A quick look at the map of the Balkans may have one believing that Croats, Montenegrins, and Albanians have a virtual monopoly on the beaches of the Adriatic coast. This is not true. By the end of the 17th century, the Republic of Ragusa ceded some of its territories to the Ottoman Empire so that there could be a buffer zone between Ragusans and the belligerent Venetians. The newly ceded northern territories were quickly incorporated into the province of Bosnia. Today, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has one of the shortest coastlines in the world due to this bit of historical fun fact. This tiny coastline is home to a single town, Neum, the topic of this week’s article.
Usually, in pieces like this, I mention how I will now go over all the cool things to do and see in a particular city. I will not do so this time. We were in Neum for five nights to celebrate my mother’s birthday, and we celebrated her birthday in peace. This involved a lot of swimming, some sunbathing (for her anyways, until she got sunburnt), and eating a lot of good food. It also involved seeing the sun set from our balcony every day, as we enjoyed some local rakija and wine. It was peaceful and beautiful, and that is exactly what we need from time to time.
Besides, truth be told, there is not all that much to do in Neum. It is a resort town after all, popular among locals, Croats, and apparently the Polish, though the latter could be just a coincidence with how we timed our stay there. The best thing to do in Neum would be to enjoy its crystal-clear waters, and the second one would be to enjoy a walk at night when its tiny streets teem with life.
If you insist, there are certain other things to do in town as well, such as visiting its museum that is found under the Church of Our Lady of Health. With that being said, despite what Google Maps would have you believe, both the church and the museum were closed when I wanted to visit them. To be honest, I was not disappointed, as I was already having a good time just exploring the town at a leisurely pace.
There is also a memorial to Croat soldiers atop a hill, and while the memorial itself is not anything to write home about, the fact that it is dedicated to Croat soldiers is quite telling. Neum is not like the rest of BiH.
While the rest of BiH, at least the parts that we managed to see, were rather multireligious and multicultural, Neum felt a little too homogenous, to me. To a nationalist that operates with ancient paradigms, finding an almost purely Croat town outside of Croatia may be confusing and even infuriating, to me, it is simply an interesting issue to wonder about.
And I did wonder about a lot of things here, after all, I finally had some free time to do so. For example, I wondered about this mural. Here, the text roughly means that General Slobodan Praljak was not a war criminal. You may be familiar with this name, from that one viral video where an older man claims that he is not a war criminal mere seconds before drinking poison to kill himself in court, in Hauge. This did not happen decades ago, it is no ancient history. This stunt was pulled in 2017. Now, I am no historian of the Balkan Peninsula, and I am in no position to judge whether someone is a war criminal or not. Besides, at this point I am convinced that if you win enough wars and conquer enough hearts, no one can claim that you are a war criminal to begin with. Nevertheless, it is truly a very ‘Balkan’ moment when you see a mural dedicated to people that may or may not be war criminals. It also makes you think about how someone’s national hero can be a war criminal for others.
Let us now go back to wandering around Neum for the time being. The aforementioned memorial also works as the perfect vantage point, giving you a view of the town in its entirety, as well as the Pelješac Bridge on the horizon. I remember watching the opening ceremony for that bridge in 2022, when I was in Belgrade on another trip. It was rightly such a big deal for Croatia to be able to bridge its two disconnected parts, finally circumventing having to go through Neum, and thus, BiH.
While this move was certainly beneficial for the Croat citizens, I cannot help but think that it was anything but so for Neum. This small town is home to some abandoned buildings such as this one, even in its center. Some locals mentioned a downturn in traffic, as less Croats have to cross the border today just to get from one point in Croatia to another. Perhaps due to the changes in traffic in the region, one can even find a single bus line that goes to Neum from Sarajevo without crossing into Croat territory today. It used to be the case that almost all public transport options crossed in Croat (and therefore Schengen) territory before stopping at Neum. This meant that people like me, who does not have a Schengen visa, simply could not visit the city easily. Nowadays, Centrotrans offers a single morning bus that arrives at Neum early in the day and returns to Sarajevo around dinner time. This seasonal service is quite new and I am not sure whether it will stick around, but you can check their website here to see whether you can make use of it or not as well.
Last but not least, I must note that this region is also home to a few interesting ancient remains. Unfortunately, I am no longer as interested in ancient history myself as I was once. I have been increasingly interested in natural wonders and unique urban spaces as the time goes on instead. Still, in case you are interested, you may be happy to hear that the hills that surround Neum safekeep the remains of Illyrian cyclopean walls, as they are named on Google Maps. In fact, some tourists seemed to be there just to hike around these parts.
Speaking of hiking around, a fair warning to all my readers is overdue at this point. While Neum will always have a special place in my heart as a quaint little town where I truly felt at peace, it is not for the elderly or those with children. This entire area is extremely hilly. Practically anything and everything is accessed by stairs, hundreds of them to be exact. This was our view from the balcony and while it was worth it for all the gorgeous sunsets, it should tell you a thing or two about just how high up in the hills we were compared to the coastline. It was not easy to walk down and up every day just to swim, eat, and enjoy the town, alas, it had to be done. If you are here purely for swimming, you should definitely look into the options closest to the sea, preferably right by the coast. If not, be ready to do a lot of climbing.
Nevertheless, frankly, no amount of climbing can make me say anything actually bad about Neum. This place is awesome, and I cannot recommend it enough. It is peaceful, not as crowded as many other resort towns, has friendly locals, extremely scenic views, and unbeatable prices. It also happens to have the best restaurant we dined in during this trip, and perhaps the best one I enjoyed in the entire Balkan Peninsula. You should wait until next week to find out more about that, as we will go over the dining scene in Neum together.