Dates: 15-27 July 2013.

I’ve always been interested in Yugoslavia, its creation, its wartime past and its dissolution. With the recent visit to Slovenia whetting the appetite further I really fancied the idea of a mini tour of the region’s historic hot-spots.

The planned itinerary was:

• three nights in Zagreb
• three nights in Split
• one night in Mostar
• two nights in Sarajevo
• three nights in Dubrovnik

We flew into Zagreb from London and arrived around midday. Our accommodation was a cute little guesthouse near the centre and we headed straight out to get our bearings.

Trg Ban Josip Jelačić and his statue:

The nearby Park Zrinjevac:

Trg kralja Tomislava (King Tomislav Square) at the southern tip of the park:

Glavni Kolodvor, the main train station:

Curious sculpture near the national archives:

The ornate Croatian national theatre:

Sculpture fun before evening beers:

For our first full day in Zagreb we initially headed to the botanical gardens for a stroll and to check out the local wildlife.

Turtles!:

The Croatian national archive in the distance:

Next we headed to see the Cathederal of Zagreb, which was undergoing some restoration work:

The Monument of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary outside:

From there we headed to Park Opatovina and Ulica Ivana Tkalčića.

Statue to commemorate Marija Juric Zagorka, Croatia’s first female professional journalist:

Curious decor in a local cafe, the turn-table was actually spinning:

Nearby was Zagreb’s famous Crkva sv. Marka (St. Mark’s Church):

More sculpture fun. Antun Gustav Matoš was a Croatian poet:

The nearby Kula Lotrščak (Lotrščak Tower) offered great 360 degree views of Zagreb:

Afterwards we went north out of the city centre to visit the Mirogoj Cemetery:

From there we spent the afternoon at the large city zoo.

A selection of pictures:

Day two was all about relaxation and we spent a large chuck of the day chilling out around Gradski Park Bundek (Bundek City Park).

It was a warm, beautiful day:

I plucked up enough courage to take a dip with the swans:

The next day we got up early for the long train to Split. We arrived early afternoon and checked into a cool little apartment just outside the pedestrianised centre that encompasses the UNESCO-listed Diocletian’s Palace.

We headed straight to the palace and surrounding area. Saint Domnius Bell Tower within Diocletian’s Palace:

Saint Domnius Cathedral:

The colonnaded square of the Diocletian’s Palace:

Cute sculpture:

The cream walls contrasted beautifully with the purple flowers:

A few more pictures as we wandered around the labyrinth of cobbled streets and alleyways:

The bell tower of the Chapel of the Holy Arnir:

Which is guarded by a statue of Grgur Ninski, a 10th century bishop and Croatian icon:

The fourth century Roman ‘Golden Gate’ entryway to the Diocletian’s Palace:

360 degree views were afforded from atop the Saint Domnius Cathedral:

The cylindrical Jupiter’s Temple in the centre with the Marjan Forest Park in the distance:

Spot the Hajduk Split crest:

The Riva promenade:

The very quiet Trg Republike:

It turned out Hajduk Split were in Europa League action that evening, however, after finding their stadium it transpired that it was being played behind closed doors!

Stadion Poljud:

So we settled for some moon-lit food and Croatian red wine on Republic Square instead:

The Vodoskok fountain on Trg Franje Tuđmana with the church of St. Frane in the background:

There were plenty of eerie alleyways around the Diocletian’s Palace as we walked back to our apartment:

The next day we headed west out of Split via boat to explore the nearby UNESCO-listed islet of Trogir.

The lush green landing point on Trogir:

The first thing we saw on arrival was the Puerta de la Tierra, the gateway to the islet:

Next-up as we strolled around the islet was the Loggia di Trogir:

The 13th century Cathedral of St. Lawrence:

Every wall was sun-bleached white:

The Church of St. Dominic:

The sandcastle-esque Kamerlengo castle and fortress:

A view out to the Adriatic:

Incredibly, the beautiful and compact islet is also home to HNK Trogir, with their Igralište Batarija stadium wedged between the fortress walls and the Adriatic:

The Torre de San Marcos behind the northern goal:

After returning to Split we climbed Marjan Forest Park to get some elevated views of Split’s bay, port and surrounding mountains.

The view east with the Mosor mountain range in the background:

The view south and south west:

Evening sunshine along the Matejuška promenade:

The view over to the Riva promenade with the Saint Domnius Cathedral in the centre and the white Harbour Master’s Office on the right, with the Mosor mountain range providing the backdrop:

Our final full day in Split was spent checking out a couple of the islands. We elected to take the rapid option of a speed boat with the first destination being Hvar. The journey was good fun and very quick, and pilot had to navigate the (relatively) narrow gap between the islands of Šolta and Brač before landing on the south west coast of Hvar.

