We are cycling the Trans Dinarica route from Tirana in Albania, heading north, up through the Balkans then turning west to head across the Alps and across France to Roscoff where we hope to catch a ferry back to the UK. We have been cycling now for 14 days since leaving Tirana in Albania and through Montenegro, which are covered in my previous blogs. We are now in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For the full Trans Dinarica route and all the regular updates visit http://www.transdinarica.com
Below is a map of our route through Bosnia Herzegovina. If you cannot see the map it is because you are viewing this in an email and you need to click “Read on Blog” on the top right of the email.
Tuesday, 19th May 2026
Scepan Polje, Montenegro to Kalanovik, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Climb 1118 m, Distance 55 km
It was another pleasant day with a mixture of cloud and sun and almost no wind. We rolled down the hill to the customs post and got stamped out of Montenegro and across the badly maintained wooden bridge that spans the Tara River to the customs for Bosnia Herzegovina. I suppose neither county want to pay to have the bridge repaired.
We stayed down in the canyon valley which was undulating but pleasant and warm and stopped off for a coffee in a cafe in Brod, just before crossing the river again. We chatted to some cycle tourers coming the other way who fortunately for us had bought too many Bosnian Marks when starting this section so we were able to buy their surplus. We had been a bit worried about cash as very few businesses in this area take credit cards and the nearest ATM where we could get Bosnian Marks is 2 days cycle away in Mostar.
We had a pleasant cycle through the morning passing lots of scented flowering trees and listening to Blackcaps singing. Yesterday as we had been mainly in pine forests all we heard were Chaffinches.
We stopped for a kebab lunch in the tiny village of Miljavina and chatted to more cyclists from Switzerland we had previously met in Kolasin. Then we turned off road for 18 km. The climb wasn’t too steep but we immediately got stuck behind a grader and heavy roller. I think they are getting the road ready to be paved. It meant it was a fairy easy cycle but we were regularly passed by heavy trucks laden with stone for the road and the odd massive timber truck.
We eventually arrived in Kalanovik which has one hotel, the Hotel Moskva, which luckily had a room as we hadn’t been able to contact them. It had definitely seen better times and the reception area stank of cigarette smoke. But the rooms were fine and we managed to restock with supplies for tomorrow in the small shop that sold everything you could ever want.
Wednesday 20th May 2026
Kalanovik to Barack Jezero
Climb 1737, Distance 80 km
Looked like another beautiful day but there was quite a strong wind when we went out to buy some fresh rolls for lunch. We had a long day ahead of us as we had joined two of the sections together. Trans Dinarica base the length of the sections on the difficulty and amount of climb for the people heading south. As we are heading north their big day should mean a lot of downhill for us, in theory anyway. The first half of the day was off-road.
We set off, and immediately I could feel it wasn’t going to be a good legs day for me. We had a beautiful gravel road climb with wonderful views over the surrounding valleys. The descent, when it came, was in dense woodland that kept the sun out, so it was very cold, long and wet. This was followed by another steep, hot and sunny climb. I was really struggling by now and after one stop I just couldn’t get the bikes moving again. So Bernie gave me a push to get me going.
Finally we made the top and struggled along until we arrived at a small lane where we raced down steeply to the tiny hamlet of Tuşila. Of course we should have put our coats on first, so we arrived at the little restaurant freezing. The lovely old man who ran it welcomed us in to his warm restaurant with a fire burning merrily in the middle. There was already one cyclist warming up in there, and two more arrived a little later. He brought us delicious bowls of steaming beef and potato soup with lovely fresh bread.
Once fully warmed we set off, now on tarmac for a big, steep climb with magnificent views. The food had worked it’s magic and somehow I got to the top. From there we had about 30 km descent. It wasn’t long before my very hot breaks started making unhappy noises, but Bernie said they were ok. We passed a lot of cyclists struggling up the hill that they had been on all day. I really felt for them.
If you can’t see the video below it is because you are reading this in the email version. You need to click top right “Read on Blog” to see maps and videos.
Just to make sure we suffered too we had a final 8% climb just before we arrived. But just before that started we had stopped for an ice cream to give us a boost.
We were exhausted when we arrived at the lake. The apartment we had booked was up a steep rough road of course. We managed to get the key out of the safe only to find the entire building had no electricity. Bernie found the fuse box and at least got some lights working but the fuse for the wall switches in our apartment, including the water heater, would not stay on as the earth leakage trip was broken. In addition the flat was full on mouse droppings and generally dirty and the only towels were about the size of a small flannel. I suppose the towels didn’t matter as we couldn’t have a shower, and boy did we need one!
The owner is sending out his brother who would be about half an hour, so we wandered down to the only restaurant to be told it was just shutting as it was off season. Thankfully they agreed to cook for us first, as we were starving. When we got back the brother/electrician was puffing away at himself, but eventually managed to get the hot water tank heating by bypassing the earth leakage trip.
