Mostar – September 2024

Mostar, for the most part is the tourist magnet for Bosnia and Herzegovina with its Old Town containing the famous Old Bridge. It is also located just a few hours from Dubrovnik and Split making it the perfect cruise ship excursion. It is therefore worth a look at sites such as CruiseMapper to decide what day would be best to visit, especially as some of the streets are narrow enough without hoards of tourists.

Mostar train station is located approximately 20 minutes from the centre. As you head towards the Old Town, the streets become pedestrianised with a mixture of smooth and not so smooth cobbles (just to balance each other out!) lined with restaurants…

It is then that the beginning of the Old Town comes into view. Now, one understands that cobbles are kept for authenticity, however, simply look at the below photo, for a tourist hotspot, are wheelchair users expected to roll around without any issues?

Unlike many Old Towns, the majority of cobbles are raised making for plenty of opportunities to get stuck in a wheelchair, especially in a manual chair with small wheels! Luckily, the Old Town is relatively small and in a horse shoe shape hence it doesn’t take too long to reach the famous Old Bridge. Although reconstructed in 2004 after the Bosnian War, the surface just doesn’t work for wheelchair users as you can see from the bottom of this photo…

Indeed, there was nothing for it but to physically walk up and carry the manual wheelchair, spectacular views from the top however…

As there are limited things to do in Mostar other than the Old Town and various museums, one researched things slightly outside of town and discovered the Fortica area situated high atop of a hill/mountain overlooking Mostar. Although the area contains a series of ruins, a glass walkway has been constructed jutting out from the cliff, definitely ones kind of thing! As per yesterday, we hailed down a conventional taxi and the driver agreed to wait for us at Fortica.

After twisting and turning around hairpin bends, we reached the main car park containing a restaurant and viewpoint, both of which are accessible…

To gain access to the glass walkway, it is necessary to walk down several flights of stairs, however, with the amount of exercise one is doing on this trip, a few more steps couldn’t hurt! Definitely worth it…

Although said walkway was opened in 2020, little can be said about the upkeep of the thing, several panels may need replacing soon?

Unfortunately, after this, the predicted stormy weather set in making it difficult to wander around without getting drenched. There are a few accessible museums to keep one occupied or various restaurants if that is your thing.

Tomorrow, one concludes this Bosnian adventure by flying back to Heathrow!

Bosnian Railways are not renounced for being wheelchair accessible, in fact, there is no information widely available. For this reason, one had close email contact with the railways prior to ensure that everything ran according to plan.

A few days prior to ones visit, an email was received from Sarajevo railway station with a map with directions showing the accessible route to the platforms. No need for this though as a guy (dressed in ordinary clothing may I add!) caught us at the ticket office and guided us around the back of the station onto the platforms. This part is all ramped, however the issue comes when you are required to cross the track. Rather than flush concrete or tarmac as one would expect at a level crossing, wooden slats are used with giant gaps between said slats and the rails making it very difficult to roll over in a wheelchair. It was then that our train came into view…

Now, as said trains are manufactured in Spain, one is aware of the need for a wheelchair space and a ramp to be onboard in order to comply with Spanish legislation. When questioned about this, the Railways of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed that they did indeed have a wheelchair space onboard, however, a ramp was only available at Sarajevo and not Mostar which seemed slightly odd. In addition, when one went to board, the staff wished to lift the wheelchair which, as we know, translates to either ‘we can’t be bothered’ or ‘we have these foreign trains with a ramp but we don’t know how to use it’. Anyway, one gave them the benefit of the doubt at Sarajevo until I could scout it out for myself…

Although they placed us in first class i.e. a carriage to ourselves, one wished to just check out the wheelchair space in the next carriage and, lo and behold, a ramp was indeed present!

As one can see, there is also anchor rails should you wish to use tie down restraints, however I am presuming that they are hidden away, never to see the light of day!

Anyway, let’s talk about the journey along which is supposedly one of the worlds most scenic railway lines. As I mentioned, Sarajevo is surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and it is these that make the journey worthwhile shortly after leaving the city.

Although a large proportion of the section of track which winds its way through the Dinaric Alps is in tunnels, one can still catch glimpses of breath taking views…

Granted that the route would appear differently if a weather warning wasn’t in force, however, the above shows that it can be enjoyed in any weather.

On a side note, it is worth noting that the platforms at Sarajevo train station provide little to no lighting after dark so it is a good idea to bring a torch, especially when crossing the track!