The view upon arrival, Cathedral of St. Stephen with the Tvrđava Fortica (Spanish Fortress) looming in the background:

Cathedral of St. Stephen:

There were some lovely views as we climbed up to see the Spanish Fortress:

The port of Hvar with the Paklinski island chain in the distance:

After a sweaty walk up to the fortress we headed down to the little Lučica beach near the Franciscan Monastery:

Hvar’s Loggia with the Spanish Fortress in the distance:

We met back up with our boat at the port and moved on to the (allegedly) uninhabited island of Vis.

The water was beautiful:

Vis is a place for the beautiful people to sunbathe, swim and wander around beach bars in their swimwear with a cocktail in-hand. We felt a tad out-of-place but gave it our best shot:

After a drink and some posing we returned to the speed boat and Split:

The next day we started-out early in order to catch the bus to Mostar which took around three-and-a-half hours. Despite us being in Zagreb on the day Croatia joined the EU, crossing into Bosnia wasn’t an arduous process.

After trekking from the bus station to our little apartment we headed out to see Mostar’s most iconic structure, the (rebuilt) Stari Most (Old Bridge) which straddles the Neretva river.

The view of the Stari Most (with the Prenj mountain range in the distance) from the Lučki Most near our accommodation:

The Old Bridge was destroyed by Croat forces in 1993 during the Balkans conflict and was re-built in 2004.

For the duration of our visit it seemed the bridge was used by local dare-devils who would jump from the bridge into the river for the right price:

The view north with the Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque just left of centre:

The view south with the Lučki  bridge in the distance:

The Huma mountain looms over the town:

Mostar is a small town so it was easy to take in the immediate area on foot. The east side of the Neretva river was a warren of narrow cobbled streets while the west side was flatter and more open.

The cobbled east side:

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There was a small museum on this side that featured BBC footage of the siege of Mostar on loop on a TV screen. It was odd listening to the reporter many years on as I actually remembered some of the conflict as it happened when I was 13-15 years old.

The Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque:

Mausoleum of Mostar-born poet Osman Đikić:

As we wandered around the areas to the west of the river it was possible to see damage left over from the Balkans conflict:

Josip Tito’s old holiday home had seen better days…:

The were plenty of scenic views too:

We were recommended a restaurant by our apartment owner so we headed there for our only evening in Mostar and it proved excellent with loads of cheap and tasty food, plus a beer named after the town:

Mostar by night:

It’s just such a picturesque bridge:

It was another early start the following day as we caught the bus to Sarajevo. The three-and-a-half hour journey proved incredibly scenic.

Lake Jablanica:

A couple of phone pictures experimenting with filters:

The bus station was a bit of walk from our accommodation but it was worth it. We had booked a cool apartment in the centre of the city with a balcony overlooking the main pedestrianised artery through the city.

We headed out to take in the immediate vicinity, starting-off in the east of the city and working our way back.

The historic Baščaršija market:

The Muslihudin Čekrekčija Mosque behind an exquisitely arcane tram:

There is a spot in the centre where a mosque, a synagogue and two churches are all situated within a stone’s throw of each other, which sums-up the melting pot that is Sarajevo.

The Ashkenazi synagogue, the 16th-century Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque, the Catholic Cathedral of Jesus’s Sacred Heart, and Sarajevo’s old Orthodox Church combine as a beacon of harmony and tolerance:

The Morića Han courtyard with shops and restaurants:

The Vječna vatra (eternal flame) memorial for victims of WWII:

Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics:

The Miljacka river that runs through the city:

The curious Festina Lente bridge, complete with two benches within the oblong:

The tension was palpable at a local street chess match:

Another beer named after the city:

After the pit-stop we walked east again to visit the Alifakovac cemetery. En route we came across the beautifully ornate Sarajevo City Hall:

The Alifakovac cemetery sits atop a hill that affords great views over the city below:

The shear quantity of white headstones took us both by surprise. It was a very peaceful part of the city:

I had read before our trip that due to the damage caused during the Balkans conflict, the mains water in the city is cut-off after midnight until around 06.00. I guess I didn’t really believe that this would be the case in 2013, but there was a bucket in the toilet filled with water for use overnight. It was an eye-opening realisation of the country and its capital’s long road to recovery.

After the very full first day in Sarajevo, the next day was a bit more chilled. First-up we visited the (in-)famous Principov Most (Latin Bridge), the Ottoman-era stone bridge near the site where Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s 1914 assassination sparked the first world war.

We walked eastward along the Miljacka river and spotted the University of Sarajevo en route:

Unfortunately, the Latin Bridge was being renovated: