Ultimate Guide to a Day Trip to Trebinje Bosnia from Dubrovnik.

I’d wanted to visit Bosnia every year since I first started blogging in 2011. It featured heavily on all of my ‘Travel Wish Lists’ I used to do every New Year. And finally, in 2023, I made it.

It ended up being part of mine and Aftab’s roadtrip from Croatia to Montenegro, and while we didn’t get to go to Mostar, we did get to go to Trebinje, a beautiful little town just a short drive between Dubrovnik and Kotor that’s full of stunning scenery and very cheap food and drink.

You see, Mostar is actually quite a long day trip away from Dubrovnik, but Trebinje is just one-hour away from Dubrovnik, and by travelling between Dubrovnik and Kotor via Trebinje, you actually miss the huge immigration border queues between Croatia and Montenegro. So really, it’s a win-win!

Immigration between Croatia/Montenegro and Bosnia

We had heard horror stories of the hugely long queues between the Croatian and Montenegrin borders, but thankfully our border crossing from Croatia to Montenegro was fairly seamless and quick. However, on the way back to Croatia from Montenegro, a taxi driver we had used the night before warned us that it’s much, much worse, and queues can often be hours long.

So, he said the best thing to do is to just cut through Bosnia as the borders on the Bosnian side are always empty. He also said the scenery was really beautiful. Keen to see another country while we were there, we decided to go for it!

Thankfully, he was right. The morning we left Montenegro we checked Google maps, and sure enough there was a huge red queue at the border between Montenegro and Croatia. When we arrived at the border with Bosnia high up in the mountains, it was practically empty. There was maybe one or two cars in front of us and within 5-minutes we were through!

Arriving into Trebinje

The drive down the mountains from the border control to Trebinje was absolutely breathtaking. We were in awe! It felt very different to both Montenegro and Croatia – firstly, it’s landlocked – and the weather was also a bit moody and rubbish, but once we were down the mountains it was much flatter and more ‘hilly’ than mountainous in a lot of the area.

We had internet issues going into Trebinje when we realised that Bosnia wasn’t included in our European roaming plans, so we followed the road signs to a 4-star hotel, Hotel Nar, and figured we could either use their wifi, or ask them where to go and where to park and what to do etc.

They were SO nice you guys! They were super lovely and let us use their toilets, wifi, AND gave us tips on what to do. They also allowed us to park our car in their car park while we went and explored.

Things to do in Trebinje

There isn’t a huge amount to do in Trebinje, it’s a very, very small place and isn’t really set-up for tourism. But we enjoyed a lovely couple of hours in the pretty old town.

Most Iva Andrića

The view from the Most Iva Andrića bridge is really beautiful. We stopped to take photos here because it was so stunning, even with the grey clouds behind it!

Pod platanima & Trg Slobode Squares

We absolutely adored the cute little squares of Pod platanima and Trg Slobode in the old town of Trebinje! Strangely, they actually reminded me a little bit of the squares in France – filled with trees, and with tables and chairs pouring onto the squares from the restaurants in old buildings that surrounded them.

Cathedral Temple of Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord

The churches in Trebinje are really quite something. The Church of The Holy Transfiguration of God is located in Gradski park, and while its construction was started in 1888, it wasn’t finished until 1908. The interiors are stunning and it’s worth stopping in and seeing the inside of the cathedral!

Gradski park

Gradski park is also known as Jovanu Dučiću park as there’s a statue of him at one of the entrances. It’s a lovely park full of mature trees and is a tranquil and peaceful place to visit while you’re in Trebinje. We walked through it and enjoyed seeing all the local families and groups of friends out and about enjoying it.

Spomenik Jovanu Dučiću

The Spomenik Jovanu Dučiću is a historical landmark in Trebinje, and is a statue of Jovanu Dučiću, one of the most influential Serbian lyricists and modernist poets. He was born in Trebinje in 1871, at the time part of Bosnia Vilayet within the Ottoman Empire, so you’ll find his picture and depictions of him all over Trebinje!

