Getting Around Herzegovina Without a Car

Why I stopped renting a car in Herzegovina

The first time I came to Mostar, I assumed I would need a car to see anything beyond the old town. I was wrong, and I am glad I found that out before wasting a day at a rental counter. Between the train to Sarajevo, the long-distance buses toward the coast, and the organized day trips that already run to every place I wanted to see, I never once missed having my own set of wheels. This isn’t the full car-free itinerary — that’s laid out step by step in the car-free Mostar itinerary — this is just the transport logic itself: what runs, how often, and where it quietly falls apart if you trust a printed timetable too much.

The Sarajevo train, and why I like it more than the bus

Two trains a day connect Mostar and Sarajevo, year-round, one in the early morning and one in the late afternoon, and the ride takes about two hours through some of the best scenery in the country — the Neretva canyon narrows to almost nothing in places, right up against the tracks. I’ve taken it twice now and both times it was more relaxing than I expected a Balkan train to be. In summer, some weekends extend the line toward Ploče on the Croatian coast, but that service runs on a seasonal calendar through late September, not all year, so I never plan around it without checking first.

I buy my ticket at the station on the day itself. Reservations aren’t really a thing on this line, and the two daily departures mean there isn’t much to choose between anyway. If you’re staying somewhere near the center, getting to the station on foot or by local bus is easy enough that I’ve never bothered with a taxi.

Buses to the coast: more choice, less certainty

Buses to Split and Dubrovnik run several times a day, and this is where the seasonal variation actually matters. Weekends see noticeably more departures in both directions — the extra demand from tourists moving between the coast and Mostar pushes carriers to add services — while weekday timetables can be thinner than you’d expect. The Dubrovnik route in particular runs at roughly three services a day, with the trip itself taking three to four hours depending on the border crossing and how busy it is.

That border crossing is worth mentioning on its own. Bosnia and Herzegovina sits outside both the EU and the Schengen area, so leaving for Croatia is a genuine passport check, even from the window seat of a scheduled coach. I keep my passport out and ready rather than buried in a bag, because the stop is real and the bus doesn’t wait long.

Here’s roughly how the main routes compare, based on what I’ve seen and used myself:

Route	Typical frequency	Journey time	Notes
Mostar → Sarajevo (train)	2 per day, year-round	~2 hours	Seasonal extension to Ploče some summer weekends
Mostar → Split (bus)	Several per day, more on weekends	~3 hours	Weekday schedule thinner than weekend
Mostar → Dubrovnik (bus)	~3 per day	3–4 hours	Passport check crossing into Croatia
Mostar → Sarajevo (bus)	Several per day	~2.5–3 hours	Alternative to the train, more frequent

I don’t treat any of these numbers as fixed. They’re what I’ve seen and what locals have told me, but frequencies shift by season and by day of the week, and I’ve been caught out once by assuming a Saturday schedule applied on a Tuesday. Checking the current timetable the day before, either at the bus station or with whoever runs my accommodation, has become part of my routine here.

Filling in the gaps with organized day trips

The places that don’t sit on a bus or train line — Blagaj, Počitelj, and Kravice waterfalls — are exactly where organized transport earns its keep. I’ve taken a private day trip to Mostar’s old town and Kravica waterfalls and it solved the problem completely: door-to-door transport, no timetable to track, no parking to find at the falls.

If you’re coming from the coast rather than staying in Mostar itself, a group day tour to Mostar and Kravice from Dubrovnik covers the same ground without you needing to arrange the Mostar leg separately, and a similar option exists as a day trip to Mostar from Makarska for anyone based further up the coast.

For quieter corners, a guided day trip to Boračko Lake gets you somewhere I’d never have reached on public transport at all, and the full-day Mostar and Herzegovina tour strings several stops together in one outing, which suits anyone with just a day or two who wants to see the best day trips from Mostar without piecing together the logistics themselves.

What I’d tell a first-timer

If you’re choosing between renting a car and relying on trains, buses and organized transport, the honest answer depends on how much you want to improvise. A car buys flexibility, but Herzegovina’s public transport plus a handful of day trips covers the sights most visitors actually come for — Blagaj, Počitelj, Kravice, and the connections onward to Sarajevo or the coast.

What it doesn’t buy you is certainty about exact departure times months in advance. I treat every schedule I read online as a starting point, then confirm it locally once or twice before I actually need it. For everything else — how many days to give this region, where to stay, what a day here actually costs — those are separate questions with their own answers elsewhere on this site; this one is just about how you move between the places you’ve decided to see.

FAQ: getting around Herzegovina without a car

Is there a train from Mostar to Sarajevo?

Yes, two trains run daily year-round, roughly one in the early morning and one in the late afternoon, taking about two hours. Seasonal services toward Ploče in Croatia run some summer weekends into late September.

How many buses run between Mostar and Split each day?

Several, with noticeably more departures on weekends when demand from both directions picks up. Weekday schedules are thinner, so I always check the current timetable rather than assume the weekend frequency applies.

Do bus and train times change with the season?

Yes, and this is the mistake I see visitors make most often. Frequencies and departure times shift between summer and winter and between weekdays and weekends, so a schedule I read online in spring may not hold in August.

Can I visit Kravice waterfalls without a car?

Yes, organized day trips from Mostar cover Kravice, usually paired with another stop such as Blagaj or Počitelj, which is the simplest option if you are not driving yourself.

Can I visit Blagaj and Počitelj without a car?

Yes, both are commonly included on the same organized day trip out of Mostar, since they sit along the same stretch of the Neretva valley south of the city.

Do I need my passport for the bus to Dubrovnik or Split?

Yes. Bosnia and Herzegovina is outside the EU and the Schengen area, so crossing into Croatia is a real passport check, not a formality, even on a scheduled bus.

Should I book train or bus tickets in advance?

For the train, I buy tickets at the station shortly before departure since reservations are rarely necessary. For weekend buses to Split or Dubrovnik in summer, booking a day or two ahead is safer, since seats can sell out.