Balkan Roadtrip Bosnia & Herzegovina: A Balmy Mostar Night

A few years back I went on a Balkan road trip with my friend Bubbles. I blogged this trip, however, I didn’t get to finish it so here I am back again, picking it up from where I left.

From Amsterdam, we flew into Tuzla in the north of Bosnia. We spent the evening here and in the morning we drove to the capital, Sarajevo. We stayed a good few days before taking the 2+ hours winding road to Mostar, the capital of Herzegovina. What makes this drive amazing is that the highway follows side by side the route of the beautiful Neretva River. We had amazing scenery throughout the journey. What a joy!

Finally, in Mostar, we checked in at the Kriva Cuprija Hotel & Bridge followed by a delicious traditional lunch with a view of the river at Restoran Lagero.

This is the view from our hotel room:

We had a little balcony. What a splendid view to watch the nightfall from here.

After the delicious lunch and getting our bearings around Mostar, we had a little rest in the hotel room. The city center is small and we walked everywhere that our calves were aching, they so badly needed this required break. We plan to continue strolling later in the evening. Mostar is beautiful and I am sure the lights will give a different ambiance and mystique to the city.

We watched the nightfall from the balcony, and just before it got dark, we hurried and put on our shoes to explore the city center once again. We will be eating but just a little, so we will be searching for a restaurant as well.

There were many cool outdoor dining places along the river but there were no guests. Perhaps it’s too early to eat? Or April is too early in the tourist season? Or are these restaurants more popular for lunchtime? We are looking for a restaurant with a nice outdoor ambiance and with some patrons dining already. It is not too much to ask I reckon.

One of the many mosques in Mostar. Just like Sarajevo, many spires dot the skyline of the little city.

The street shopping scene on the main alley.

I cannot remember buying anything. Although I did remember being tempted by the oversize colourful satin scarves. But how many scarves would you need really? Rather, how many scarves can I wear when I already have a lot in my closet?

The iconic Old Mostar Bridge (Stari Most) at night. My photo is not doing justice to this beautiful bridge at all. This bridge was destroyed during the Balkan War in 1993 and was later reconstructed in 2004. The reconstruction was an important reunification symbol for the Muslim Bosniaks, Catholic Croats, and Orthodox Serbs.

Must take a photo with the bridge!

Remembering Srebrenica and the war:

We have made our decision to eat at Sadrvan. The restaurant has a very good rating for its ambiance and food. It is very centrally located and there were many diners already.

We ordered a Cesar salad and Cevapi grilled sausages. Honestly, we gobbled so many Cevapi’s on this Balkan holiday that I had poo problems, haha. Sorry for the TMI. I guess we ordered the wrong food at this restaurant because I saw very interesting traditional dishes on Tripadvisor. Too much of the same is not fun anymore. We should have been more open and adventurous and asked the waiter for advice.

The lady greeter of Sadrvan in some national costume.

Trivia: Did you know that Bosnia & Herzegovina are 2 regions? Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia region and Mostar is the capital of the Herzegovina region.

If not for the surroundings, this would have been somewhat a lackluster dinner. In defense of our food choices, we were not that hungry. Mediocre is never good.