Bosnia & Herzegovina

Bosnia is the itinerary component that clients remember. Mostar's Old Bridge and the Ottoman quarter, Sarajevo's layering of Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and recent history, and the drive between them through the Neretva valley. It's also the market that needs the most careful handling, for two unrelated reasons. Roads are slower than the map suggests — mountain routes, single carriageway, and transfer times that don't compress. We quote realistic driving hours rather than optimistic ones. And the recent history is present in the landscape and in the guiding. We brief guides on group composition and let agents tell us how much of that content the client wants, rather than defaulting to either extreme. Mostar as a day stop from Dubrovnik or Split is the volume product. Sarajevo needs an overnight to be worth including at all.