Mostar

Mostar is built around the Neretva River in Herzegovina, and its identity centers on the Stari Most, the graceful Ottoman-era stone bridge rebuilt in 2004 after being destroyed during the 1990s war. Watching local divers leap from it into the cold water below, a tradition going back centuries, is one of the more memorable things you'll see in the Balkans.

The old town around the bridge is compact and touristy in the best season, with cobblestone lanes, copper workshops, and cafes serving thick Bosnian coffee. But walk ten minutes in almost any direction and the war becomes visible again: shelled buildings, bullet-pocked facades, and cemeteries full of graves dated 1993, 1994, 1995. Mostar was one of the most fiercely contested cities in the Bosnian War, and it still functions as two somewhat separate communities, Croat and Bosniak, divided roughly along the former front line.

Day trips from Mostar are excellent: Kravice Waterfalls, the Dervish house at Blagaj built into a cliff over a spring, and the vineyards of the surrounding countryside. Summers are very hot and crowded with day-trippers from Dubrovnik; spring and fall are better for both weather and atmosphere.