Getting From Sarajevo to Mostar – Is Bus or Train Best?

Sarajevo and Mostar are the two most-visited cities in Bosnia & Herzegovina. And both deserve a spot on your Bosnia itinerary. So how do you travel the 78 miles from Sarajevo to Mostar (or vice versa) using public transportation? Well, you can take a bus. Or you can take a train.

During our own travels in Sarajevo, we took a weekend trip to Mostar. And we ended up using both forms of transport. We traveled by bus from Sarajevo to Mostar. And then we used the train from Mostar to Sarajevo on our return.

Let me share with you what I learned riding these two forms of transport. I’ll compare all the different facets of our experiences. And I will declare a very clear winner.

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Schedule Flexibility

Bus

Several different buses run from Sarajevo to Mostar every day. We took the 9am bus. This is frankly the main reason we took the bus from Sarajevo to Mostar. We preferred the schedule flexibility and the option of a mid-morning departure.

Our bus journey from Sarajevo lasted 2.5 hours. We did stop several times along the route.

Train

The Sarajevo to Mostar train only operates twice daily. Once in the early morning. And once in the late afternoon. The train from Mostar to Sarajevo is scheduled the same way.

Our train journey from Mostar lasted about 2 hours, and there were stops along the train route as well.

The Scheduling Winner

The Bus! More options will always take the prize.

Ticket Purchasing

Bus

I purchased my tickets for the bus from Sarajevo to Mostar online at GetByBus.com. The website was very easy to use. I simply plugged in my desired dates, and was shown all the available times.

I then purchased my tickets directly on the site with a debit card. Each ticket cost 15 Euros. My tickets were sent to me digitally. Upon boarding, I simply showed them to the driver on my iPhone, and he scanned the QR code.

Train

My ticket purchasing experience for our train from Mostar to Sarajevo was quite frankly a fiasco.

The rail company does have a website. Here’s a link. The website does show you the schedule, and it allowed me to put my desired tickets in a shopping cart. However, none of my credit/debit cards worked on the site. And even if they had, I would’ve only been given a reservation code. I would then have been required to pick up my actual tickets at the train station.

So I decided, just to be on the Thorough side, to purchase my tickets at the Sarajevo Train Station as we were leaving for Mostar (the bus station is next door). However, the ticket agent turned me away, telling me that I could only purchase them from the origin station in Mostar.

When we arrived at the Mostar bus station, I immediately tried to buy them (since as in Sarajevo, the train station is next door). But the agent was out for lunch.

So later that day, I went back to the train station, after our hotel suggested that it would indeed be wise to purchase them in advance. But I was turned away. The agent informed me that tickets can only be purchased on the day of travel.

In the end, I successfully purchased our train tickets 45 minutes before departure – from an extremely unfriendly ticket agent. I paid in cash after travelers in front of us were told they could not use their credit card. Each ticket cost the equivalent of 14 Euros.

The Ticketing Winner

The Bus!!! Not even close.

The Boarding Experience

Bus

The main Sarajevo bus station is located in the center of the city, adjacent to the main train station.

While the train station is quite large as you can see in the photo above, the bus station basically consists of a small lobby and several bays out the back.

Boarding our bus from Sarajevo to Mostar was very easy (a far cry from our chaotic bus boarding experience in Kotor Montenegro). When we walked into the station lobby, we presented our tickets to an attendant who was manning the gate. He told us our bay number and allowed us to pass. Our bus was waiting at our Bay.

About 10 minutes prior to our scheduled departure, we were able to board. Everyone lined up in an orderly fashion. A bus attendant took our one piece of luggage, gave us a luggage tag, and placed it in the cargo hold. The cost was only 50 cents (in USD).

We did not have assigned seating. But the bus was not full when we departed. I did notice during the booking process that bus routes could sell out – so I presume that the various bus companies do not oversell the seats ahead of time. People did come and go at the various stops, paying as they boarded. But rarely did anyone need to stand for a prolonged time.

Train

Once we’d purchased our tickets from the grumpy attendant in Mostar, we passed into the depths of the run-down Mostar train station.

We did not see any sort of departure/arrival board as has been typical during any of our other train travel experiences throughout Europe (like this one between Vienna & Budapest). We made our way out to the station’s two platforms, and followed other riders to Platform 2.

Once on the platform, lots of people started to gather. We took that as a sign we’d chosen correctly, since there wasn’t any route or departure information posted anywhere on the platform either.

