Bosnia and Herzegovina · Herzegovina
Mostar
One of the most famous bridges in Europe, a bazaar of copper and cobbles, and divers dropping into the Neretva beneath it.
Mostar is the main city of Herzegovina, built where the emerald Neretva cuts through a karst valley, and it is defined by Stari Most, the single-arched Ottoman bridge that gave the town its name. Around it runs an old town of cobbled lanes, minarets and stone-roofed houses, with the coppersmiths' bazaar climbing to the bridge and local divers launching themselves into the river below. The Blagaj dervish house, the Kravica waterfalls and the walled village of Pocitelj are all within easy reach.
Suggested stay
2–3 days
Language
Bosnian
Currency
BAM
Timezone
UTC+2
Why you'll love Mostar
The bridge Stari Most's pale stone arch over the Neretva is one of the great sights of the Balkans, best at dawn and dusk
The divers local men leap from the top of the arch into the cold river, a tradition centuries old
Ottoman lanes minarets, courtyard houses and a cobbled bazaar make the old town feel like a small piece of Istanbul
Herzegovina at the door a dervish house at a river spring, swimmable waterfalls and fortified villages are all short drives away
Best time to visit
May-Aug
25-34° days
43.344° N, 17.808° E
UTC+2 · Europe/Sarajevo
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Weather & when to go to Mostar
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best May-Aug
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Mostar
No month is a write-off. Winter is cool and wet, the river swimming is out and some guesthouses quieten down, while summer middays bring coach tours from the coast onto the bridge; stay overnight and see it early or late.
Top things to do in Mostar
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Stari Most - walk the Old Bridge
history culture arts 👍 PopularThe steep, ribbed stone hump of the sixteenth-century bridge, flanked by its two defensive towers. Cross it, then go down to the river rocks on either bank for the classic view of the arch framed against the old town.
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Stari Most - watch the bridge divers
culture arts adventure ⭐ Highly recommendedMembers of the local divers' club stand on the parapet while a collection is taken among the crowd, then jump feet or head first into the Neretva far below. It is the town's oldest tradition and still a nerve-shredding thing to watch.
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Kujundziluk - the old coppersmiths' bazaar
shopping culture arts 👍 PopularThe cobbled lane that climbs to the bridge on the east bank, lined with stone shops selling hammered copper, rugs and Ottoman-style trinkets, and terraces looking over the river.
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Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque - the bridge view and minaret climb
history culture arts scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedA seventeenth-century mosque on the east bank whose riverside courtyard gives the most photographed view of Stari Most. Climb the narrow minaret stair for the old town from above.
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Kriva Cuprija - the Crooked Bridge
history scenicA small single-arched stone bridge over the Radobolja stream on the west bank, older than Stari Most and often called its prototype, set among water mills and restaurant terraces.
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Muslibegovic House and Biscevic House - inside an Ottoman home
history culture artsTwo preserved Ottoman-era family houses with walled courtyards, carved wooden ceilings and low cushioned rooms, showing how Mostar's notable families lived behind the street walls.
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Karadjoz Bey Mosque - Herzegovina's grandest mosque
history culture artsA sixteenth-century mosque a few streets north of the bazaar, with a domed prayer hall, a fountain courtyard and a minaret visitors can climb.
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Partisan Memorial Cemetery - Bogdanovic's stone landscape
history culture artsArchitect Bogdan Bogdanovic's 1960s memorial to the city's Second World War partisans, a terraced hillside of paths, water channels and carved stone that is one of the most striking Yugoslav monuments.
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Herzegovinian table - cevapi, stuffed onions and Zilavka wine
foodGrilled cevapi in flatbread, sogan dolma onions stuffed with mince, trout from the local rivers and strong Bosnian coffee, with white Zilavka and red Blatina from the Herzegovina vineyards.
Best areas to stay in Mostar
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Old Town (Stari Grad)
First-time visitors $$Cobbled Ottoman lanes around the bridge
Explore hotels in Old Town (Stari Grad) →
West bank (Spanish Square and Rondo)
Budget and longer stays $Austro-Hungarian boulevards and everyday city life
Explore hotels in West bank (Spanish Square and Rondo) →
Blagaj
Quiet village base $Riverside village at a karst spring
Explore hotels in Blagaj →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Mostar
Getting to & around Mostar
Getting there
Fly into Sarajevo (SJJ), then about 2 hours south by train or road down the Neretva valley
Flight
Sarajevo International (SJJ)
Most visitors fly into Sarajevo, head into the city and take the train or a bus south; Mostar's own small airport sees few flights. Dubrovnik and Split are also common gateways, a few hours away by road with a border crossing.
