Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina
We opted to do a self-catered driving tour arranged by Tour Radar that booked all hotels and of course the car for us. They were very helpful and responsive to texts and emails through their app as we navigated around Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Day 1 – Around Dubrovnik
When our driving tour actually commenced we left the Old City and moved to the new city of Dubrovnik. We picked up our car and headed to our first hotel, the Ivka. It was much nicer than we had anticipated and we actually had a suite with sitting room and all the mod-coms. Not your typical tiny euro hotel. Since we had already spent several days in Dubrovnik we used our first day with the car to venture north along the coast. It was a good idea as it gave us an sense of how the roads and the traffic behaved.
Driving north along the coast highway we were gobsmacked by the beauty of the scenery. We stopped frequently to take photos and visited small towns where we would park up and wander about, going where our noses took us. Although it was late October there were some very warm days which meant we had a few swims in the Adriatic.
Day 2 & 3 – Stone & Biograd
Leaving the Ivka hotel and its trendy university neighbourhood filled with locals enjoying pubs and restaurants, we headed north to Biograd. Of course with many stops to ooh and ahh at the scenery and invevitably we strayed off the beaten path a few times and ended up following our noses to Ston.
Ston turned about to be a wonderful side trip. Ston is an ancient town that boasts a Great Wall that in my mind measures up favourably against the Great Wall of China. Originally it was 7000 meters long and had three fortresses and six bastions. Now due to a variety of historical events such as an earthquake and various wars and incursions, it is much smaller but still impressive.
Returning to the main highway we motored on to Biograd that was at the end of a long day of driving, but the toll roads were excellent and had speed limits of 130 kph which helped speed things along. Biograd is meant to be a gateway to some national parks but for us it was a great two night resort stay. The hotel was lovely, right on the water and had the best indoor pool. Since it was late in the season we had the pool to ourselves. It was easy to spend a day wandering around Biograd, a fishing port and resort destination, there were several boat rental agencies offerings from small runabouts to luxurious yachts.
Day 5 – Split
Heading back South we spent a day exploring the Old City of Split. Like Dubrovnik it is a tourist Mecca complete with cruise ships and tour buses. A beautiful city with the same layers of history as the rest of Croatia, Split has some unique architectural features that distinguish it as a clear winner in the old city category.
Diocletian’s Palace is one of the biggest and most complete Roman sites. The Peristyle or square is at the heart of the palace and you can sit on marble steps that surround the crowded square to do some serious people watching.
The square leads to the Vestibule where traditional Dalmatian singing is performed for crowds enjoying the acoustics of the dome.
The amazing things about these very old structures is that they still stand today, made of nearly indestructible materials they stand as they were. That is if they weren’t a victim of events like war or earthquake. (You certainly couldn’t say that about modern building practices.
For a fee in addition to a fee to visit the Cathedral you can climb to the top of the bell tower, up steep and slightly scary stairs with sharp corners and uneven steps. But the views are well worth the climb,
A grim reminder of the war in Ukrainian was a tour group of Ukrainian veterans and their families inside the Old City. Many of the veterans are amputees and it was heartening to see them having some R&R.
Our hotel was not actually in Split itself but just outside in a place called Podstrana. A long narrow community that hugs the coastline and has lovely hotels and beaches. With sunsets like this we didn’t miss staying in the heart of Split and the drive along the seaside was beautiful.
Day 6 – Mostar – Bosnia & Herzegovina
The road to Mostar was another wonderful upward climb with spectacular scenery and viewpoints. And what a warm and welcoming country, maybe not as polished as Croatia but certainly charming, beautiful and interesting nevertheless.
Only a brief overnight foray, but long enough to see Mostar it was perhaps the most enlightening part of the trip in terms of the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia and the strife that arose as a result.
Mostar is another ancient city and one that strongly reflects the different cultural and religious groups that made up this area. Muslims, Christians, Orthodox and I suppose some “others” live among the well preserved ancient buildings and the still war ravaged structures that stand as a witness to the carnage that occurred during the 4 year siege of Mostar.
Many bombed out buildings and structures have been rebuilt like the old bridge that arches over the Neretva river. This most famous of bridges was first built between 1557 and 1566 during the time of Suleiman the Magnificent. The bridge was attacked an fell to the river in 1993 but has been carefully reconstructed and is now a UNESCO world heritage site.
Mosques, baths and a bazaar all built during the reign of the Turks make for a rewarding wander along the upper banks of the river and provide great views back to the famous bridge.
Day 7 & 8 End of the Line and Back to Dubrovnik
Down we went back to the coast with scenery that is the making of any successful road trip.
We drove on deciding to stop in Slano where the opportunity to have a swim and a walk presented itself.
Returning again to the Hotel Ivka in Dubrovnik we felt the need to see how olives and olive oil are produced and the desk clerk helped us set up a visit to a local farm to see and hear about the history of olive oil production.
So once again we headed out of Dubrovnik on our final day and ventured to the village of Orasac where a friendly gentlemen invited us into his shed where we saw a demonstration of how olive oil was produced before mass production took over.
Neighbours got together and picked olives from groves that were ready, the olives were ground down into a paste inside a stone mortar using horse power. The paste was then pressed in coconut fibre bags and the oil squeezed out. The remains were used for animal feed and compost for gardening. At the end of the day a communal dinner with farm fresh food and local wines made for a day of work and fun.
We were able to walk about the gardens and were given an opportunity to purchase olive oil made there and to taste and of course buy a rose brandy that was delicious.
Still a few hours before we headed to our next destination we visited another charming seaside town Trsteno. A final opportunity to swim in this fairy tale town was a great way to finish the day before the tour part was a wrap and we were once again civilians on our way to Cavtat
Wander With Stella - Solo & Together 