Five days, Sarajevo to the Adriatic, one driver

The classic Balkan one-way is Sarajevo to the sea, and most people do it in three transfers booked with three companies, or in a rental car they drop somewhere expensive. With one driver for five days the route becomes a single trip: three countries, two borders you never queue at on foot, and a car that is always where you left it with the bags inside.

The short version

Day	Drive	Border	Night
1	Sarajevo to Mostar, 2 h 15 plus Konjic	None	Mostar
2	Mostar to Dubrovnik, 2 h 30 plus Blagaj, Počitelj, Kravica	Bosnia to Croatia at Doljani	Dubrovnik
3	No driving, or a half-day loop to Ston and the Pelješac coast	None	Dubrovnik
4	Dubrovnik to Kotor, about 2 h plus Perast	Croatia to Montenegro	Kotor
5	The bay: Perast, Herceg Novi, or over to Budva; end at Kotor or Tivat Airport	None	Onward

Day 1: Sarajevo to Mostar

The Sarajevo to Mostar corridor, done without hurry: pickup mid-morning, Konjic for the bridge and coffee, Jablanica if the lamb appeals, into Mostar early afternoon with the bags carried to the old-town door. The rest of the day is the bridge and the bazaar. If you would rather start with a full day in Sarajevo, the driver simply collects you a day later; the shape does not change.

Day 2: the Herzegovina stops, then the coast

The best day of the five. Blagaj at opening time, Počitelj on its hillside, Kravica for a swim or a walk depending on the month, lunch near Čapljina, and then the border at Doljani, where the driver hands the passports across and you stay in the car. The Pelješac bridge takes you around the Neum corridor without another checkpoint, and the coast road runs into Dubrovnik by early evening. The Mostar to Dubrovnik route is this leg on its own; the Sarajevo to Dubrovnik post explains the border choices if July has other plans.

Day 3: Dubrovnik

A day without the car, or with a little of it. The walls, the Old Town and Lokrum are on foot and by boat. If you want the driver, the half-day version is Ston and its walls and oysters, an hour up the coast, back for the evening. The multi-day quote assumes the driver is available; a day you do not use the car is simply a day you do not use the car.

Day 4: Dubrovnik to Kotor

South along the coast to the Montenegrin border, then down to Herceg Novi and around the Bay of Kotor: Perast for the two islands and lunch on the water, and into Kotor by mid-afternoon with the bags walked in to the old-town gate. The Sarajevo to Kotor post describes the bay roads; on this leg you are arriving from the coast side and see the whole shore.

Day 5: the bay, and the end

Depending on the flight or the next stop: a morning in Perast and Risan, a run over the hill to Budva’s old town, or Herceg Novi and back. The trip ends at your Kotor hotel, at Tivat Airport 15 to 20 minutes away, or, if you are carrying on, wherever the next leg starts; a driver who has come this far will happily take you to Podgorica or back up the coast.

How the car works across five days

The same driver and the same vehicle from Sarajevo to the last drop. The bags go in on day one and come out at each hotel; at every stop and every border they are locked in the car with the driver beside it. Both borders are done from the car: Croatia runs the EU Entry/Exit System, so non-EU passports register once at Doljani, and Montenegro is a plain stamp. The driver knows the crossings and the hours they jam, and plans each day’s departure around them, which on this itinerary is worth more than any single stop.

Standard vehicle is a sedan for up to three passengers with three suitcases; four to seven people, or three people with five days of luggage, travel by minivan.

What it costs

Two ways. As the individual one-way legs at their listed fares, which start at €160 for Sarajevo to Mostar and continue with Mostar to Dubrovnik; the Dubrovnik to Kotor stretch and the day-three and day-five driving are quoted as part of the trip. Or as one multi-day quote on the private driver service, priced for the whole five days with fuel, tolls, parking, borders and the driver’s time included, and the driver’s overnight accommodation arranged by us and shown as its own line. For five days with two idle-ish days in the middle the quote is the sensible way to do it; send the outline and we price it as one.

Variations

Start at the airport. Day one begins at SJJ arrivals and goes straight down the canyon; the airport to Mostar route is that leg, and Sarajevo becomes a night at the end instead, or not at all.

Skip Kotor, add Split. Days four and five become Dubrovnik to Split along the coast, with a night in Split and a flight from there. One border fewer.

Reverse it. Kotor to Sarajevo works the same way in mirror; the Kotor to Sarajevo route and its Dubrovnik and Mostar equivalents are the legs.

Frequently asked questions

Which passports and visas? Passport for everyone. EU, British, American, Canadian and Australian passports need no visa for any of the three countries on a short stay. Croatia registers non-EU passports on the EES at first entry; Montenegro stamps.

Do we pay for the driver’s hotel? Yes, as a line in the quote. We book the driver’s accommodation near yours each night and show the cost up front, so there is nothing to arrange on the road.

Can the car take us into Dubrovnik’s Old Town? No car can. The driver drops at Pile or Ploče Gate and walks the bags in; the same at Kotor’s gates and Mostar’s old town.

What if we want a day with no driving? Then that day has no driving. It is your driver for five days, not a schedule.

Is five days enough? For this route, yes, with a proper day in each of Mostar, Dubrovnik and Kotor. A sixth day is best spent in Dubrovnik or on the bay, not on the road.

Can we do it in summer with the borders? Yes; the driver plans the crossings for the quiet hours. Departures before nine are the whole secret.

Ready to book the road?

Send the dates, the people and the cities you want to sleep in. We come back with five days as one quote and one driver.

Sarajevo → Dubrovnik270 km · 4h 30m drivefrom €360View route