After 6 days on an epic road trip through the incredible country that is Bosnia & Herzegovina, I am so excited to share everything! Bosnia & Herzegovina blew our minds in so many ways over the course of a week here. While you definitely don’t NEED to rent a car to visit the country, I highly recommend it. We wouldn’t have been able to manage half the cool stops, pull overs, and random outings we did without one! We’d also likely have had to miss Konjic all together and base longer in Mostar or Sarajevo. While both are absolutely lovely, we loved our time in the middle as well. Throughout this post I’ll detail our whole itinerary, as well as any tips and practical information I have a long the way. I am certain that you will love Bosnia & Herzegovina as much as we did.
Practical Information Before Visiting Bosnia & Herzegovina
Cash is still heavily preferred here
While we were surprised at how often we were able to use our credit card during our travels, cash is still the highly preferred method of payment here. Even some of our hotels had to be paid fully in cash. It is best to be prepared for this. Bosnia has it’s own currency and although euros were accepted in some places, using Bosnian currency was also preferred.
Bosnia & Herzegovina is NOT a part of the EU
If you’re planning travel here, you likely already know this. But I just wanted to make sure it was clear. When you’re crossing borders from all of the neighboring countries you’ll need to go through passport control in both countries. This can sometimes be quite time consuming depending on where you’re traveling from or to.
A car is the best way to get around (not the only way)
I want to be very clear that a car is not the only way to get around. There are busses and tour groups that take can get you from one place to another. However, to have the freedom to see and do as much as possible during your time a Bosnia, a car is the best way to go. We didn’t have any trouble on the roads in Bosnia & Herzegovina. We didn’t find it any more challenging than driving anywhere else in the world. To rent a car you will need an international drivers license and you will need special permission from your rental company if you are going to take the car into bordering countries. This is easy to get and just costs a small fee, but you must have it.
You should also be prepared for the fact that you will drive some of the prettiest scenery you’ll ever see in your life. We were absolutely blown away driving around here. I was constantly saying wow over and over and over.
Bosnia & Herzegovina has a difficult history and many of the people here will share that with you
One thing you’ll quickly notice when visiting Bosnia & Herzegovina is that the people here have been through a lot, and recently. Recently enough that many people who are running your tours, serving food, guiding you places etc. have LIVED this history. They want to talk about it, as they should. It was incredibly powerful to listen to the stories of so many Bosnian people who were willing to share with us.
Bosnia & Herzegovina is safe to visit
I feel kind of silly even writing this, but I know safety is often a concern no matter where you are traveling. The “too recent” war and history in Bosnia & Herzegovina can mislead travelers into thinking it is not currently safe. You should take normal general safety precautions that you’d take anywhere when traveling. But otherwise you have absolutely nothing to worry about here.
Day 1: Mostar & Via Ferrata
We entered Bosnia from Montenegro and unfortunately got quite caught up at the border. So our first day in Mostar wasn’t as long as we’d hoped. But we still were able to do quite a bit. If we had extra time I would have tried to visit some of the museums in Mostar. So after our semi late arrival we checked into our hotel, grabbed some kebab, and got right to our first activity.
Check into Hotel
We stayed at Hotel Kapetenovina and we found it to be a perfect spot for us. Pretty much a no frills hotel honestly. It was super well located, easy to park in front of, and the staff were incredibly kind. We also had a large room with a large terrace which I always appreciate. My one small complaint was that the pictures of the view from our terrace must be VERY old. They showed the Old Bridge from the terrace and now the bushes have overgrown the view.
Another hotel that I was eyeing up was called Hotel Buna. We didn’t end up staying here because in the end I wanted to be closer to the center of Mostar. However, this looked like such an amazing oasis and would also be an amazing base for exploring the area. I liked the idea of having a quiet place to come home to while doing day trips around the area and spending time in Mostar. So this would be another great option if that’s your style.