The other platform was basically empty too, which helped confirm our choice. A stray dog laying on the tracks added to the bizarreness of the experience.

The train did arrive on time. And when it pulled in, the boarding process was a free-for-all, with lots of crowding and even pushing. We did not have any sort of assigned seating, and the train was clearly oversold. A conductor came through at some point and examined our paper tickets.

I presume that if you are riding the Sarajevo to Mostar Train in the opposite direction, the overall boarding experience will be similar. I noticed the exact same lack of information throughout the Sarajevo train station as well.

But despite Sarajevo station’s large size, it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out where to go. Whenever I was there, it was quite empty. It’s clear that train travel is Bosnia-Herzegovina isn’t quite like other European countries. (We traveled all around Poland by train on this same trip as an immediate comparison, and it was great!)

The Boarding Winner

A theme should be apparent now. It’s the Bus!

The On-Board Experience

Bus

While our bus from Sarajevo to Mostar wasn’t necessarily new, it was comfortable. The seat had good cushioning, the windows were large, and the overhead storage racks were some of the roomiest I’ve seen in the Balkans. Our particular bus was operated by the Autoprevoz company.

The ride is indeed a scenic one. Bosnia-Herzegovina is a beautiful country. We passed through mountain ranges, followed rivers, drove along huge lakes, and saw smaller Bosnian villages and towns.

I already mentioned that we made a handful of stops along the way. But we did arrive in Mostar on schedule.

Train

In keeping with the general theme of this post, our experience on the train from Mostar to Sarajevo was not nearly as good. The train was packed…..and we did not get a seat.

We stood at the back of a train car for the full two hour ride along with these people….

Despite the crowds, we were still able to find a place for our luggage. The overhead racks filled completely, but the larger racks were mostly empty.

I was able to bend down and peak out of the window from time to time for a glimpse of the scenery.

Ironically, one of the reasons I’d chosen to return by train from Mostar to Sarajevo was because this has been called “one of the most scenic train rides in Europe”. I figured that would be a great angle for this post. Instead, I’m writing about our ride from a clearly different perspective!

The train did make a a few stops along the way. Since the overall rail travel infrastructure in Bosnia-Herzegovina obviously needs some attention, it wasn’t too surprising when several of the stops didn’t have adequate platforms.

Some of our co-passengers exited the train directly onto the ground…

And then lugged their bags to the much-too-short platform up the way.

Gratefully, our journey did run on time, and we arrived in Sarajevo after the scheduled two hours.

The On-Board Winner

Do I even need to say it???

Destination Arrival

Mostar Station

As I mentioned earlier, both the Mostar bus station and train station are located within the same building complex. These are located north of the historic town center. I would not consider it a reasonable walking distance to the center with luggage.

Uber is not available in Mostar, but as you would expect, there is a taxi stand adjacent to the buildings. We didn’t take a taxi however. Our hotel reached out to us ahead of time, and arranged an inexpensive ride.

(I have a post dedicated exclusively to our weekend in Mostar. So check it out if you want to learn more – 14 Helpful Tips for Visiting Mostar)

Sarajevo Station

As in Mostar, the bus station and train station are also adjacent to each other. But since the Sarajevo train station is so much bigger than Mostar’s, the bus station is a little further around a corner.

Uber is also not available in Sarajevo. And when we arrived, we could not locate any sort of taxi stand directly outside the station. Taxis were pulling up to pick up some of our co-riders, but it became obvious to us that those taxis been ordered by phone.

One of the taxi companies (Žuti Taxi) has an app, but it didn’t seem to work at that moment (I had used it successfully two other times while in Sarajevo). I also tried to call the company through the app, but the dispatcher didn’t speak English.

So we ending up walking a few blocks, and taking one of Sarajevo’s trams back to our lodging. (Thank heavens for Google Maps!)

I did later confirm that we would have found a taxi stand had we walked around the corner to the bus station.

(You can read more about our time in Sarajevo by checking out this post – 10 Essential Things To Do in Sarajevo & Other Travel Tips)

Final Thoughts

When it comes to traveling by public transportation from Sarajevo to Mostar, the bus is unquestionably the winning option in my mind.

Other than giving me material for a train story, our experience with the train – from ticketing to our ride itself – wasn’t good at all.

I very much wish we’d taken the bus both ways. It basically follows the same storied route as the train. And that beautiful scenery is much better when sitting next to a bus window rather than standing at the back of a train car.