adeleh

We will be in Budapest in August and after many plan changes we decided to rent a car and drive to Dubrovnik -Stay in Trogir one night- and drive back to Budapest through Bosnia staying in Sarajevo for one night.
I have done my research and looked at maps but still love to hear from someone who has done the drive.
I like to know what the road conditions are, and how difficult is it to find a hotel once you are in Sarajevo. Is renting a GPS necessary?
Thank you.

julia_t

I might be tempted to consider another plan change.

You can fly Budapest to Sarajevo in under one hour (Malev). Then rent a car in Sarajevo and drive to Dubrovnik and Trogir, and back through Bosnia and Herzegovina to Sarajevo, and fly back to Budapest from there.

Or perhaps consider doing the loop through Bosnia starting from Zagreb.

IMO, both Dubrovnik and Sarajevo deserve more than one night each. You will experience virtually nothing of either city if you spend less than 24 hours there.

If you click on my name, and then my trip reports, you'll find I've driven from Split/Trogir to both Dubrovnik and Sarajevo, using different routes each time. Bosnia is a spectacularly beautiful country, and is well worth taking the time to travel through.

However from what I have heard Hungary is pretty much flat open land with little to see. Certainly when I flew over it there didn't seem a lot to see until we reached the Croatian border when it all became greener, and finally (and this was like 20 minutes into the flight!) we crossed into Bosnia and the mountains and stunning scenery became visible.

I know northern Bosnia is said to be gorgeous, and I want to visit there, but I think I'd prefer to drive from somewhere like Zagreb rather than all the way from Budapest.

kja

I have not made that drive, but agree with julia_t: Sarajevo deserves more than one night. (I also agree with her that Dubrovnik deserves more than that, but am not sure that's your plan.)

adeleh

This is our plan:
3 nights Budapest
1 night Trogir
4 nights Dubrovnik
1 night Sarajevo
1 night Budapest
Fly back home
We would have loved to stay in Sarajevo more than 1 night, but it is not possible.
I am still looking for someone to tell me that the drive in Bosnia is not dangerous and scary.
I LOVE to go through Bosnia but I am a little concerned.
Please help.

julia_t

adeleh - driving in Bosnia is not particularly dangerous or scary.

Given your time scale you will spend most of your time travelling on main roads. That is very sensible. There is a very good reason why some of those little white roads on the map are not main roads. Believe me, those little white roads can be incredibly scary!

However, I do advise you to get a good map.

And make sure to look up the rules for each country you drive in. For example, in BiH you must have your headlights on at all times. Do keep to the speed limits - the police are waiting all over the place with their little lollipop sticks to pull over unsuspecting tourist in cars with foreign plates. And observe the virtually zero alcohol policy. You can check the rules on www.aa.com

Keep to the main roads and you'll find they are generally in very good condition with any scary bends well protected. You shouldn't have a problem at all.

But - can you take a night from Dubrovnik and spend it in Mostar? Really you shouldn't pass by without spending a few hours there, and you don't have the time to take from Sarajevo.

Good luck and have a great time!

adeleh

Julia,
Thank you very much.
We are going through Bosnia.I just needed to hear what you said.
We have driven all over and Ecuador- it was so scary- but that was 10 years ago. we are older now!!!

julia_t

I am a bit worried about your road trip though - have you considered how many hours you will be driving between these places?

Trogir to Dubrovnik will be at least 3 hours if you take the new fast highway, or if you choose to drive the very scenic Adriatic coastal road you'd be looking at 4-5 hours. And that's not including any stops you make along the way.

Dubrovnik to Sarajevo will take you 5-6 hours.

You can't drive fast on the roads as there are speed limits and on-the-spot fines if you are caught. Local drivers may seem to ignore these, but you will be in a car with foreign plates (Hungarian?). Anyway you wouldn't want to drive fast going round those bends climbing up the mountains to Sarajevo.

You can check the times on www.viamichelin.com but you have to add at least another 10 per cent on top for the time to be realistically possible. I see Budapest to Trogir is more than 700 km, which will take you around 7 hours if you have no hold ups or traffic incidents. Sarajevo to Budapest will take that and more.

Finding a hotel once you get to Sarajevo shouldn't be too difficult, though I'd prefer to have one already booked. Parking a car may be a problem around the Bascarsija. Given your very limited time, I think that's where you should aim to be staying so you can at least walk around the Old City and see the maximum possible rather than staying further out.

There are car parks, but spaces are often reserved by the hotels. I have always stayed at Hotel Safir which arranges parking for you over the road. They only have 8 rooms, often used by UN and diplomatic staff, it is very clean, there's an excellent breakfast, and the staff are wonderful.

http://www.hotelsafir.ba/engleski/index.php

adeleh

Thanks again.
I have all those times and I know it will be lots of driving. My husband loves to drive and I love to sit next to him especially going places we have never been.
Of course if we had more time, it would be much better.
Your hotel idea is great and that is what we will do.