3-Day Herzegovina Road Trip: Blagaj, Počitelj, Kravice Waterfalls & Trebinje

At Blagaj the Buna river erupts fully formed from the mouth of a cave beneath a 200-metre cliff, and a white 16th-century dervish house perches improbably at the water's edge. Visit the tekke's carpeted rooms, then take a riverside table for fresh trout with the spring roaring beside you. Arrive before 10am for stillness; the site understandably draws crowds by noon in summer.

Počitelj climbs a rocky amphitheatre above the Neretva in tiers of stone houses, a domed mosque and the octagonal Gavrankapetanović tower. The steep cobbled paths reward slow exploration, and the view from the upper fortress walls, with the river curving silver below, is one of Herzegovina's finest. Local women sell pomegranate juice and dried figs by the gate; both travel well in a car.

The Trebižat river fans out over a 120-metre-wide travertine crescent at Kravice, dropping into a milky-green lagoon fringed by fig trees and cafes. In summer you can swim beneath the falls; in spring the flow is at its thunderous best. A shuttle or a ten-minute walk covers the descent from the parking area. Come early or late in high season, both for parking and for the softest light on the water.

Trebinje gathers everything Herzegovina does well: a walled old town, a morning market piled with local honey and cheese, the elegant Arslanagić bridge over the Trebišnjica, and a hilltop monastery gazing over it all. The surrounding vineyards produce superb Žilavka whites and Vranac reds, and family cellars welcome visitors for tastings. Stay the night; evenings under the plane trees of the main square are what slow travel is for.