Mostar: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Mostar is named for its bridge-keepers, the mostari, who guarded the crossing of the Neretva. The Ottomans built a stone arch here in 1566, and for four centuries it stood as one of the wonders of the Balkans, until it was shelled into the river in 1993. It was rebuilt stone by stone and reopened in 2004. Ninety minutes on slippery cobbles; come early or in the evening, when the tour buses have gone.
A short history of Mostar
The city's name comes from the bridge-keepers, the mostari, who guarded the bridge over the Neretva River. In 1566 the Ottoman architect Mimar Hayruddin completed the Old Bridge, a single stone arch about 20 metres above the water. The city came under Austro-Hungarian rule in 1878. During the Bosnian War the city was divided between Croats and Bosniaks, and on 9 November 1993 the bridge was shelled and collapsed into the river. It reopened in 2004, having been rebuilt from stone cut in the same quarry, and in 2005 the area was declared a World Heritage Site.
The ten best sights in Mostar
1Stari MostThe Ottoman bridge of 1566, rebuilt in 2004; divers jump from it
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2Old Bridge Museum
In the Tara tower: how the bridge was destroyed and rebuilt
3Koski Mehmed Pasha MosqueClimb the minaret for the classic view of the bridge
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4Crooked Bridge
The little bridge of 1558, the Old Bridge’s rehearsal
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5Kajtaz House
An Ottoman family house, still lived in, with its women’s quarters
6Bišćević HouseA seventeenth-century house over the river
7Muslibegović HouseAn Ottoman mansion; you can sleep in it
8Karađoz Bey MosqueThe largest mosque in Herzegovina, of 1557
9Orthodox CathedralRebuilt on the hill after its destruction in 1992
10Sniper TowerA ruined bank on the old front line, covered in graffiti
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Mostar →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Mostar:
Free walking tours in Mostar
The bridge and the bazaar
Mostar is named for its bridge-keepers, the mostari, who guarded the crossing of the Neretva. The Ottomans built a stone arch here in 1566, and for four centuries it stood as one of the wonders of the Balkans, until it was shelled into the river in 1993. It was rebuilt stone by stone and reopened in 2004. Ninety minutes on slippery cobbles; come early or in the evening, when the tour buses have gone.
- Karađoz Bey Mosque · The largest mosque in Herzegovina, built in 1557, often attributed to the circle of the great Ottoman architect Sinan. It was badly damaged in the war of the 1990s and restored; its courtyard and fountain are the quietest place in the old town.
- Bišćević House · A seventeenth-century Ottoman house built over the river, with a stone courtyard below and the living rooms above, their windows hanging over the Neretva. Families sat on low cushions along the walls, and the shoes stayed at the door.
- Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque · A mosque of 1618 on the riverbank, whose minaret you can climb by a narrow spiral of steps. From the top, and from its terrace by the water, is the classic view of the Old Bridge from the side.
- Kujundžiluk · The bazaar street of the coppersmiths, paved with river stones, where craftsmen still hammer copper plates and coffee sets. The name comes from the Turkish word for goldsmith.
- Stari Most · The single arch, about twenty-nine metres across and twenty metres above the water, was built in 1566 by the architect Hayruddin. On the ninth of November 1993 Croat forces shelled it into the river. It was rebuilt with Ottoman methods, using stone from the same quarry and pieces lifted from the river, and reopened in 2004. Divers of the town have jumped from it for centuries, and still do, for a fee.
- Crooked Bridge · A small stone arch over a side stream, built in 1558, eight years before the great bridge, and often said to have been a test for it. It was swept away by a flood in 2000 and rebuilt.
The front line
In 1992 Croats and Bosniaks fought together against the Serbs here; in 1993 they turned on each other, and for almost a year a front line ran down the boulevard west of the river. Thirty years later the city is still divided in many ways — two school systems, two bus companies. This walk passes the ruins and the memorials. An hour, flat.
- Spanish Square · The square on the boulevard where the front line ran is named for the Spanish peacekeepers, more than twenty of whom died in the war in Bosnia. The buildings around it still show the holes of bullets and shells.
- Gymnasium · A school built by Austria-Hungary at the end of the nineteenth century in a mock-Moorish style, ochre and striped. After the war it was restored and became one of the few schools in the city where Croat and Bosniak pupils study in the same building, though often on separate programmes.
- Sniper Tower · A glass bank building from the Yugoslav years, which snipers used to shoot down into the streets on both sides during the war. It still stands as a gutted shell, covered with graffiti — a memorial nobody built.
- Partisan Cemetery · In 1965 the architect Bogdan Bogdanović built a memorial for the partisans of Mostar who died fighting the fascists: terraces of stone flowers, paths and water channels climbing the hill. It was vandalised after the 1990s and is overgrown, but still one of the great monuments of Yugoslavia.
- Catholic Cathedral · The modern cathedral of the Catholic diocese, damaged in the war and repaired. West of the river most of the city is Croat and Catholic, east of it mostly Bosniak and Muslim, and the skyline is a contest of towers and minarets.
- Hum Cross · In 2000 a cross more than thirty metres high was raised on the hill of Hum, from which Croat artillery shelled the east bank during the war. It is lit at night and seen from every street, and many in the east of the city see it as a provocation.
