Bosnia Mostar to Sarajevo Mountain Route

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Jablanica.

2. 2. Jablanica

   Jablanica lies on the Neretva, a river of an astonishing blue-green colour, in a narrow canyon between the mountains of Herzegovina, and it is one of the most memorable stops on the road between Mostar and Sarajevo. The town of about six thousand people sits beside a long reservoir, formed by a dam in the 1950s, and its main road, the M17, runs along the water, with cliffs and tunnels on one side and the lake on the other.

   Read the complete Jablanica write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Jablanica comes up about 47 km into the recorded legs. Next is Konjic.

3. 3. Konjic

   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.

   Read the complete Konjic write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 71 km into the recorded legs you reach Konjic. Next is Ivan Sedlo.

4. 4. Ivan Sedlo

   Ivan Sedlo is a mountain saddle at about 970 metres in the Dinaric Alps of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the old road between Sarajevo and Mostar, and it is also a divide. Water that falls on the southern slopes runs toward the Neretva and the Adriatic, and water on the northern side runs into the Bosna and eventually the Black Sea. The pass sits in beech and pine forest, with cool air and a clear view across the folded ridges, and in winter it is a place of heavy snow.

   Read the complete Ivan Sedlo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Ivan Sedlo, late in the day at 967 m. Nothing on this route is higher. Next is Sarajevo, mostly downhill.

5. 5. Sarajevo

   Sarajevo lies in a narrow valley along the Miljacka river, with steep green hills on all sides, and the old town at its heart is a bazaar quarter called Baščaršija, where copper-workers still hammer out coffee sets and the smell of grilled ćevapi drifts down every lane. The city has about seven hundred thousand people in its wider area, and its position between mountains means the air can be very still, with smoke in winter and the call to prayer echoing from the hills.

   Read the complete Near Sarajevo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Finish at Sarajevo. That is the ride.