Finally, the Kriva Ćuprija Hotel also looked like an amazing stay. We spotted this while walking around town and it looked so lovely. It also has excellent reviews and beautiful looking rooms.
Via Ferrata hike with Future Travel Moster
On our first day we did one of the most epic things we’ve done in our travels. We hiked a Via Ferrata overlooking Mostar with Adi from Future Travel Mostar. In case you don’t know, a Via Ferrata is is a climbing route built by humans with steel cables, rungs, and ladders. It is built into a rock face and you use clip in cables to hike it. We are pretty avid hikers but this was our first Via Ferrata and we LOVED it!
This one is also really special because these are generally in the mountains. While this one is obviously built into a mountain, the city of Mostar is RIGHT below the mountain. You can look down at the city the entire time you are climbing. To make things even better, we did this at sunset. The views were genuinely unreal and the entire hike was so fun and exciting. We also couldn’t imagine a better guide than Adi. He not only taught us how to climb and took care of us the whole way, but taught us so much about Bosnia & Herzegovina and what they have been through over the years. It was like a hiking & history tour and we were very interested.
You can find the exact hike we did with Adi —-> Click here! You MUST do this one if you visit Mostar!
Grab Dinner
After returning from our hike around 9:30 PM we rushed to find a spot for dinner. We ended up at Mystic Restaurant and had a nice traditional meal overlooking the river. Honestly, I don’t think you can go really wrong with dinner in Mostar. Many places have very similar menus and serve traditional Bosnian Cuisine. I had a greek salad here and Griffin had a phone for dinner. Just kidding. He had a meat dish it just hadn’t come yet! We are sometimes really bad at photographing what we eat for the blog and I am still working to improve upon this!
Day 2: Kravica Waterfalls, Blagaj, & Evening in Mostar
The next morning we woke up early to “beat the crowds” to some of the more popular spots. We needn’t have worried as nothing was too crowded anyway, but I’m glad we went early for some of these experiences.
If you do not have a car you can also do this with a group tour. We heard a lot of people saying they really enjoyed this as a group as well.
If you’re going to do it, I highly recommend doing this one with Adi as well! He knows all the ins and outs of this area, has such a fun personality, and will make your visit so enjoyable. Check out tour option here!
Kravica Waterfalls
We left Mostar around 8 am to make it to the falls just before 9am. When we arrived we were some of the first people to enter the park for the day. It costs 10 euro per person to enter and you can pay at a machine right at the entrance to the park.
It was so quiet and relaxed and we got to see so much of the park without anyone else around. We wandered a bit, took pics and videos, and then settled into some beach chairs right by the water. A chair was 6 euro per person and made things nice and comfortable. You could also sit at any of restaurants or throw down you own blanket or towel anywhere there is free space.
We enjoyed swimming in the chilly water, admiring the falls, and just taking in the scene for a few hours in the sunshine. Many people have already commented to me that they found the park too touristy and commercial. Personally, I did find it touristy but the level of beauty was still so impressive it was easy for me to forget all of that and just enjoy it. We did not go on a weekend so I am not sure if the experience would be impacted.
By mid day the park was definitely more full, though not uncomfortably so. We left around 12:30 to head to our next stop.
Blagaj
Next we headed to Blagaj and honestly, I had seen pictures of the famous monastery online, but I didn’t know what else to expect here. Thankfully we had a really lovely experience here too. When we first arrived we didn’t know where to park, but kind locals quickly helped us to find a place. We walked down a steep hill to the village and spotted a few restaurants along the water.
We chose a spot at random and had a quite delightful lunch. Grilled chicken for Griffin and the trout for me. I was able to basically watch them grill the trout right in front of me. It was so fresh and delicious.
After lunch we walked to see the Monastery and wonder the little souvenir stalls. This stop didn’t take long, but it was enjoyable and worth seeing.
After Blagaj we decided to head back to Mostar and spend some quality time in town.
