Trebinje-Stolac-Mostar

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Trebinje

   Trebinje is the southernmost city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it feels more Mediterranean than almost anywhere else in the country. It lies in a wide valley of the Trebišnjica river, a river that for much of its course runs underground in the karst, and the hills around it are scented with sage, pomegranate and fig. The climate is warm and dry, summer evenings stretch on, and the old town centre is a pleasure to walk, with plane trees, cafés in the squares and a small Ottoman-era quarter.

   Read the complete Trebinje write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Trebinje sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Stolac.

2. 2. Stolac

   Stolac sits in a limestone gorge of the Bregava river in southern Herzegovina, a town that has been lived in for an extremely long time and has more than its share of history for its size. The old town clings to the slopes, with the ruins of a fortress above, and water is everywhere. The Bregava runs clear and fast through the middle, and in places the old houses lean over the stream. Under the ground nearby are caves and springs, and in the surrounding hills prehistoric burial mounds and carved medieval gravestones, known as stećci, are scattered. The huge cemetery at Radimlja, a short drive away, is among the most famous stećak sites in the region, with large, finely carved stone slabs in a meadow beside the road.

   Read the complete Stolac write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Stolac comes up 28 km in. Next is Blagaj.

3. 3. Blagaj

   Blagaj is a village below a cliff, and the cliff is the whole story. The Buna river bursts out of a cave at the base of a sheer limestone wall about a dozen kilometres south-east of Mostar, one of the largest karst springs in Europe, and beside the cave stands a small tekke, a dervish monastery, built in Ottoman times. The white walls and the timber upper floor of the building seem to lean out of the rock, and the pale green water below moves quickly and silently. Above, on a ridge, are the ruins of a medieval fortress called Stjepan Grad, associated with the Herzegovinian nobleman Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, from whose title 'herceg' the name Herzegovina is said to come.

   Read the complete Blagaj write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   At least 72 km in you reach Blagaj. Next is Mostar.

4. 4. Mostar

   The bridge defines Mostar, and the bridge was rebuilt. The Stari Most, the Old Bridge, was designed by the Ottoman architect Hayreddin and finished in 1566, a single high arch of pale stone crossing the green Neretva. The town takes its name from the bridge keepers, the mostari, who watched it. For more than four centuries it stood, until in November 1993, during the Bosnian war, it was destroyed by shelling and fell into the river. A faithful reconstruction opened in 2004, using local stone and traditional methods, and the old town around it is now listed by UNESCO.

   Read the complete Mostar write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Mostar, late in the day.

Recorded source links

Source