Things to do in Trebinje

5 to 2 hours' drive south-east of Mostar and roughly 30 minutes from Kotor across the Montenegro border, which makes it easy to treat as a border-crossing footnote rather than a stop worth its own afternoon.

The old town, laid out under Ottoman rule and later given its Austro-Hungarian facades, sits behind stone walls beside a narrow arched bridge over the river; platan trees shade the main square, and the Tvrdos monastery a few kilometres outside town produces wine sold on site by the bottle for a few KM more than supermarket price.

Summer visits are best in the morning or early evening, since the town's low, sheltered valley pushes afternoon temperatures close to Mostar's own, among the hottest in the country.