Train
Mostar railway station
The line from Sarajevo follows the Neretva gorge past Konjic and Jablanica in about two hours, one of the most scenic rail rides in the Balkans.
Coach
Main bus station
Buses from Sarajevo, Dubrovnik, Split and Zagreb use the main station beside the railway station, north of the old town; a few Croatian operators use a stop on the west bank, so check your ticket.
Getting around
Walking
The old town, both banks and the stations are all walkable; wear grippy shoes on the polished cobbles.
Free
Taxi
Easy to find and inexpensive for the stations or out to Blagaj.
TBC
Rental car
The simplest way to link Blagaj, Pocitelj, Kravica and Stolac in a day.
TBC
Organised tour
Day tours bundle the Herzegovina sights into one loop from town.
TBC
Day trips from Mostar
Blagaj Tekke
Half dayDervish house at a spring
A sixteenth-century dervish lodge built against a sheer cliff where the Buna river surges out of a cave, one of the largest karst springs in Europe. Riverside terraces serve fresh trout beside it.
Getting there
car | bus
About 20 min by car, taxi or bus
Kravica Waterfalls
Half daySwimmable waterfalls
A wide amphitheatre of travertine falls on the Trebizat river, with a pool below where people swim through the warm months.
Getting there
car | tour
About 45 min by car or tour
Pocitelj
Half dayFortified Ottoman village
A stone village stacked up a hillside above the Neretva, with a domed mosque, a clock tower and a fortress tower to climb for the view down the valley.
Getting there
car | tour
About 30 min by car or tour
Stolac and Radimlja
Half dayMedieval tombstones
Radimlja is one of the finest fields of stecci, the carved medieval tombstones unique to this region, just outside the old riverside town of Stolac.
Getting there
car
About 45 min by car
Sarajevo
1-2 daysCapital city
The capital is close enough for a long day, but the Neretva valley train ride and the Bascarsija bazaar are better given a night.
Getting there
train | bus
About 2 hr by train or bus
A little history of Mostar
Mostar grew in the fifteenth century around a wooden crossing of the Neretva on chains, watched over by the mostari, the bridge keepers who gave the town its name. Under Ottoman rule it became the chief town of Herzegovina, and in 1566 the wooden span was replaced by the stone arch commissioned under Suleiman the Magnificent and built by the architect Mimar Hayruddin. Mosques, bazaars and courtyard houses filled the east bank around it.
After 1878 the Austro-Hungarian administration laid out new boulevards, schools and civic buildings on the west bank. In the Yugoslav era Mostar was an industrial and university city, and Bogdan Bogdanovic's partisan cemetery became one of its landmarks. The Old Bridge was destroyed during the war in 1993 and rebuilt with traditional methods and local stone, some of it raised from the river, reopening in 2004.
Stjepan Vukcic Kosaca takes the title Herceg of Saint Sava, the origin of the name Herzegovina
The stone Old Bridge is completed, replacing the earlier wooden crossing
Austro-Hungarian administration begins, bringing the new west-bank quarter
The Partisan Memorial Cemetery by Bogdan Bogdanovic is completed
The Old Bridge is destroyed during the war
The rebuilt Old Bridge reopens
The Old Bridge area of the old city is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Know before you go
Payment
Cash preferred
English
Limited
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type C / F
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+387
FAQs about Mostar
▸ When is the best time to visit Mostar?
May to August is the best-weather window, warm enough for swimming at Kravica and long evenings by the river; midsummer is also when the bridge is busiest. Spring and autumn are calmer and still pleasant for walking. Winter is cool and wet, quieter, and fine for the old town if you are not planning to swim.
▸ Is a day trip from Dubrovnik enough?
It shows you the bridge, but at the busiest hours. Staying a night or two lets you see Stari Most empty in the early morning and lit up at night, and leaves time for Blagaj, Pocitelj and Kravica.
▸ Can visitors jump from the bridge?
The jumps are made by members of the local divers' club, who train for years for the height and the cold, fast water. Never attempt it on your own; the club is the only safe way anyone should go near it.
▸ Are there landmines around Mostar?
The old town and the main sights are safe, but landmines remain in parts of the Bosnian countryside. When hiking or exploring rural areas, stay on marked paths and roads, never walk into overgrown fields or abandoned buildings, and respect any warning signs.
▸ How do I get between Mostar and Sarajevo?
The train is the best way: it follows the Neretva gorge past Konjic and Jablanica in about two hours. Buses run the same road more often, and some travellers break the journey at Konjic.
▸ Is Mostar expensive?
No. Eating, drinking and guesthouse stays are good value by European standards, though restaurants with direct bridge views charge more than those a few streets back.