Springs, dervishes and waterfalls
Around Mostar, Herzegovina is a dry, sunny karst land of vineyards where rivers burst out of caves and fall over travertine. The day passes a dervish house at a spring, a castle of the duke who gave the land its name, an Ottoman village on a hill, and a waterfall for swimming. A full day and a car.
- Blagaj Tekke · Around 1520 dervishes built their house at the foot of a two-hundred-metre cliff, where the river Buna rushes out of a cave — one of the largest karst springs in Europe. The rooms of the tekke hang over the water, and visitors are given a robe and a cup of coffee.
- Stjepan Grad · On the cliff above the spring is the castle of Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, a fifteenth-century lord who in 1448 took the title herceg, duke. The land he ruled has been called Herzegovina, the duke’s land, ever since.
- Počitelj · A walled stone village climbing a hill over the Neretva, with a mosque of 1563, a clock tower and a fortress at the top. It was badly damaged in 1993 and restored; in Yugoslav times it was an artists’ colony.
- Međugorje · In 1981 six local children said the Virgin Mary had appeared to them on a hill above this village, and it became one of the largest Catholic pilgrimage sites in Europe, with millions of visitors. In 2024 the Vatican approved devotion here, without ruling on the apparitions themselves.
- Kravica · The river Trebižat falls about twenty-five metres in a wide semicircle of travertine into a green pool, and in summer people swim right up to the falls. Spring brings the most water; late summer the warmest.
- Stolac · An old town on the Bregava river, with mills, mosques and a fortress. Near it lies Radimlja, a field of stećci — huge carved medieval tombstones unique to this region, now a world heritage site.
Getting to Mostar and getting around
- Mostar Station · The scenic train to Sarajevo along the Neretva gorge, and the bus station beside it
Cheap eats in Mostar
Mostar eats Bosnian: ćevapi, small grilled sausages of minced meat, ten in a flat bread with raw onion and kajmak cream; burek, a coil of filo filled with meat, sold by weight in the morning; and dolma and japrak, peppers and vine leaves stuffed with rice and meat. Herzegovina is sunny wine country, with Žilavka white and Blatina red. Coffee comes Bosnian, in a little copper pot with a cube of sugar and a piece of rahat lokum. Ćevapi cost a few euro.
- Kujundžiluk · Bosnian coffee over the bridge
- Karađoz Bey Mosque · Ćevapi in the old town around it
- Crooked Bridge · Trout and grilled meat by the stream
- Blagaj Tekke · River trout at the spring
- Međugorje · Žilavka and Blatina at the wineries around it
- Muslibegović House · Burek and yoghurt for breakfast
Museums in Mostar
Mostar’s museums are its Ottoman houses, preserved by the families who still own them, and the stories of the bridge and the war, told in small exhibitions in the old town.
- Old Bridge Museum · The fall and the rebuilding
- Kajtaz House · An Ottoman house still in the family
- Bišćević House · Rooms hanging over the river
- Partisan Cemetery · Bogdanović’s stone landscape
- Počitelj · An Ottoman village restored
Nature and day trips near Mostar
The Neretva runs emerald-green through Mostar, cold even in summer, and around it the karst hides springs, waterfalls and a great marsh of birds near the sea.
- Kravica · Swim under the waterfall
- Blagaj Tekke · The cave spring of the Buna
- Hutovo Blato · Birds of the marsh by boat
- Hum Cross · The whole city from the hill
- Stjepan Grad · A walk up to the castle over the spring
Things to do in Mostar with kids
Children love watching the bridge divers, the waterfall at Kravica and the cave spring at Blagaj.
- Stari Most · Watch the divers jump
- Kravica · A swim at the falls
- Blagaj Tekke · A boat into the cave mouth
- Počitelj · Climb to the fortress
- Kujundžiluk · Coppersmiths at work
Holy places in Mostar
Mostar holds mosques, Catholic and Orthodox churches and a Jewish cemetery within a few kilometres; its religious buildings were almost all damaged in the war and rebuilt. Nearby are a Sufi lodge and one of Europe’s largest Catholic pilgrimages.
- Karađoz Bey Mosque · The great mosque of Herzegovina
- Orthodox Cathedral · Rebuilt on the hill
- Jewish Cemetery · Graves of the Sephardi community
- Blagaj Tekke · The dervish lodge at the spring
- Međugorje · The pilgrimage village
Nightlife in Mostar
Mostar’s evenings are calm: the bridge lit up over the river, terraces on both banks, and bars in the old town. On summer weekends there are concerts and the diving competition.
- Stari Most · The bridge lit at night
- Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque · Riverside terraces facing the bridge
- Crooked Bridge · Bars by the little bridge
- Spanish Square · Cafés on the west bank
Frequently asked questions about Mostar
What is there to see in Mostar?
The top sights in Mostar are Stari Most, Old Bridge Museum and Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Mostar?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Mostar without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Mostar?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Mostar, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The bridge and the bazaar.
How do you get to Mostar and get around?
The main ways are Mostar Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Mostar, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Mostar that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Mostar for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.