tcreath

Forgive me if this has already been asked; I did some searches and came up with nothing really useful. My husband and I will be in Dubrovnik in November, working our way up the coast. We would like to visit Mostar, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but my DH is a little nervous about driving there. Has anyone done this and can reassure us that is is okay or give an opinions? Otherwise, we could take an Atlas tour of Mostar, but we are planning on taking the Montenegro tour and don't really want to take two long day tours back to back.

Thanks for any help!
Tracy

Catbert

Hi Tracy, I just looked at Atlas website and I see that the Montenegro tour is 160 km. and the Mostar is 300 km. Wow! I don't know how far Mostar is and how many side trips are in that day but I thought the Montenegro trip covered a lot of ground. I definitely would take the Atlas trip if it's that far. You get so much more with the tour in that the guides impart such great info. I agree, I would not be excited about driving it myself. If it's going to take all day anyway...

I think Matthieu took the trip. Maybe he'll see this and comment.

tcreath

catbert, thank you for your comments. I agree; it is a long way. Maybe we will rearrange our schedule so that we are in Dubrovnik an extra day and can take both tours, as we're having a difficult time deciding which one (Mostar or Montenegro) we would rather do. I am glad to hear that the Atlas tour guides give great information; that's definitely a bonus over driving ourselves.

Did you take the Montenegro tour? If so, which one (it looks like their are two options) and were you impressed?

Thanks!
Tracy

Catbert

Having taken the Montenegro tour is what makes me convinced that the Mostar tour would be worthwhile (it didn't work out during my stay and I regret it). I took the regular one that also went to Centje. It was a long day but it pretty much flew by. We stopped in Kotor, Centje, somewhere in the country for lunch, and the Budva. Our guide was really really good.

One of the things I like about these trips is that they allow you to see more of the country than just specific destinations. Dubrovnik is lovely, but seeing Montenegro really gave me a greater sense of what the former Yugoslav countries have gone through. And what their challenges are now.

I only had 4 days in Dubrovnik. I wish I had more but I had to leave because the Pope was coming to town and there was no more "room at the Inn".

tcreath

Catbert, thank you for your reply. The tour sounds fantastic. We too like to explore the countryside, away from some of the usual tourist traps, and learn more about the history and culture of the areas we are visiting. I'm convinced that I definitely want to see Montenegro. From some of the research I've done it sounds like a fascinating country. Hopefully we can do both, but the schedule for November doesn't appear to be available as of yet, so we will see.

Unfortunately we only have 7 nights in Croatia. So far our (rough) itinerary is 3 nights in Dubrovnik, 2 nights in Trogir and 2 nights in Rijeka before flying to London to catch our flight home. However, I am thinking that maybe we should concentrate on southern Dalmatia, and save northern Croatia for another trip. If we had at least 4 (or possibly 5) nights in Dubrovnik we could perhaps do both tours.

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I greatly appreciate it!

Tracy

Catbert

Tracy, you might want to contact Atlas and see if they operate either of these tours in November. Judi, another Fodorite who posted a Croatia trip report, was there in November and had to hire a private guide to go to Montenegro. You may want to do a search for her trip report. My fingers are crossed for you!

tcreath

Catbert, yikes! I hope they do! We are interested enough that we would consider hiring a private driver, but as we've never done that before we would have to do some research. I'll look for Judy's trip report...thanks for the heads-up!

Tracy

tower

Tracy....I suppose I have logged more auto in the former Yugoslavia than imaginable, since 1980...just last spring I again drove to Mostar and Sarajevo...there is no problem driving Bosnia now.... the highway from the coast to Mostar is a good one...and the destroyed bridge crossing the Neretva River in town has been rebuilt. However, if you wish to take the Atlas tour, they have an excellent reputation. Forget Rijeka...spend the extra days in Dubrovnik and touring...enjoy!

Catbert

I hope this link is right: http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...82&start=0

tcreath

Tower, thank you for your imput! It sounds like Atlas is the way to go if they are operating. I would love to have a guide give us information as we are exploring; something we would lack if we drove ourselves. However, I would rather drive ourselves than not visit at all, so if Atlas isn't running a tour we will consider making the drive.

Catbert, thank you for the link! I did a search a few minutes ago and found the trip report. I just printed it off so hubby can read it. What a great report...thanks so much! I've never seen it before.

