At the end of a series of savage wars in the 1990s, the former country of Yugoslavia got split up in several new countries. The new borders left Bosnia and Herzegovina apparently landlocked, with most of the beautiful coastline along the Adriatic Sea falling to Croatia. But in fact, Bosnia and Herzegovina indeed has a tiny slice of coastline that’s surrounded by Croatia on three sides and that’s only 20 kilometers long.
The enclave named Neum is a remnant of the struggle for power between Europe’s countless states, kingdoms and microstates of earlier times. In 1699, the city-state of Dubrovnik gave a slice of its land to the Ottoman Empire, in the hope that the Ottomans’ presence would scare away the Republic of Venice from attacking Dubrovnik.
Today, Neum is a popular vacation spot, although it is not easy to reach. Because of its location, all visitors must cross international borders to get to it. However, that doesn’t keep people from coming. Bosnians enjoy the luxury of their very own coast, while Croatians like the fact that a lot of articles can be bought cheaper in Neum than in Croatia. And everybody who is coming here certainly appreciates the beauty of a medieval town. In fact, Neum’s appeal is well known to fans of “Game of Thrones”, where the town appears as King’s Landing.
Neum has a number of hotels and restaurants and also is the location of the country’s only port. Within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the town is the place with the largest amount of annual sunshine.