Sarajevo to Dubrovnik by road: which border to cross?

Sarajevo to Dubrovnik is the drive people ask us about more than any other cross-border route, and the question is rarely about the scenery. It is about the border. Which one, how long, and whether there is a way round it. Here is the road as we actually drive it.

The short version

Route	Border	Direct time	When we use it
Mostar, Doljani, Pelješac bridge	1 crossing at Doljani (Metković)	About 4 h 30	Default, nine trips out of ten
Mostar, Bijača, A1 motorway, bridge	1 crossing at Bijača (Nova Sela)	About 4 h 45	July and August Saturdays when Doljani backs up
Trebinje, Ivanica	1 crossing at Ivanica (Gornji Brgat)	About 4 h 30	Guests who want inland Herzegovina, or a Trebinje stop
Neum corridor	The old coast-road double crossing, bypassed by the bridge	Slower	Only if Neum itself is the destination

Every option is one international border. The difference is which one, and what is on either side of it.

Why this drive has a border problem at all

Bosnia and Herzegovina is not in the European Union or Schengen. Croatia is both. So the moment you leave Herzegovina for the Dalmatian coast you pass a full external EU border, with passport control on both sides, and since 10 April 2026 that includes the EU Entry/Exit System. Croatia switched it on fully on 1 March 2026. For travellers from outside the EU and EEA, which means British, American, Canadian and Australian guests among others, the first entry into the Schengen area is now a biometric registration rather than a stamp: fingerprints and a photo at the booth. It adds minutes per person on that first crossing and is quick on later ones. On the big Serbian crossings the first summer of EES produced queues measured in hours; the Herzegovina crossings are smaller and have coped better, but they are not immune on a peak Saturday.

Every route below is built around getting that one crossing done at the right place and the right time of day.

Route 1: Mostar, Doljani and the Pelješac bridge

This is the default. From Sarajevo you take the A1 and the M-17 down the Neretva canyon to Mostar, continue south past Počitelj to Čapljina, and cross into Croatia at Doljani, the Bosnian side of the Metković crossing. From Metković the road runs to the coast at Komarna, over the Pelješac bridge, past Ston and along the Adriatic into Dubrovnik. Direct, it is about 270 kilometres and 4 hours 30 minutes hotel door to Old Town gate.

Doljani is the busiest of the three crossings because it carries the Mostar and Međugorje traffic. In normal conditions we plan 10 to 15 minutes there; on a summer weekend afternoon it can be 30 to 45 minutes, and that is the number to beat. Our drivers cross it several times a week and know which lane is moving, but no local knowledge makes a queue of coaches disappear. The fix is timing: a morning departure from Sarajevo reaches Doljani around midday, before the day-trip return flow builds.

The bridge is the reason this route is simple. Before July 2022, Metković to Dubrovnik meant driving through the Neum corridor, a nine-kilometre strip of Bosnian coast, with a border booth at each end. The Pelješac bridge now carries the road around it, free for cars, with no border at all between Metković and Dubrovnik. If you last did this drive before 2022 and remember three passport checks, that is why it is now one.

This route also happens to be the one with the stops people want: Mostar, Počitelj on its hillside, and the Kravica waterfalls a few minutes off the road near Čapljina. Each adds about 30 minutes to the driving day plus whatever you spend there. The Sarajevo to Dubrovnik route page lists the supplements.

Route 2: Bijača and the motorway

Bijača is the Bosnian side of the Nova Sela crossing, the one at the end of Croatia’s A1 motorway. From Čapljina you go northwest instead of south, cross at Bijača, join the A1 and then head south down the motorway to its end near Ploče, from where the same coast road and bridge take you to Dubrovnik. It adds perhaps 15 to 20 minutes of driving over the Doljani route.

We use it for one reason: Bijača is quieter. It is a motorway crossing built for volume, most of the Mostar traffic goes through Doljani instead, and on the days Doljani is showing 45 minutes on the queue boards Bijača is often at 10. In July and August we check both before committing at Čapljina, and if the numbers say so we swing north. You lose the Kravica stop, which is on the Doljani side, but keep Mostar and Počitelj.

