The best part of nesting in Dubrovnik is that there are so many day or overnight trips you can take from the city that are truly wonderful. It was my favorite part of nesting there. The region is a melding of many cultures and the geography changes so rapidly that just going a short distance away will bring you to a whole different world. Here are our day trips and overnights from our nest. All of them involved renting a car, so make sure you have your international driver’s licence before you leave the States. While I’m not a fan of Rick Steves books for long nests, his guidebook for Croatia and Slovenia was invaluable for these shorter trips.

Kotor Bay, Montenegro

Best for an overnight – this is a trip not to be missed! We drove around the bay, stopping in the gorgeous little town of Perast to take a boat to an island there and to have a delicious lunch on the bay. Continuing around, we stayed over night in Kotor. I explored the city while Al climbed the walls. The next day, we drove back, taking the ferry across the bay and then, in Croatia, stopping on the way at Sokol Castle in Konavle and having an early dinner near Konavoski Dvori. Kotor is a beautiful little city isn’t overrun with tourists, and we loved it. If the weather is better than we had, you can continue south from Kotor to see the Budva Riviera, a stretch of beach that before the war was well known by the rich and famous.

Sarajevo

An absolutely fascinating city! Best for two overnights, at the minimum. The drive from Mostar to Sarajevo is also spectacular – make sure you stop at one of the lamb restaurants on the way for roast lamb on a spit.

I had no idea the cultural diversity and richness of this place. It is both full of Ottoman culture and also has a strong Austrian influence. You can feel as though you’re wandering through a souk in Turkey and then two blocks away, have coffee in a coffeehouse you’d swear was in Vienna. The city still bears devastating scars from the war, and the story of the siege is everywhere, but speaks to the strength and resilience of the people. Rick Steve’s three part walking tour of the city is excellent. Not to be missed is the tunnel by the airport that was used to supply the city during the siege. Going to Sarajevo was one of the most memorable things we did while in our Dubrovnik nest, and we are considering a full three month nest in Sarajevo.

Mostar

Probably the most “touristy” of the places on this list, but it’s a short distance from Dubrovnik with an entirely different culture and feel. You can expect busloads of tourists wandering through the narrow streets exploring the souk-like atmosphere and taking loads of photos of the famous bridge. But it’s undeniably picturesque and an interesting peek at the diverse people that make up this region.

Peljesac Peninsula

This was my biggest surprise of the trip – an incredibly beautiful region with amazing wine. The town of Korcula was stunning, with beautiful stonework, a city wall and a breathtaking setting. (You can take a ferry there from Dubrovnik in season) We drove down the peninsula, stopping at some vineyards and then staying overnight in Korcula. It’s an easy drive from Dubrovnik and often done in one day, but we were very happy for the extra time. Don’t miss Ston and its incredible walls climbing straight up into the mountains! You can walk them if your legs are strong enough. Further down the peninsula, You can visit the Grgic vineyard, famous because of Mike Grgic, who was the vintner for the Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that won the “Judgement of Paris” and whose story is told in the movie “Bottle Shock.” His wines were fine, but there were two vineyards we found where we felt the wine was great. In Dingac, where they grow the best red wine in Croatia, we loved the Matusko vineyard. They have an amazing cellar you can tour, and the wines are rich and complex. On the island of Korcula, we climbed up into the town of Cara, thought we were lost, and then discovered the little tasting room of Nerica, run by two young brothers. Their wines were spectacular, and the tasting room was absolutely free of other tourists. We felt as though we’d discovered something truly amazing there. We’d really like to return to the peninsula, which is something we rarely say on a nest – there are so many other places we’ve not seen yet! But this place is worthy of a repeat.

Trebinia and the surrounding area

This is a great day trip, in and out from Dubrovnik. We started out going to the Vjetrenica cave in Ravno. It’s the largest cave in Bosnia Herzegovina, and was written about as early as 1 AD. You can put on a hardhat and go on a tour and see medieval remnants in the cave and at the end, one of the rare blind salamanders that live there. Just outside the cave is a fantastic restaurant that is in a station for the now defunct train line that the Austrians built in the late 1800’s. After our time in the cave, we went to the Tvrdos monastery and vineyard just outside of Trebinia. While we weren’t impressed by the wine, we were impressed by the beautiful 15th century Serbian Orthodox chapel and grounds. Worth a trip. After the monastery, we wandered the town of Trebinia. It’s a lovely place, with a smaller version of a pedestrian bridge like Mostar, and an Ottoman and Austrian section similar to, although on a much smaller scale, than Sarajevo. It’s free of tourists, refreshing and full of warm, lovely people. The town museum is an interesting take on the area history. For dinner, there are two famous restaurants just outside of town. We’d highly recommend the restaurant at the Studenac motel, well known for its trout, which swim in channels between the outdoor tables. Another well-regarded restaurant, although we didn’t enjoy it as much, is at the Konak Hotel in the town of Mosko. They are known for their roast lamb and veal. Personally, we’d recommend the trout.