3. Day 3

   South to Mostar

   Travel to Mostar by bus, train or car, roughly two to two and a half hours. Spend the afternoon around the Old Bridge and the old town streets, then stay for the evening once the coach groups have gone and the town is quiet again. Fly out from Mostar's small airport if your schedule allows, or return north to Sarajevo.

• Sarajevo to Mostar: regular buses run the route in about two to two and a half hours, and it is also served by a scenic train along the Neretva a couple of times a day.
• By car, the same drive takes roughly two hours on the main road, with the option to stop at a viewpoint over the Neretva canyon on the way.
• If you arrive from the coast, Mostar can also work as your first stop, with Sarajevo second, reversing this order.

• Sarajevo: Bascarsija or the Austro-Hungarian centre around Ferhadija, both walkable to everything in this itinerary.
• Mostar: the old town near the bridge for atmosphere in the evening, or a short walk away for a quieter night with the same access on foot.

More detail on neighbourhoods in each city is in the Sarajevo and Mostar guides, and a country wide view is in where to stay in Bosnia.

To shorten this further, cut Sarajevo to one night and treat the trip as a single day in each city, though this leaves very little room for the tunnel museum or Trebevic. To extend it, the first addition worth making is Blagaj, a short trip from Mostar with a dervish house built into a cliff at the source of the Buna river, or Pocitelj, an Ottoman era hillside village on the way south. Both fit into the 5 day itinerary, which is the natural next step once three days feels too tight.