Thursday 21st May 2026
Boraçko Jezero Lake to Mostar
Climb 1293 m Distance 54.9
Looking at our flat this morning after a good sleep and finally a hot shower it was not so bad, just like something from the 1950’s. I was just so tired yesterday. There are no shops open early and the restaurants don’t open for breakfast until after 9, so we ate our lunch from yesterday and pumped some water with our filter as we forgot to ask and it had a slight brown tinge.
It was a straight forward day, as in straight up then straight down. Once we got on the gravel climb it was a delight. After a short steep bit to keep us in check we meandered along, climbing slowly on a very slight gradient with stunning views back over the lake and the hills beyond. Early on we were passed by some Italian MAMILs in all the gear and carbon bikes, who we never saw again. We had a lovely time cycling through the beech and oak woodland and looking at flowers. There was a strong wind blowing but the trees protected us from the worst of this until we came out above the trees line into high pasture. Here we passed a herd of cows following the bell ringing old cow and guarded by the usual massive hound who came bounding up to us, thankfully with its tail wagging.
The last bit to the false summit was suddenly incredibly steep but thankfully they had concreted that bit. Then a fast and furious descent that changed to tarmac halfway down. This helped our now tiring legs make it to the final summit.
Nearly at the top we found a restaurant that was actually open where despite ordering pasta with beef and mushrooms we had a very nice chicken and mushrooms with chips. Luckily it wasn’t far to drag our heavy stomachs to the top.
It was very steep heading down the 14 km to Mostar, that we could see far below. Initially round a series of switchbacks then almost straight down with brakes squealing, we had trouble slowing down when we passed the 40 kph sign. Our route quickly took us away from the traffic in this busy city until just before our hotel in the old part of town. Of course our room is right up on the roof, 3rd floor. We were impressed that we had a roof terrace of our own but of course this makes up for the size of the room which we can just both fit in at the same time as long as one of us is sitting down. I can actually see the old/new rebuilt Mostar bridge from my bed.
We wandered down through the throngs to look at it close up and buy an ice cream. The parlour had a little quiet terrace overlooking the river out the back where Bernie promptly fell asleep, so it must have been comfortable! Armed with a box of Turkish Delight and halva we headed back to our peaceful bijou room. Turkish Delight is the best cycling energy food we have ever found.
The next day was a day off from cycling to rest our tired legs, so we took in some of the crowded sights of old Mostar and went on one of the “free” walking tours which are always interesting. And, of course, ate a lot.
Saturday 23rd May 2026
Mostar to Tomislavgrad
Climb 1838 Distance 78.8 km
This section was a very hard one for us cycling north, and we didn’t really enjoy it as much as we should. It wasn’t just that it was difficult, as we have enjoyed other hard days. It was the fact that the off-road section had been cut up by 4WD, quad-bikes and scrambling bikes so was almost impossible to ride.
Because we are heading north we were going up the most cut up section, with the very deep gravel with stones the size of a fist, loose rocks and frequent rock gardens on the steeper sections. We walked about 6 km and just cycled short sections. Once over the top it was a bit better but it was very easy to lose control in the deep gravel. At one point my bike was oscillating up alternate sides of the deep gravel from the central trough and I ended up, still upright amazingly, quite a way across the boggy grass. So I walked some of the way down too.
About 6 km before the end of the rough section there was an opportunity to join the road early, which we took. The down side was that we had to climb much higher than if we had stayed on the track.
We were also battling a strong headwind all day, and we got quite close to running out of water. It was only a few days ago we were freezing in Zabljak and today it was 27 C in Mostar at 8 am and 30 C a little later as we climbed up the hill. We get all the extremes here.
It was a long day but our tiny flat in Tomislavgrad is perfect, and we found a nice bistro around the corner with a supermarket opposite, so everything covered.
Sunday 24th May 2026
Tomislavgrad to Livno
Climb 356 m Distance 40.2 km
We had a lazy morning as we didn’t have far to go today, which is great as our legs are tired from yesterday. So after making breakfast we rolled out about 9.15. After being in the mountains for a few weeks the scenery here was very green and agricultural and, well, flatish. We just undulated gently at first and then had a long descent to Lake Busko with lovely views from the top.
We stopped for a leisurely coffee at the bottom before rolling past an industrial area and into Livno in time for lunch in the central pedestrian area.
Our apartment, just around the corner, was about 5 times the size of the one last night. It was in a similar, but better maintained, concrete block to last night’s and to its neighbour’s.
Tomorrow we will be crossing into Croatia and continuing our cycle journey back to England. So far we have cycled 854 km and climbed 19,500 m in the beautiful mountains. If you have any questions please ask.