Ćiro Trail: the former railway of the Herzegovinian karst, from Mostar to Trebinje

Almost everyone, when they think of this part of Europe, pictures the walls of Dubrovnik or the bridge of Mostar packed with people. Very few know that between these two cities runs an old abandoned railway route, the Ćiro line, built in the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to narrow gauge and decommissioned decades ago. Today a good part of it has been recovered as a cross-border cycle route, and by pedalling it you cross an inland Herzegovina that mass tourism simply skips: half-empty villages, vineyards, limestone and silence.

The itinerary

You usually start from Mostar, with its Stari Most and Ottoman quarters, and head south along the valley. The route touches Blagaj, where the source of the Buna river emerges from the rock beside an ancient dervish monastery set beneath a cliff face: it is worth a long stop. You continue towards the area of Počitelj, a fortified stone village climbing the slope, and enter the heart of the Herzegovinian karst, made of sinkholes, dry-stone walls and few houses.

Carrying on, you reach Trebinje, a town gathered around the Trebišnjica river, with its Arslanagić bridge and the plane trees of the old square: it is the wine-growing centre of the region and a good place to stop for a night. From here the historic route of the Ćiro bends towards the Croatian border and finally descends towards Dubrovnik, closing the itinerary at the sea. Not all of the route is the same: some stretches are dedicated, well-kept greenway, others follow low-traffic secondary roads, and the surface varies from tarmac to compact gravel.

The effort

In terms of effort it is a route within reach of anyone with a minimum of habit. The old railway bed, by its nature, keeps gentle, regular gradients, so there are no really hard climbs; the tougher pitches are, if anything, on the connections along ordinary roads between one segment and the next. A gravel bike or a mountain bike is the most relaxed choice because of the unpaved stretches. Water and supplies have to be planned, because between one village and the next there are few chances to restock.

To get there, the reference airports are that of Mostar, that of Dubrovnik on the Croatian side and, further away, that of Sarajevo. Many choose to arrange the return with a transfer, because the itinerary is linear rather than a loop. It is essential to remember that you cross an international border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia: a valid document and attention to the official crossing points are a must.

When to go

The best time runs from late spring to early autumn, roughly from May to October. High summer in the karst interior can be very hot and shade is scarce, so May, early June and then September-October are the ideal windows: pleasant temperatures, long light and, above all, vineyards in full activity towards the end of the season. Precisely because the region's fame is entirely concentrated on the two postcard cities and on the coast, the interior stays quiet even in the months when the Croatian Adriatic is besieged: here you ride for hours meeting more flocks of sheep than cyclists.

It is also worth recalling the human context of this journey. Inland Herzegovina has known wars and depopulation, and many of the villages you pass through are now inhabited by a few elderly families. This gives you silence and authenticity, but it also means that services are bare-bones: a shop that also serves as a bar may be the only place to eat for kilometres. Planning supplies and water generously is not a detail, it is the key to enjoying the stages without anxiety. Along the route you come across old crossing-keepers' houses, stone bridges and tunnels of the original line, testimony to a work of engineering remarkable for its time.

Practical tips

A practical tip: devote time to the wine stops of Trebinje and its surroundings, where the wineries produce native grape varieties little known outside the Balkans, and plan your stages so as to sleep in the small villages rather than returning each evening to the main cities. It is there, in a village konoba at the end of the day, that this itinerary gives its very best. Also check in advance the state of the individual recovered stretches, because the line's conversion has happened in segments and conditions can change from year to year.