I am changing locations now, staying within the country but wanting to experience a smaller city. Having read great reviews about this journey, I decided a train trip was going to be fun. The Bosnian Talgo Train from Sarajevo to Mostar wasn’t exactly as great as it was touted to be.
Sarajevo Train Station
The station was built during socialist occupation and doesn’t appear to have had a single upgrade since. It is a massive concrete building with a coffee shop and pay for use toilet. Thank goodness I had read reviews before heading out. I arrived at the station 10 minutes before the ticket office opened.
For tickets, head to the right, once you enter the building. There you will see a line of people eager to purchase their ticket. When the office opened at 6:20, I was almost 20th in line. The train was scheduled to depart at 6:54am. The queue moves at a snail’s pace, and people were becoming increasingly anxious as time went on. For a current schedule click here.
My ticked cost 14.10KM or $11 CAD for one way to Mostar. There are no reserved seats, so arriving early will also ensure you procure a window seat on the train which ended up being crammed full.
Platform
The ticket seller may mumble which platform to go to. There are only two, and this day I was directed to number II. Walk to the opposite side of the station and through an unlabelled door. You will see a wide empty hallway ahead.
Proceed to the stairs and head up onto the platform. The train was already here, but closed with no staff on board yet. When an attendant arrives, only one door on the entire train is opened to let people on, so lining up at each door is futile. The train departed at 7:17am.
Talgo Train
These are fairly new trains and are very comfortable. Seating is two on each side of the isle. Your seats in front of you will be facing you. The left-hand side of the train is supposedly the best for scenery on the trip to Mostar.
There is one bar car, which sells coffee and an announcement will let you know when the coffee is ready. Each car has a toilet, however they may or may not be in service. Be prepared, the journey is 2 hours and 15 minutes long.
The biggest disappointment on board the train? Dirty windows, so dirty in fact that for most of the journey, when the sun is shining into the window, it is almost impossible to see out. With the reflection off the glass of your fellow passengers, and the streaks, very few photos, and no good ones were taken.
The Scenery
This train ride is touted to be one of the best in the world. I was expecting something on par with travelling through Switzerland or the Canadian Rockies. Let’s just say, don’t get your hopes up. Yes the views are pretty, there is no denying that, but not even close to being award winning or the best in Europe or the world.
About ¼ of the journey is spent in darkness, the train travels through multiple tunnels, 79 in fact, I counted them on my return journey. The train also moves very slowly, oddly slowly.
For the people on the right-hand side? Don’t worry too much, the views are the same, just a little more infrequent. The left side is definitely better for the last 20 minutes of the ride. Most of the time, the glimpses you have when the vegetation up against the train is not thick, are a fewer on the left hand side.
Mostar Train Station
Not what I expected, once again. A building constructed during the socialist era and not updated since. When you alight from the train, you will clamour across the tracks with your suitcases and baggage and descend two staircases.
Outside are several dirty and dingy coffee shops and right next door is the bus station. I arrived at 9:30ish in the morning and couldn’t check in until 2pm so sat and drank coffee for hours. This was the most interesting part, watching the pickpockets, one couple canvassing my bags and myself, and some unique people watching.
All in all, it was a pleasant ride, very smooth and average. If I had not read reviews that absolutely marvelled at the experience, the journey would have been more exciting. Going in with realistic views or none at all and it will be a pretty ride indeed.
