EXOTIC ESCAPES

Bosnia and Croatia, Mosque to Adriatic

A full day of Sarajevo's Islamic heritage, then rivers, islands and the Adriatic coast.

12 Days / 11 NightsSarajevo, Bihac, Split, Dubrovnik

FROM$2,000per person

The trip

A full day of Sarajevo's Islamic heritage, then rivers, islands and the Adriatic coast.

Sarajevo is the only European capital where the adhan has never stopped, and this trip gives it a whole day: Gazi Husrev-beg's mosque, madrasa and library, the clock tower that has kept prayer time since the seventeenth century, the Sufi tekke, Svrzo's House, the Islamic Arts Museum. From there the route runs through Bosnia's water country, Jajce's waterfall in the middle of town, the Una river at Bihac, Strbacki Buk, then over the border to Plitvice and down to the Dalmatian coast. Split for the Roman palace and a private boat to the Blue Cave. Mostar's Old Bridge and the Blagaj tekke on the drive south. Three closing nights in Dubrovnik.

Sarajevo is where the muezzin, the church bell and the synagogue have shared one small valley for five hundred years. You feel it before anyone explains it.

Day by day

Every day, already considered.

Prayer, dining, and where you rest, planned into each day, so you are never caught out.

01
DESTINATION
Into the valley
Private transfer from Sarajevo airport, then a first slow walk through Bascarsija, the old bazaar, as the shops are closing.
02
DESTINATION
The Islamic heritage day
A full private tour: Gazi Husrev-beg's mosque, madrasa and library, the Emperor's Mosque and Ali Pasha's, the clock tower, Svrzo's House, the Islamic Arts Museum, a Sufi tekke, Morica Han and the Faculty of Islamic Sciences.
03
DESTINATION
The highest village
A private day trip to Lukomir on the Bjelasnica ridge, a fourteenth-century stone village at 1,495m, with a walk along the rim of the Rakitnica canyon.
04
DESTINATION
A waterfall in the middle of town
North-west by private car with two hours in Jajce, the medieval Bosnian royal capital, where the Pliva falls drop through the centre of the old town. On to Bihac for two nights.
05
DESTINATION
The Una, all day
A private guided day: Bihac town, the Fethija mosque that began as a Gothic church, the Captain's Tower, then Una National Park and the Strbacki Buk falls.
06
DESTINATION
Sixteen lakes, then the sea
Forty-five minutes over the border to Plitvice for a private guided walk through the lakes, then down to Split for three nights.
07
DESTINATION
Diocletian's Palace
A private guided walk through the palace cellars, the peristyle and the bell tower, then the afternoon at leisure on the Riva.
08
DESTINATION
The Blue Cave, privately
Your own boat all day: the Blue Cave on Bisevo, the Monk Seal Cave, a swim at Stiniva bay, the Pakleni islands and Hvar town before the run home.
09
DESTINATION
The Old Bridge and the Blagaj tekke
Back into Herzegovina for a private walk of Mostar, the rebuilt Old Bridge and a Turkish house, then Blagaj, where the Buna river comes out of a cliff beside a sixteenth-century dervish house. On to Dubrovnik.
10
DESTINATION
Walking the walls
A private walk of the old town, the Franciscan monastery and its ancient pharmacy, the Rector's Palace, then the full circuit of the city walls.
11
DESTINATION
A day of your own
Free in Dubrovnik: the Stradun, the cable car up Mount Srd for the sunset, or the ten-minute ferry to the wooded island of Lokrum.
12
DESTINATION
Homeward
Breakfast, then a private transfer to Dubrovnik airport for onward flights.