Bosnia Herzegovina is an interesting place. If you’re a citizen of a certain age you’ve been through more than most of us could ever fathom. To me, Sarajevo was always the center of the 1990’s Balkans war. It was the most recognizable name from the Balkans as it hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics. It had been some 12 years since I had been and there was much I was excited to see. Thus, my Bosnia road trip began.

As we drove 4 hours from Novi Sad, Serbia across the border into Bosnia en route to Sarajevo the scenery became awesome. There was a lot less trash on the ground, the mountains got gorgeous and the drive became incredibly pleasant. As we pulled into Sarajevo, we were greeted by this amazing sunset.

I remembered from my first visit to Sarajevo, how powerful I found it to be. You can still see bullet and shell holes all over the city on the sides of buildings. There are massive graveyards littering the city and if you’re at a higher altitude you can really see them prevalently. But what I didn’t remember or at least what’s changed is that Sarajevo is an awesome city and a lot of fun.

The problem with a Bosnia road trip or any road trip where you have a capped amount of time is that you can only spend a certain amount of time in any one place because you have a drop off point you have to reach. This was my issue with Sarajevo, I really wanted to spend more time than one day but we really made the most of our time.

We stayed at the City Boutique Hotel right in the center of town around the corner literally from the eternal flame It was a very comfortable and adequate place to stay for about $100. Most importantly for our Bosnia road trip, it had a parking lot across the street!

The old town of Sarajevo is right next to the hotel and is such a nice walk. It’s very different walking around the old town at night and in the day. I highly suggest doing both. At night you’ll find lively bars and restaurants with local kids hanging out. In the day, you’ll see Asian tour groups and the true beauty of the old town.

As far as things to see in Sarajevo, the most famous thing is probably the site where Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914; the event that would spur World War 1. It’s cool to see but nothing too exciting. The best thing to do is to get a cab and head to the massive fortress overlooking the city. It gives amazing views and you can really see how big and spread out Sarajevo is.

From my last trip, I can tell you that visiting the Olympic museum and sites is pretty cool-if you’re an Olympics geek like me. Also, I mentioned the eternal flame; which is cool to see and very powerful but the Tunnel Museum is probably the most powerful thing to see and do in Sarajevo. It’s located out by the airport but can be tough to find with poor signage; so take a cab or use GPS-trust me.

The other thing about Sarajevo that is awesome is the food. You must try cevapi. Old town is littered with restaurants but I highly recommend Zylo. It’s one of the most highly regarded restaurants in town and they do an amazing cevapi.

From Sarajevo it’s about a 90-minute drive through some beautiful mountain scenery to Mostar, home of the famous Stari Most or the old bridge.

Mostar is a place you’ve definitely seen on Instagram and Facebook in recent years. The old bridge is one of the most photographed things in Europe. It is fantastic to see and Mostar itself is a cute little town to check out but make no mistake, the main attraction is Stari Most.

Stari Most is right in the center of old town Mostar. It is about 21 meters high at its apex and yes you can jump off of it but it’ll cost you 25 euros! I wanted to jump but we didn’t have time plus the water is about 0 degrees so I passed!

Everything in town is about the view of the bridge. It’s cool to walk around and see it from different angles and lights. There are a million souvenir shops selling the same crap and also several mosques to peek into. Many of the restaurants are over the river and have views of Stari Most. We ate at the one we thought has the best view and I still think so!

After Mostar, our Bosnia road trip headed down to Dubrovnik, Croatia but instead of following GPS we followed signs and it took us to a more northern Croatia border where we headed south along the coast.

There is a little known sliver of Bosnia that continues to the coast and a resort town called Neum exists! We stopped briefly in Neum to take photos of the Bosnian Riviera before our Bosnia road trip officially ended as we crossed back into Croatia and down to Dubrovnik.

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