Mostar In One Day: best things to do and to see
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If you are looking to spend one day in Mostar and want to make the best of it, you came to the right place. After reading this article you are going to have a list with the best things to do during your trip to Mostar. And the best part? You can fit this list in just one day of traveling.
Personally, I think that this picturesque Bosnian city deserves multiple days in order to fully enjoy it, but we couldn’t stay more than a day there.
During our two week road trip to Slovenia and Croatia, we included a quick one day trip to Mostar, because it was so close to Dubrovnik and also because we were in love with the photos of the famous Old Bridge. You know me, I’m a sucker for old and charming bridges.
Before we get into the list of best things to do and see in Mostar, let’s make some introductions.
Mostar is one the most popular destinations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of the most underrated cities in Europe. Even more, I think that the whole country can be considered undervalued, but after seeing pictures from other travel bloggers, and definitely after visiting Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina surely became a bucket list destination for me and my husband. The general landscape of the country is composed of medieval and colorful cities, glorious waterfalls, delicious and decadent food recipes and a lot of greenery, which is my favorite.
As I already mentioned, Mostar deserves more than one day, but not because there are tons of things to do there, but because of the atmosphere and the food. The views are picturesque, the coffee is amazing and the food is delicious. Fun fact, I feel like they serve much bigger food portions than in other countries, so try to go to lunch or dinner when you are starved 😂.
If you are looking to explore more of this beautiful city and country, but don’t have a lot of time, then you should consider booking a private tour. You can choose a quick one-day private tour to explore Mostar, or you can book a more complex tour that will include a transfer to Dubrovnik.
How to get to Mostar?
Depending on your itinerary, you can choose several ways to get to Mostar. For us, Mostar was a destination that we included on our two-week road trip to Slovenia and Croatia. If you are interested in that itinerary, how we planned our days and how many places we visited, you can check out this article, here.
If you are visiting Croatia or plan to, then you should know that Mostar is very close to Split and Dubrovnik (like approx. 2 hour drive from Mostar to any of these two cities). You can plan to visit Mostar, after you see Dubrovnik and want to head out to Split, or if you already visited Split and want to go to Dubrovnik. Mostar isn’t along the road, and you need to do a small detour, but it’s worth it for sure.
If you don’t have a car, or you don’t plan to rent one, then you can search for one day trips from Dubrovnik, Split or Sarajevo (which is also at approx 2 hour car drive).
That being said, I recommend you rent a car, because there are so many amazing places to visit in this area and a car will give you more freedom of movement.
Best things to do and see in Mostar
This list with best things to do and see in Mostar is my personal recommendation, not your typical Google search. These are the places and things that we enjoyed doing in Mostar, while having a good time and also trying to take in the relaxing atmosphere.
Stari Most (or the Old Bridge)
Since this is the city’s most popular attraction, I had to start with the picturesque stone arch that will enchant you from the very first moment you see it. In the 16th century this was an Ottoman bridge that joined the two halves of Mostar’s historic center, but it was destroyed during the Bosnian War. The bridge was rebuilt in 2004.
For me, the view featuring the Old Bridge is very fairy tale-like. I loved that there are a lot of great angles for photos. Also, if you want to have a great view of the Old Town and the beautiful colored buildings along the Neretva River, then go to Stari Most.
Old Town
In my opinion, exploring the Old Town is one of the best things to do in Mostar. The historic part of the city is sprawled in either direction beyond the Stari Most (Old Bridge).
This part of the city is very enchanting, colorful and vibrant. Beautiful shops, captivating buildings and several tempting restaurants will welcome you in the Old Town. All you need to do is to follow the gray limestone streets. Wander freely, without a specific plan, visit every shop even if you don’t plan to buy anything (but it will be hard not to) and when you feel tired take a break, drink coffee and have a delicious meal. For my husband and I it was very hard to avoid the temptations of the bazaar, so we had to buy souvenirs. I also found this very cute backpack with owls designed on it.
I must say, Mostar, you did charm your way into my heart with this beautiful Old Town vibe.
Neretva River
If you visit the Old Town you are also going to see the Neretva River, because it flows through this part of the city. I feel like this River completes the aesthetic of the gorgeous Stari Most.
You can have an overview of the Neretva River while being on the Old Bridge, but you can also go down to the river bank and enjoy a close-up of the clear water.
In order to get to the river bank, you will need to find the stairs close to the Stari Most and then go down.
Enjoy lunch at a traditional bosnian restaurant
You know me, I always include food in my travel guides, because honestly, trying and exploring different dishes all around the world is part of our travel experiences.
I didn’t know a lot of traditional bosnian foods because Mostar was a bonus destination that we included on our way from Split to Dubrovnik.
We went to a traditional restaurant that had a lot of amazing reviews on Google Maps. The problem was that they were fully booked, so we had to wait for a table to clear out. We were very excited about this place and really wanted to try their food so we waited and after a while we got a table. We ordered coffee and this huge food plate that contained an assortment of meats, pitas and vegetable sauces. Everything on that plate was delicious! We fell in love with bosnian food straight away. The whole atmosphere inside the restaurant was nice, vibrant and welcoming. The staff was wearing traditional clothes and made the whole experience very authentic.
Pro tip: If you want to find the best place to eat in Mostar, or any other place for that matter, I strongly recommend you use Google Map’s option of places to eat. You can apply filters and see all the restaurants that are close to you. In addition you will see the rating of each one, the number of people that rated and also read their comments. Many reviewers add photos of the actual food (that are very different sometimes from the pictures posted by the restaurants on their social media and website).
Drink a traditional Bosnian coffee
Even if you don’t have time to eat or prefer not to, then I strongly recommend at least trying out Bosnian coffee. For a coffee lover like myself, this ritual is an important part of all of my travels. Stopping and having a delicious cup of coffee is the perfect moment to relax, revisit our itinerary, talk and make more plans for the day. It’s the perfect time to rest our feet. And if the coffee is good, that’s an experience worth telling or writing about.
And I must say, Bosnian coffee is very good! What I liked about it is this traditional way of serving it (see picture), that as I already said, makes the experience authentic and nice.
I hope you find this list with the best things to do in Mostar useful! Even more, I hope it got you excited to add this destination on your travel bucket list.