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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Maculje and Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
580 km
Riding-time estimate
11 h 52
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.

Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.

Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.

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Why this ride

580 km from Novi Travnik to Novi Travnik, about 11 h 52 of riding. The stops in between: Prašuma Janj, Ravanjska vrata, Dugo polje at Blidinje and Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Maculje

    Central Bosnia is a country of green hills folded one behind another, and Maculje sits in the middle of it, a few kilometres from Novi Travnik in the Lašva valley. If you have not heard of it, you are in good company, because what draws people here is quiet and very old. Maculje is a necropolis of stećci, the massive carved limestone tombstones that medieval Bosnians, Croatians and Serbs raised between roughly the twelfth and the sixteenth centuries. They stand in the grass in rows, slabs shaped like chests and gabled roofs, with weathered carvings of crescent moons, spirals, hunters and dancers.

    Read the complete Maculje write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Maculje is where the day begins. Next is Prašuma Janj.

  2. 2. Prašuma Janj

    Prašuma means primeval forest, and Janj is one of the few places in Europe where that word is literally true. In the hills above the Janj river, between Šipovo and Donji Vakuf in central Bosnia, a block of mixed beech, fir and spruce forest has survived without logging, its oldest trees reaching enormous heights and girths. Since 2021 it has been part of the World Heritage site of ancient beech forests of Europe, joining a chain of reserves from the Carpathians to the Pyrenees.

    Read the complete Prašuma Janj write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Prašuma Janj comes up about 94 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ravanjska vrata.

  3. 3. Ravanjska vrata

    The Kupres plateau is one of the high, open places of Bosnia and Herzegovina, more than a thousand metres up, with wide grasslands, cold winters and a sky that seems close enough to touch. Ravanjska vrata, the gates of Ravno, lies in this landscape, between Kupres and Tomislavgrad, and it is known for a group of stećci, the carved medieval tombstones that are found across Bosnia, Herzegovina and the neighbouring countries. UNESCO listed a selection of these necropolises in 2016. The stones are often decorated with spirals, crosses, hunting scenes and figures with raised hands, and their makers remain a subject of debate.

    Read the complete Ravanjska vrata write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 151 km into the recorded legs you reach Ravanjska vrata. Next is Dugo polje at Blidinje.

  4. 4. Dugo polje at Blidinje

    High on a karst plateau in Herzegovina, between the massive mountains of Čvrsnica and Vran, lies Blidinje, a wide upland valley of meadows, limestone outcrops and black pine forests at around twelve hundred metres. At Dugo polje, the long field, a cluster of medieval tombstones stands in the grass, carved with crosses, spirals, rosettes, hunting scenes and human figures. These are stećci, the distinctive gravestones of the medieval Balkans, made between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, and Dugo polje is one of the most impressive groups, part of the collection of stećci sites listed by UNESCO in 2016 across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia.

    Read the complete Dugo polje at Blidinje write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Dugo polje at Blidinje, about halfway. Next is Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar.

  5. 5. Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar

    The Old Bridge in Mostar is a single stone arch, slender and impossibly high, leaping across the emerald-green Neretva between two fortified towers. The Ottomans built it in the 1560s, designed by an architect named Mimar Hayruddin, and for more than four centuries it stood as a symbol of the city. On 9 November 1993, during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was shelled and collapsed into the river. It was rebuilt with the original techniques and stone recovered from the riverbed and reopened in 2004, and the following year UNESCO listed the Old Bridge Area as a symbol of reconciliation and cultural coexistence.

    Read the complete Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar sits at 184 km, about halfway. Next is back through Dugo polje at Blidinje.

  6. 6. back through Dugo polje at Blidinje

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Dugo polje at Blidinje write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Dugo polje at Blidinje comes up about 368 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Ravanjska vrata.

  7. 7. back through Ravanjska vrata

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Ravanjska vrata write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    about 429 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Ravanjska vrata. Next is back through Prašuma Janj.

  8. 8. back through Prašuma Janj

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Prašuma Janj write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    back through Prašuma Janj, late in the day. Next is Maculje.

  9. 9. Maculje

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Maculje write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

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

    Planning note

    The route ends here after 580 km.

Leg by leg

Maculje to Prašuma Janj

Maculje → Prašuma Janj is 94 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Prašuma Janj to Ravanjska vrata

Prašuma Janj → Ravanjska vrata is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Ravanjska vrata to Dugo polje at Blidinje

Ravanjska vrata → Dugo polje at Blidinje is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Dugo polje at Blidinje to Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar

Dugo polje at Blidinje → Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar is 77 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar to back through Dugo polje at Blidinje

Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar → back through Dugo polje at Blidinje is 78 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Dugo polje at Blidinje to back through Ravanjska vrata

back through Dugo polje at Blidinje → back through Ravanjska vrata is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Ravanjska vrata to back through Prašuma Janj

back through Ravanjska vrata → back through Prašuma Janj is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Prašuma Janj to Maculje

back through Prašuma Janj → Maculje is 94 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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