He was actually exiled to the US and lived there until his death in 1943, but his will requested that he be buried in Trebinje. He was finally brought back to Trebinje and reburied here in 2000, in the newly built Hercegovačka Gračanica monastery.

Hercegovačka Gračanica monastery

The road up to the Hercegovačka Gračanica Monastery is terrifying! Aftab and I were both squealing the entire journey up – it’s really steep and full of tiny roads and super sharp twisting turns. But boy, was it worth the journey! The views from the top were incredible!

Hercegovačka Gračanica was completed in 2000, and is a Serbian Orthodox monastery that’s  largely a copy of the Gračanica monastery in Kosovo. The monastery is located above the city, on the historic Crkvina Hill, and is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It’s very small but well worth a visit and we really loved the views from the top and the beautiful interior of the monastery.

Food in Trebinje – Eating at Restaurant “Humsko”

Our new friends at Hotel Nar recommended Restaurant “Humsko”, which is set right on the river in Trebinje. It was the best recommendation ever – we honestly had the best meal here!

The staff were super friendly, and allowed us to choose whether sat indoors or out. We decided to brave the weather and sit outdoors as the view of the river was so pretty! Trebinje is actually super well known for its wine and vineyards, so we chose a glass of local red wine to accompany our meal. This glass of wine was only around £1!

Food-wise, we really wanted some warm comfort food, so we both chose the Goulash with rice, a side of boiled potatoes, a tomato side salad, and we also got a basket of bread for dipping into the Goulash! It looks *so* unappetizing, but it was ridiculously delicious! The boiled potatoes were the best potatoes I’ve ever tasted in my life, and the flavour of the tomatoes were unreal. It also only cost about £6. An absolute bargain!

Afterwards, we shared two desserts: the baklava, and Tufahija, a local dish of walnut-stuff apples soaked in sugar water. Both were delicious, and suitably full, we were ready to continue on our way.

Things to know when travelling to Bosnia

We messed up a couple of times, with a couple of very major things, when we travelled into Bosnia. The first was with internet and roaming, and the second was with currency.

Roaming in Bosnia

We stupidly assumed that Bosnia was included in our European roaming packages with our mobile providers, but when we were rudely interrupted on our drive from the border to Trebinje by our mobile providers texting us to say “You’ve spent £xxx” since arriving in Bosnia”, we had to pull over the car and investigate.

It turns out that Bosnia is not included in European roaming packages, and as such we were both charged around £6 per mb for internet usage. My phone provider actually puts a block on my phone roaming usage if I spent more than £50 a month on roaming charges, so my phone then became useless until we got back to Croatia. Aftab, in a panic, switched his roaming off.

So suddenly we were in a country we had never visited before, in the middle of the countryside, with NO internet. No SatNav, no Maps, no nothing. We basically had to just wing-it and as soon as we drove into Trebinje we had to do the old-fashioned thing and follow random road signs – we followed a sign to a 4* hotel in the hope that they would have wifi we could use, and the staff there actually ended up allowing us to use their car park for free as well as giving us some great tips on what to do in Trebinje!

Currency in Bosnia

The other issue we had, was when we were in a little supermarket trying to buy a drink…and we tried to pay in Euros. It turns out Bosnia does not accept Euros – oops! Instead, the convertible mark is the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It’s divided into 100 Pfenig or Fening and locally abbreviated KM! So we ended up having to use our credit cards for everything (warning: nowhere accepts AMEX).

Is it worth doing a Dubrovnik to Bosnia day trip?

Yes, 100% yes! We really, really loved our day trip into Bosnia. It’s such a beautiful country and is super duper cheap – especially compared to Dubrovnik – so it’s not going to cost you a huge amount to do it. I would recommend hiring a car and driving yourself, but you can also do an organised day trip with a tour company.

 

Read more: Visiting Dubrovnik’s Elaphiti Islands on a Private Boat Trip