Mostar rewards the broke traveller: the war-scarred Bulevar, the Partisan necropolis and every riverbank viewpoint are free, ćevapi cost 6 KM, and the local bus to Blagaj is 2.20 KM. Three days here can run under 40 KM a day.
Bogdan Bogdanović's 1965 necropolis on Bijeli Brijeg — terraces, water channels and 630 stone discs for Mostar's fallen anti-fascists. Vandalised and unlocked, open around the clock, never a ticket booth. Go early for soft light on the stone.
The gutted Ljubljanska Banka tower on Kralja Petra Krešimira IV was the Croat sniper nest of 1993. Nine floors of graffiti and open stairwells, no fence, no fee. The Bulevar beside it still shows shell scars on every façade.
Spanish Square is named for the Spanish UN peacekeepers killed here. The Austro-Hungarian Gimnazija, striped pink and cream, was rebuilt after being shelled to a shell and now teaches Bosniak and Croat pupils in one building.
The little crooked bridge over the Radobolja predates Stari Most and draws a fraction of the crowd. Follow the stream uphill past old mill races and stone terraces — a free, shaded ten-minute walk that ends where tour groups never go.
Mostar's open produce market, running since Ottoman times, sells Herzegovinian figs, pomegranates and the region's famous peaches by the kilo. Traders open around 07:00 and thin out by 14:00; nothing here is priced for tourists.
A pointing-at-pots canteen on the main pedestrian street: bosanski lonac, stuffed peppers, dolma and beans ladled from steel trays. Locals eat lunch here for the price of one coffee in the bazaar, and portions come with bread included.
The pedestrian spine north of Tepa is lined with pekare selling burek, sirnica and krompiruša by weight straight from the oven. A džezva of Bosnian coffee with rahat lokum costs a fraction of terrace prices by the Old Bridge.
The youth cultural centre sits on the former frontline and is the one bar in Mostar where Bosniak and Croat students drink together. Cheap Sarajevsko, concerts, film nights and a courtyard covered in posters rather than souvenirs.
A steep marked trail climbs 400 m from the Cim district to the 33 m cross on Hum, giving the widest view of the gorge, the minarets and the Neretva valley. Free, unstaffed, and best done before the Herzegovinian heat builds.
At 107 m this is the tallest tower in the Balkans, rebuilt post-war on the west bank. A lift plus stairs reach a glassed gallery looking straight down on the Old Bridge, minarets and the rooftops of the bazaar.
City buses 10 and 11 leave from near Mepas Mall and the Musala stop for Blagaj, 12 km south, where the Buna river bursts out of a 200 m cliff beside a 16th-century dervish house. The spring and gorge cost nothing to walk.
The gravel bank downstream of the modern Lučki bridge frames Stari Most against the gorge at golden hour, with the turquoise Neretva in the foreground. No terrace minimum, no ticket — just flat stones and swimmers finishing their day.