· We carried out the exact same trip just after the war was over. I would not describe the journey as entirely safe at that time; there were heavily armed men everywhere, roadblocks and utter destruction for many miles along the road. We have since driven through Bosnia a couple of times, most recently last summer. The country is now safe, particularly if you stay on the main roads. You should never set foot off the road because there are still mines everywhere.

I would recommend travelling up the coast to Metkovic (you pass through Bosnia at Neum and then back into Croatia), then take the main road that goes up the Neretva valley to Mostar, a beautiful town, though still very damaged, where you can obtain excellent food. From there, it's a straightforward road to Sarajevo.

We drove from Cavtat (just south of Dubrovnik) to Sarajevo and back in one day - quite a distance, but an extremely stimulating journey. Make sure you stop and eat at the local cafes. The food in Bosnia, particularly the meat and the bread, is wonderful, and the people are very friendly.
Dr. Nigel Hunt

· Driving in some areas of Bosnia is okay. You'll need nerves to negotiate the bends. However, the country is heavily land-mined, so you must never stray from well-used roads or even pull over to the sides of roads. The re-opened Sarajevo-Polce train would be no use for a day trip. It takes three hours to drive to Polce from Dubrovnik. The train times are irregular and the journey takes several hours. Several Dubrovnik-based travel agencies offer escorted day trips to Sarajevo, Montenegro and Mostar. Expect extremely biased commentary on the conflict. (Atlas Croatia. is a good company to use; their trips are in the region of £30 per person per day.)
Bowden Granville

· Please be aware that during summer holidays, Bosnian travel to Croatia is through the main border in Metkovitch, and there might be a really bad traffic, especially during hot weekends. The same goes for coming into Sarajevo; traffic jams can take up to 2 or 3 hours to get through. Schools in Sarajevo start in the first week of September, so the last week of August will probably be the busiest. Perhaps you should go during the week. If all this sounds daunting, Austria Airlines offers most of the flights in and out of Sarajevo.
Bucuk Ajsela

· Going from Dubrovnik, there is another route to Sarajevo through Trebinje and Foca, which is much quicker than the route via Metkovic and is much quieter, with even more dramatic secenery. That said, if you do drive to Sarajevo from Metkovic, make sure you stop for roast lamb on a spit at Jablanica - it's wonderful stuff. The best places are to the right, just before you enter the town from the coast.
Marc Jeffery

· I rode into Bosnia in 2001 by motorbike, after coming through Slovenia and Croatia, and entered the country at Zupanja (near Brcko) in the north. We travelled down through Tuzla and to Sarajevo, before going on to Mostar, then to Dubrovnik via Mitkovic.

The country is beautiful but still has haunting images of villages burnt out and destroyed from the war. Sarajevo was an astonishing city with a buzz and vibrancy I wasn't expecting, given the recent history. We stayed a night in Mostar at Hotel Mostar, which was in a 70s timewarp, but the town itself is lively and picturesque and the rebuilding of mosques and the 16th-century Ottoman bridge (Stari Most) gives one a sense of hope.

The road we followed took us over and between mountains and along rivers like the turquoise Neretva, which flows into the Adriatic below Mitkovic. After Dubrovnik, we rode up the dramatic coast road to Split.

We had no problems with border crossings apart from a small queue at Mitkovic. If you're riding or driving, you just need to be aware that the roads are a bit rough and the traffic ranges from being caught up in an SFOR convoy to being held up behind an ox cart. I'm hoping to go again soon.
Richard Waring