I just checked out the Atlas website again. When I put in the month and day of travel it does bring up a list of available tours, but no actual date. I'm not sure if they are running these tours in November or not. I think I am going to try e-mailing or calling them to get more info.

Thanks!! I have been wanting to go to Croatia for years but I could never find a good way of getting there. However; my diligent researching of decent airfares finally paid off two days ago when I snagged a flight from Chicago to Dubrovnik. The more I read the more excited I get!

Tracy

vinnymac

My partner and I visited Dubrovnik in October 2005, and had a very similar "do we, don't we" conversation! Fortunately we decided to, and it was well worth while.

The drive from Dubrovnik to Mostar will take you 2-2.5 hours at a leisurely pace (it shouldn't do, but see my notes later on speed limits). The best route is to head north on the main E65 out of Dubrovnik signposted towards SPLIT. Staying on this road, you will cross over out of Craitia into Bosnia (near the town of Neum) and then re-enter Croatia. Shortly after you cross the border back into Croatia, you will come to a fork in the road, and the Route 9 heads off to the right, signposted Mostar from this point. (Don't be tempted by some of the smaller roads that haed cross country to Mostar through places like Stolac - they are pretty rough)

In terms of the practicalities and worries you may have, the border controls were perfectly professional with English spoken and no undue delays, car searching or attempted bribery going on!! You also collect an impressive set of passport stamps!

Once into Bosnia, the speed limits on ALL main roads in 50km/hr which is very slow especially as the roads are not bad. However do stick to these limits, as local Bosnian Police WILL use it as a reason to pull you over. We were advised to have some small euro or Croatian Kune notes on us in case this did happen - apparently a 5 or 10 euro note is all it takes to get you on your way again. But while we did see Police, we stuck to speed limits and were not approached at all.

When you get to Mostar, there are LOTS of guides hovering around the carparks where you will park up, offerring to take you on a guided trip. We saw lots of them and, in reality, they seemed to pretty informative and cheap (at around 50 Kune or 5 Euros per person. However, we passed and wandered around on our own, which felt safe, friendly and pleasant. You do have to pay a small fee for parking.

Mostar itself was a relevation for us. Not sure what we expected, but it is remarkably cosmopiltan - especially around the tourist areas surrounding the famous Mostar bridge. It is a starnge mix of bombed out shells (many buildings still have visible bullet holes etc in the walls) and totally redeveloped modern buildings.

Currency - they do have their own currency (we never worked out what it was!) and they will take Croatian Kune, but the preferred currency for meals, small purhcses etc is Euros, so have some on you.

Based on our experience, I would recommed it to you. It is much more leisurely going alone rather than on a coach tour, and you can then find your own little spot for lunch as we did. Comfortably doable from Dubrovnik in a day trip. If you leave Dubrovnik around 0800, you can have a few hours in Mostar, lunch and be back in Dubrovnik by 1600-1700 no problem.

Catbert

Wow, Vinnymac, excellent post. Thanks.

tcreath

vinnymac, thank you so much for your post! Mostar definitely interests us, and its nice to know that we could make the trip on our own without a tour guide. And thank you so much for the helpful hints on speed limits and currency. We appreciate any advice we can get!

Thanks again!
Tracy

Debs

What an informative thread! DH and I heading to Dubrovnik for 7 nights in late May. Have already decided on (and in process of booking on-line with Atlas) the Montenegro day tour, and was deciding on the Mostar tour as well. With our limited time there (unfortunately flights are already set so no chance to extend trip) I didn't want to spend so much time away from Dubrovnik but it seems we'll be missing an opportunity if we don't include the trip to Mostar, especially after reading this post.

Catbert-Where was your lunch stop in Montenegro? Since I'm not sure if we'll have Euros with us, do you remember if places take plastic or US$? Do you remember your guides name?

tcreath-looks like we're in for a fantastic trip wherever we wind up!

Catbert

The place we stopped for lunch was a very informal little place in a tiny country village. I don't think it had any signs or anything. It seemed to be arranged by Atlas. I think it cost something like 2 or 3 euro. Also, if you want to buy anything in Kotor or Budva you need euro.

xyz99

Debs,
Which of the 2 tours are you taking? I’m still not sure I understand the difference between the 2 of them (same number of km for each). Please post your comments/impressions when you come back.
We’ll be in Croatia in Sept, and the Montenegro tour is definitely on our list.
Thanks