Bosnia and Herzegovina is small, and these two cities are a short journey apart. Sarajevo needs time: the history here is recent, and the people you meet lived through it.
Day 1 — Baščaršija and the Latin Bridge
Start in Baščaršija, the Ottoman-era bazaar, at the Sebilj wooden fountain. Drink Bosnian coffee — served in a džezva with a sugar cube — and eat ćevapi. Walk west along Ferhadija, where the street changes from Ottoman to Austro-Hungarian in a few steps. Stop at the Latin Bridge, by which Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914.
Day 2 — the siege
Go to the Tunnel of Hope near the airport (tram to Ilidža, then bus 32 to Butmir, or a taxi), the tunnel dug under the runway during the 1992–1996 siege to bring supplies into the city. The Galerija 11/07/95 in the centre covers Srebrenica. Look for the Sarajevo roses, mortar scars on the pavements filled with red resin.
Day 3 — the hills
Take the Trebević cable car, reopened in 2018, up to the abandoned 1984 Winter Olympics bobsled track, now covered in graffiti. Come down to the Yellow Fortress for sunset over the city.
Day 4 — through the Neretva canyon to Mostar
The train from Sarajevo to Mostar runs twice a day through the Neretva canyon and is one of the most scenic rides in the Balkans; check the timetable on zfbh.ba and buy tickets at the station. Buses are the fallback. In Mostar, see the Stari Most (Old Bridge), destroyed in 1993 and rebuilt with the original methods by 2004. In summer, local divers jump from it into the river, about 20 metres below.
Day 5 — Blagaj and Kravice
Take a taxi or tour to the Blagaj Tekke, a dervish house built against a cliff at the source of the Buna river, then to the Kravice waterfalls, where you can swim in summer.
Getting out
Mostar has few flights. Most people return to Sarajevo, or continue south to Dubrovnik by bus.