Evening in Mostar
Mostar after about 4pm was quite lovely. Many of the “day trip” tours and visitors come between the hours of 9-5. Around those hours we found Mostar to be a wonderful place to experience and relax.
We started with Bosnian coffee over the old bridge. We were able to sit and look out the windows at Mostar bridge jumpers and how they run their game! I have to admit I was quite entertained. We also enjoyed the coffee and treats here!
We stuck around after coffee because we still had yet to see anyone jump from the bridge. What you’ll notice in Mostar is that the men will “tease” jumping for quite a while. They will work the crowd and try to raise money. When they have what they feel is a sufficient amount, one of them will finally jump. Quite honestly, my personal opinion is that it’s worth giving them a few euro because seeing the jump is really neat.
Some people will call this a scam, some will call it touristy, some will say it’s “not right” of them to do, etc. Personally, I think they’re putting on a bit of a show, so what does it hurt to give them a few euro for it. I was quite entertained by the whole scene.
So we stayed long enough to see a jump. Then headed back to our accommodation to clean up. When we came back out we wanted to grab an apertif with a view of the bridge and we found the most perfect little area. It’s right under the bridge on the side where they jump, it was just two little “beer hut” type situations right on the land viewing the bridge. There are no toilets and just some picnic style seating, but it was one of my favorite parts of our trip. I loved sitting there with a spritz, watching the sunset, and waiting for someone to jump! We did get to see one!
After this we headed to dinner at Terrace Lagero. As I mentioned previously, I don’t really think you can go wrong with food in Mostar. This was another traditional Bosnian food spot with a great view of the river and bridge and an incredibly kind staff.
Day 3: Konjic, do a hike, check into hotel, go get lamb
Today we woke up and hit the road. But not before I took a morning run through all of Mostar. This is one of my favorite places I’ve ever run. The Bosnian men are all out in the morning having their coffee and cigarettes and they all were such great hype men for my run! Thumbs up and fist pumps the whole time! Made it really fun!
Anyway, after that we hopped in the car to head to Konjic. What an absolutely dreamy drive this was. So nice we did it twice (I’ll explain later). We arrived nearby to Konjic and decided to do a hike. We grabbed some Burek from a “Burek King” (do this and thank me later) to throw in our bag for lunch, and set out.
The hike was called Bjelasnica and it was gorgeous. Not really anything I’d label as a big or epic hike. Not particularly challenging. But my goodness was it just beautiful the whole way. We walked through meadows, through the forest, past some stunning views, and did the whole thing in about 3 hours. I would highly recommend having the paid version of all trails if you want to do this hike. We used the map pretty much the entire way. The trail was marked but there were some sections where you could lose the trail.
Check into Hotel
We then headed to check into our hotel, which was really kind of like a small nature resort. It was called Visit Konjic and it was really lovely. We had a little apartment here on the first floor overlooking the pool with a nice little terrace.
The best thing about this spot, not unlike most of the places we visited in Bosnia, was the people. The staff here were so incredibly kind and welcoming and made such an effort to include us in things that were going on around the property.
We are a little older and weren’t looking for as much of a communal experience at the time, but if you were this would be SUCH a great place to stay. They ran their own tours, did campfires at night, did climbing at the resort, etc.
We enjoyed staying here for the peace and quiet, the pool, the nice apartment, and the ease of parking and getting around! After check in and getting settled we decided to make the drive to get some lamb!
Lamb dinner in Jablanica
I had read about the lamb dinners in Jablanica before heading to Bosnia and I really wanted to try it! Since we had a free evening we decided to hop in the car and go. This was about a 40 minute drive from Konjic and we had passed it on the way from Mostar. So this likely would have made for a better lunch decision. But regardless, I’m so glad we went.
We ate at a restaurant called “Lamb House” and it was delightful. I also don’t think you could go wrong in this area with any restaurant you choose for lamb. We stopped first at the restaurant next door for a drink with a view. Then we headed on to Lamb House. We enjoyed our meal here and had the most incredible view. We shared a HUGE portion of lamb with honey, some greek salad, and a Bosnian fried cheese situation. It is worth noting that this restaurant does not serve alcohol. So if you’re hoping for a drink with your dinner you’d want to select another spot. This didn’t bother us and we had a fabulous time.
