Konjic sits in a bend of the Neretva, a river that arrives out of the Herzegovinian mountains the colour of jade and stays that colour all the way to the Adriatic. The town of about sixteen thousand lies halfway between Mostar and Sarajevo, with the great bulk of Prenj rising behind it, and the road that links the two cities follows the river through a canyon where the walls climb straight out of the water. It is one of the best roads in the Balkans, and its best place to stop is here.
In the middle of town the old stone bridge crosses the river in a series of elegant arches. It was built by the Ottomans in the seventeenth century, and legend says it was one of the finest in the empire. It was destroyed in 1945, at the end of the Second World War, and rebuilt in the 1950s, which gives it the look of an old thing that has been through a lot. Konjic is also known for woodcarving, an old craft that still produces furniture and ornaments, and you can find workshops in town. In the hills beside the town is a secret that was kept for decades: a huge nuclear bunker built for Yugoslav leader Tito, hidden in the mountain and finished in the 1970s, now open as a museum and an art space.
The road in from Mostar goes past Jablanica, where a lake has been formed by a dam, and where the bridge over the Neretva was the scene of a famous battle of 1943 between Tito's partisans and Axis forces. The ride is quick and smooth, with long curves, tunnels and long views over water, though trucks and lorries are common, and road works are not unusual. North of Konjic, the road climbs toward the Ivan pass and then drops to Sarajevo, a route of pine forest, hairpins and clean mountain air.
Konjic has fuel stations, cafes serving strong coffee and burek, and grill restaurants where cevapi in a flat bread with onions is the standard meal. Rafting on the Neretva is a popular activity, and in summer the river can be cold enough to be bracing. Spring floods can swell it, and in autumn the hillsides turn gold. In winter the passes can be snowy, so check conditions.