This area of the world wasn’t on my initial itinerary, but I am so grateful that I ended up coming here! I wanted to head into Europe, but many European countries are requiring a quarantine after visiting Africa, so to avoid that, I flew into Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and then planned a week to see the region.

Sarajevo, Bosnia

After the heat and bustle in Zanzibar, Sarajevo felt like a calm after the storm. It was rainy and cool and felt mellow by comparison. The people here were incredibly friendly and kind. I stayed in an Airbnb and the host was warm, welcoming and accommodating. I loved my stay here, in large part because of him and his family. He picked me up from the airport, took me to an ATM and to get a SIM card, and then out to dinner (traditional Bosnian food is heavy on meat! I had a cevapi). His nieces helped me set up the Sim because the instructions were in Bosnian. He also woke up early with me on my last day to call a taxi to take me to the train station. If you’re ever looking for a great place to stay in Sarajevo, please let me know and I’ll pass along this family’s information, they were so great!!

I did a walking tour on my first day in the old town and saw where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, starting WWI. The old town was really neat with lots of tea and coffee sets for sale. The fountain in the center of Old Town has drinkable water that is free for anyone.

Traditional Bosnian coffee was a fun experience, a piece of Turkish delight is always included. Also, everyone smokes cigarettes that they mostly roll on their own.

On my second day, I took a war tour around the city. We learned about how Sarajevo was surrounded by Serbian forces in the 1990s conflict and how they built a secret tunnel beneath the city to move weapons and supplies. Part of the tunnel is open to tourists along with a small museum. We went to the Jewish cemetery which over looks the city, a site of Serbian occupation during the war, and the place where they set up snipers to shoot at local Sarajevans. All of the old grave stones showed remnants from the war.

Areas in the streets still show evidence of bombs and rather than repairing these areas, Sarajevans have framed these as a way to remember and honor those who died in the conflict.

Train to Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina

I took an early morning train to Mostar and utilized google translate for the first time when trying to communicate with the train station attendant (it worked great 🎉). The trip was really pretty through green mountains and it passed a lovely lake.

Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Mostar is best known for this beautiful bridge in the center of old town called Stari Most. It was built by the Ottomans in the 16th century but was destroyed in 1993 by Croat forces in the Croat-Bosnia War. It was rebuilt about 10 years later and opened in 2004. It crosses the river Neretva and connects the two parts of the city. It was quaint and peaceful.

I stayed in a hostel here for 2 nights and walking around the old town was like something out of a story book!

Unbeknownst to me, there was a Red Bull Cliff Diving competition off of the bridge the weekend that I stayed here!

I did a day tour to the surrounding areas and visited a Mosque in Blagaj called the Dervish House, a historic village called Pocitelj, and Kravica waterfalls, a national reserve in Studenci.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

I traveled to Croatia via bus from Mostar that had 3 stops to go through customs; once when entering Croatia, a second into Bosnia in the small sliver of Bosnia along the coast, then into Croatia again. This was my first country change without the need for a covid PCR test!

For those of you that watched Game of Thrones, a lot of it was filmed in the old city of Dubrovnik. There were GoT tours and merchandise all over, and you may recognize the infamous steps that Cersei had to do her walk of shame (below). I didn’t really watch the show, but it is still a really cool city. 😉

I read that prior to Covid 19, Dubrovnik was so busy and crowded with tourists that UNESCO was threatening to remove it as a heritage site! My walking tour guide told us that it could take up to 1-2 hours of standing in line just to get into the old city when a cruise ship docked near by. It definitely made me feel lucky to visit now because there were no lines at all!

Dubrovnik is also home to one of the coolest and most appealing candy stores that I have ever seen!

Kotor, Montenegro

I took a second bus into Montenegro for 2 nights and got to see the beautiful Kotor Bay on the way in. Like Dubrovnik, it has an old town surrounded by a wall, but on a much smaller scale.

I read that the hike up the wall was steeper and more strenuous than Dubrovnik. I also read that if you go early, you may miss the attendant at the gate and get to hike for free. I started at about 6:45 am and not only did I get in for free, but I hiked the entire wall on my own and it was gorgeous and serene. This was definitely the highlight of my stay here!

I also did a day tour around the bay, by speed boat, to see Our Lady of the Rocks, which is an artificial island created by old sunken ships stacked on top of one another, in addition to thousands of rocks added to the area over time. According to legend, this island was made over the centuries by local seamen who kept an ancient oath after finding the icon of Madonna and Child on a rock in the sea in 1452. Upon returning from each successful voyage, they laid a rock in the bay and over time, this island gradually emerged.

We also swam in the Blue Cave, which is located on Lustica Peninsula. Its name comes from the way the light reflects off the sandy bottom and causes it to have an iridescent blue color. The Adriatic Sea is very salty!

Thanks again for following along, I hope everyone is doing well! 🙂