Dubrovnik, Mostar and Kotor: a loop through Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro

Three countries in a week

The loop starts and ends in Dubrovnik, and runs through Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. The landscape changes at every border. The road follows the Croatian coast, crosses the Neretva delta and its mandarin orchards, then climbs into the karst of Herzegovina, a land of stone and dry-stone walls. It ends on the shores of the Bay of Kotor, where the mountains drop straight into the sea.

At Kravica, the Trebižat falls about 25 metres into a pool where people swim in summer. Počitelj, an Ottoman village built in tiers, looks down on the Neretva. In Montenegro, the road goes round the bay at the water’s edge, through Perast, to Kotor, then on to Budva and Sveti Stefan.

You walk in Dubrovnik, Mostar and Kotor; from one town to the next, never more than three hours at the wheel, not counting the wait at the borders.

Young men dive from the bridge into the Neretva; a competition has been held every year at the end of July since 1968. To see the bridge from above, climb the minaret of the Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque.

At Blagaj, a 16th-century dervish monastery (tekke) stands against a cliff where the Buna flows out, one of the most powerful springs in Europe. Near Stolac, the necropolis of Radimlja has 133 stećci, medieval tombstones carved with hunting scenes and men with a raised hand, listed by UNESCO in 2016.

Ragusa and Venice on the Adriatic

Until 1808, Dubrovnik was the capital of a merchant republic, the Republic of Ragusa, whose motto was “Libertas”. Ragusa kept its independence by paying tribute to the Ottomans. To protect its salt pans, it built walls at Ston, of which about 5.5 kilometres remain. The earthquake of 1667 destroyed most of the city, but not its walls, about 1,940 metres long. During the siege of 1991–1992, more than two thirds of the buildings in the old town were hit.

Kotor, for its part, belonged to Venice from 1420 to 1797. Its walls climb the mountain up to St John’s Fortress. Opposite Perast, the islet of Our Lady of the Rocks is man-made: according to tradition, sailors found an icon on a reef in 1452, then threw a stone there each time they came home. Every 22 July, the Fašinada keeps this custom alive.

What not to miss

1. 1The walls of DubrovnikA walk round the old town along the ramparts, as soon as they open.
2. 2Mount SrđBy road or by cable car, the old town and the islands at sunset.
3. 3PočiteljAn Ottoman village built in tiers above the Neretva.
4. 4PerastSea captains’ palaces on the water’s edge, and a boat to Our Lady of the Rocks.
5. 5The walls of KotorA long staircase up to St John’s Fortress, with the bay below.
6. 6Sveti StefanThe island hotel, reopened in 2026, is for its guests only; the beach next to it is public.

Dubrovnik, Mostar and Kotor in pictures

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The Kravica waterfalls and their pool, in summer.

Food and wine, from Ston to Njeguši

In Mali Ston, at the end of the walls, you eat flat oysters by the harbour. On the Pelješac peninsula, the plavac mali grape makes powerful reds; Dingač is Croatia’s first protected wine region. In Dubrovnik, you finish with a rožata, a crème caramel.

In Herzegovina, you eat ćevapi, small grilled sausages, and burek; the vineyards of Mostar make a white wine, žilavka. The monastery of Tvrdoš, near Trebinje, makes its own wine. Njeguši is known for its smoked ham and its cheese.