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January 12, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n On a rail trail in Bosnia and Herzegovina\u2019s far west, the warning signs are chilling. As we cycle towards the old railway town of Ravno, blood-red signs hang from trees above one of Europe\u2019s largest karst plains, their skulls-and-crossbones cautioning of the presence of land mines. This is not a trail I\u2019ll be leaving for random exploration.<\/p>\n Stretching from Bosnia\u2019s bridge city of Mostar to Dubrovnik on Croatia\u2019s Adriatic coast, the 157-kilometre Ciro Trail is Bosnia\u2019s first rail trail, following the course of an Austro-Hungarian railway that connected Dubrovnik to Austria for much of the 20th century.<\/p>\n It is in some ways an untypical rail trail, following roads more than dedicated paths. For a time, it weaves along roads beside the railway and, later, roads laid down atop the rail bed. Despite that, we see more bikes than cars on my two days on the trail.<\/p>\n The trail also comes with more reminders of Bosnia\u2019s modern history than mere tales of trains. Bombed-out train stations and villages \u2013 legacies of the Balkan conflict of the early 1990s \u2013 linger like scars in the landscape, as do these landmine signs near Ravno.<\/p>\n But behind it all, there\u2019s great beauty, from cave systems to curious waterfalls.<\/p>\n From Mostar\u2019s Spanish Square, ringed by wartime ruins, the Ciro Trail sets out strangely on a highway, though within four kilometres I\u2019m riding on quiet roads, passing through vineyards with limestone mountains rising tall around me.<\/p>\n Though the trail follows the course of the Neretva River \u2013 the waterway into which Mostar\u2019s bridge jumpers famously leap \u2013 out of Mostar it\u2019s a while before the river appears in view. When it does materialise, it does so spectacularly, pouring over black ledges of rock into a deep channel known as the Buna Canals, forming a chain of dozens of small waterfalls.<\/p>\n For the first 40 kilometres, there\u2019s barely a ripple in the trail\u2019s gradient \u2013 a miracle of design in this mountainous landscape \u2013 even as it burrows into a narrowing gorge just beyond the canals. Beneath the gorge\u2019s rocky bluffs, a turtle crosses the path ahead of us and every tree branch is seemingly hung with butterflies.<\/p>\n Out of Capljina, pretty much the last stop for cafes and supermarkets on the trail (despite there still being about 120 kilometres to ride), this rail trail finally takes to the rails. Across rickety iron bridges, including one designed by Gustave Eiffel, the Ciro deviates onto a gravel path. Unusually for rail trails, it makes a long squiggling climb into hills above the marshlands that surround large, bird-filled Svitavsko Lake.<\/p>\n On this bumpy track, 10 tunnels bore through the limestone hills. Fierce sunlight turns to darkness inside each tunnel, and bats, disturbed from their tunnel roosts, flit past my ears like tiny fighter jets.<\/p>\n As the trail descends towards the karst Popolo Plain, the ruins of stations and guard houses flicker past, and at one point we ride above an entire village destroyed by war, its walls and chimneys standing in the undergrowth like headstones.<\/p>\n One station, however, has risen from its despair, and it\u2019s here that we\u2019re headed. In Ravno, the old railway station has been converted into the boutique, four-room Hotel Stanica Ravno, complete with restaurant and wine bar. Most of its guests are cyclists, and what I like above all are the ice cubes the manager slips into our water bottles the next morning as we pedal out into another hot Bosnian day.<\/p>\n In the village of Hum, the trail forks, continuing straight ahead to the old rail terminus in Trebinje or turning right for Dubrovnik. Like most, we take the latter turn, climbing through the mountains in the magically gentle way of rail trails and passing the ruins of train stations now seemingly commandeered by cattle.<\/p>\n The Adriatic Sea comes into view for the first time as our passports are stamped at the hilltop border, entering Croatia and swooping down to the coast. As we cross the highway, another empty road leads us towards our finish, the Dalmatian cliffs tumbling away below us and the orange smudge of Dubrovnik\u2019s roofing calling us forward towards an Adriatic swim. It\u2019s been a journey across a battle-scarred land, but somehow all the richer for it.<\/p>\n THE DETAILS<\/p>\n RIDE Related Article STAY FLY The writer travelled at his own expense. See ciro-trail.com<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter<\/p>\n Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.<\/a><\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Cycling](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/13c923b1747f78acc8efbb344e92b5077d96f264.jpeg\")
Cycling through the minefield.Andrew Bain<\/p>\n![\"Riding](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/680bb2be5e2ab644db5f580ec7b8d466d52fa8dd.jpeg\")
Riding by the coast \u2013 not your typical rail trail.Andrew Bain<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/15bae5e775a744dc75d5644f4d305cd01678aaac.jpeg\")
The Buna Canals on the Neretva River.iStock<\/p>\n![\"Crossing](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/b833256b18d59ea22394d98ba7f33324fa992cdc.jpeg\")
Crossing an old railway bridge on the Ciro Trail.Andrew Bain<\/p>\n
Mountain bike and e-bike hire can be arranged through Herzegovina Bike in Mostar. Follow the \u201cAbout Herzegovina\u201d link at herzegovinabike.ba<\/a>, which also has plenty of information about the Ciro Trail.<\/p>\n![\"Pliva](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/8c8b5fd5777820e1e9f6fdb783fd70ea8a762632.jpeg\")
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The boutique Hotel Stanica Ravno has rooms from \u20ac85 ($150) a night. See stanica-ravno.com<\/a><\/p>\n
Qatar Airways flies to Mostar from Melbourne and Sydney, transiting through Doha, Munich and Zagreb. See qatarairways.com<\/a><\/p>\n
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