Route 3: Trebinje and Ivanica

The inland option. From Mostar you turn southeast rather than south, through Stolac and the Popovo polje to Trebinje, the last Bosnian town before Dubrovnik. Trebinje to the Old Town is about 30 kilometres and 45 minutes, crossing at Ivanica, the small border post above the city whose Croatian side is Gornji Brgat. Total time from Sarajevo is close to the Doljani route, about 4 hours 30 direct, and there is a second way to reach Trebinje that avoids Mostar entirely, east through Foča, Gacko and Bileća, which is longer but is a different Bosnia altogether.

Ivanica is small. Two or three lanes, mostly Dubrovnik locals and Trebinje day-trippers, and it rarely builds the coach queues Doljani does. It has the same EES process, so the same first-entry minutes for non-EU passports, but fewer people ahead of you.

The reason to choose it is not usually the border. It is Trebinje: a river town with a plane-tree square, a relocated Ottoman bridge, and the Tvrdoš monastery vineyards a few minutes out, at a fraction of Dubrovnik prices. Guests who split the journey with a night there, or who want to arrive in Dubrovnik from above rather than along the coast, take this road. We run it as the Sarajevo to Trebinje and Trebinje to Dubrovnik legs, or as one transfer with a Trebinje stop.

What happened to the Neum corridor?

It still exists, and if you are going to Neum, Bosnia’s one beach town, it is where you end up: the Sarajevo to Neum transfer reaches it from the Bosnian side, with no Croatian passport check. For Dubrovnik it has become a curiosity. The double crossing that used to be the most talked-about ten minutes of the Adriatic coast road is now something you drive past on the bridge. Guides that still describe “the Neum crossings” on a Sarajevo to Dubrovnik trip were written before 2022.

The documents, briefly

Everyone needs a passport. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can cross on a national identity card. British, American, Canadian and Australian passports need no visa for either country for short stays, but do go through EES on first entry to Croatia. Bring the document you booked with; Croatian officers sometimes cross-check names against the vehicle’s passenger list. Your driver hands the documents across and you stay in the car.

Three shapes for the day

Direct, morning. 08:30 pickup, Doljani around 12:00, Dubrovnik hotel by 13:30. The version for people with a check-in and a plan.

With stops. 08:00 pickup, Mostar bridge stop, Počitelj, Kravica in the early afternoon, Doljani by 15:00, Dubrovnik around 17:00. A full Herzegovina day that ends at the sea.

The inland day. 09:00 pickup, Mostar, Stolac, lunch in Trebinje, Ivanica in the late afternoon, Dubrovnik for dinner. Fewer waterfalls, more wine, almost no queue.

Frequently asked questions

Which border is fastest? In normal conditions all three are 10 to 20 minutes and it does not matter. On peak summer weekends Doljani is the one that backs up, and Bijača or Ivanica are the escape routes. Your driver decides at Čapljina based on what the queues are doing that hour.

Do we need to get out of the car at the border? Usually not. Passports are handed to the officer through the window. Non-EU passports doing their first EES registration may be asked to step to the booth for fingerprints and a photo.

Can we stop at Kravica on the way? On the Doljani route, yes, and it is the most popular addition. On the Bijača or Trebinje routes it is off the line of travel.

How long does the whole thing take with three stops? Plan on 6 to 6.5 hours from pickup to drop, more if you swim at Kravica.

Where do you drop in Dubrovnik? Pile Gate or Ploče Gate for the Old Town, which is pedestrian inside the walls, or the door for Lapad, Babin Kuk, Gruž and the airport.

Is the road itself difficult? No. Motorway to the Ivan tunnel, a two-lane river road through the canyon, and a coastal road at the end. The only slow part is the border, which is the point of this post.

Ready to cross?

If you have one day and want the classic version, it is Route 1 with a morning start. If you are travelling in August and hate queues, tell us and we will plan Route 2 or 3. All three end at the same walls.

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