Why this ride
A 256 km round trip from Stolac - roughly 5 h 21 in the saddle. The stops in between: Bijača, Boljuni, Vjetrenica Cave and back through Boljuni.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Radimlja and Vjetrenica Cave
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 256 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 21
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Radimlja
Above the Bregava river valley, a few kilometres from Stolac in Herzegovina, a hillside is covered with huge stone slabs that look like sarcophagi and tilting boxes. These are stećci, medieval tombstones that were carved in Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, and Radimlja is the best known cemetery of them. Over a hundred of them stand here, and several carry reliefs of exceptional quality, showing hunting scenes, riders with spears, dancing in a circle, stylised crescent moons, spirals and vines. In 2016 UNESCO listed a group of these sites together.
Read the complete Radimlja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Radimlja is where the day begins. Next is Bijača.
2. Bijača
In western Herzegovina, near the town of Ljubuški and close to the Croatian border, the land is a mix of karst hills, fertile valleys and vineyards, baked by the sun and scented with sage and fig. Near the village of Bijača, the necropolis of stećci, the medieval tombstones that are unique to this region, is one of the sites included in the UNESCO listing of stećci, spread across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. The tombstones, carved with crosses, spirals, figures and inscriptions, stand among the grass and stones, a silent reminder of the people who lived here centuries ago.
Read the complete Bijača write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bijača comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Boljuni.
3. Boljuni
In the stony hills of eastern Herzegovina, a few kilometres from Stolac, a field of grey limestone blocks lies scattered among oak scrub and dry grass. These are stećci, medieval tombstones carved between roughly the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, and Boljuni has a few hundred of them, many decorated with reliefs: rosettes, crescents, spirals, hunters with spears, dancing figures holding hands, a man raising an oversized hand as if in greeting. Nobody fully agrees on who made them or what all the symbols mean, which makes standing among them oddly moving. Together with other cemeteries across Bosnia and Herzegovina and its neighbours, Boljuni is part of the UNESCO site of Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards, inscribed in 2016.
Read the complete Boljuni write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 92 km into the recorded legs you reach Boljuni. Next is Vjetrenica Cave.
4. Vjetrenica Cave
The karst country inland from Dubrovnik is a landscape of grey limestone hills, stony fields and long, flat-bottomed valleys called poljes, which flood in winter and dry out in summer. Popovo Polje, on the Bosnian side of the border, is one of the largest, and at its edge, near the village of Zavala, lies Vjetrenica, the most famous cave in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its name means wind cave, from the strong current of air that blows out of its entrance, cool in summer and noticeable from a distance.
Read the complete Vjetrenica Cave write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vjetrenica Cave, about halfway. Next is back through Boljuni.
5. back through Boljuni
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Boljuni write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Boljuni sits at 135 km, about halfway. Next is back through Bijača.
6. back through Bijača
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bijača write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Bijača comes up about 218 km into the recorded legs. Next is Radimlja.
7. Radimlja
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Radimlja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Radimlja closes the day.
Leg by leg
Radimlja to Bijača
Radimlja → Bijača is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bijača to Boljuni
Bijača → Boljuni is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Boljuni to Vjetrenica Cave
Boljuni → Vjetrenica Cave is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vjetrenica Cave to back through Boljuni
Vjetrenica Cave → back through Boljuni is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Boljuni to back through Bijača
back through Boljuni → back through Bijača is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bijača to Radimlja
back through Bijača → Radimlja is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Bijača and Vjetrenica Cave starting at Čapljina · 179 km
- Boljuni and Lokrum Island · 374 km