Overall, I’m so glad we made the beautiful drive and enjoyed this fantastic experience.
Day 4: Rafting & Dinner in Town
Rafting down the Neretva River
This was SUCH a fun day and a special experience. This is listed as “white water rafting” though our experience it was pretty mild. Personally, this is the way I wanted it!
The day started with meeting at the starting point and getting suited up with life jackets, helmets, and water shoes. We then took a van ride for about 40 minutes to the start of the rafting adventure.
We hopped in the river, learned the simple rules of paddling, and got going. After a short ride we stopped at a really beautiful “beach” type spot and they cooked us lunch. Lunch consisted of Ćevapi (minced meat sausages) with pita, tomato, and onion. This is a very common meal all over Bosnia. It’s honestly so simple and delicious and was perfect for a lunch on the water.
After lunch we hopped back in the raft and rode down the river for a few more hours. I wish I had the appropriate vocabulary or words to describe the scenery in this canyon. The words Jurassic Park, narnia, avatar, etc come to mind. The entire ride looks like a movie scene that you can’t believe. While the ride may have not been the most exciting in terms of rapids and fast moving water, it made up for it in scenery. It was unbelievable and SO worth it. There was a point where we stopped and some people jumped into some rapids and rode them in their life vests before continuing on to the finish.
The day ended about a 5 minute drive from the starting point so getting home was really easy. Honestly this isn’t a disney world operation. It’s pretty bare bones and is essentially run by a bunch of 20 somethings. But we had a great day out and I’d highly recommend it!
You can click here to book your own river rafting tour.
If we stayed another day in town we may have also tried a canyoning or atv tour. Both were offered all around the area and looked like a lot of fun! We also really wanted to visit Titos bunker to learn more about the history and the area. Next time we come back we’ll be looking into this. If any of this interests you, you can check out tours here!
Dinner in Konjic town
We decided to ride into town to find a spot for dinner. Unfortunately we didn’t pick a winner so I’m not gonna write about it here. Though Konjic town is quite small and VERY quiet in the evenings, you still have some options for dinner along the river. The bridge is beautiful and it’s nice to stroll the quiet streets.
It’s also worth mentioning that you can walk pretty far along the river here and it’s a really pretty walk/run to do. I ran along the river both mornings during our stay and was so glad that I had the opportunity to do so.
Day 5: head to Sarajevo and do food and walking tour
Today we woke up and made the drive to Sarajevo. This was quite an easy and straightforward ride.
Check into Hotel
We were so thankful our hotel had parking because we really didn’t need the car in Sarajevo. We pulled into the Hotel President and didn’t move the car again until we were checking out.
This hotel was SO nice. We had a large room with a beautiful terrace overlooking Mount Trebević and the river. The hotel was right on the edge of the Old Town and was SO easily walkable to everything we wanted to do. I genuinely loved staying here and felt so spoiled and comfortable. This hotel was really the luxury experience of our trip. Yet again, I didn’t take any pics of the room. But if you click the above link the room photos are quite accurate. Breakfast at this hotel was also large and plentiful.
Walking Food Tour
We started our day here with a walking food tour with Sarajevo Experiences. This tour was a great way to get oriented to the city. We learned a little about the city, a little about Bosnian history, and quite a bit about the food scene in Sarajevo.
We walked through a market and picked out some meat, cheese, and fruit. We later went to a park and had a little snack which was SO nice.
We eventually continued on to sit down at 3 different restaurants. At the first we had a little Bosnian sampler platter. We got to try a few bites of a bunch of different foods. It seemed like the kind of food a Bosnian nonna would make and it was all SO good.
At our next stop we tried a number of different types of burek. We had one with meat (traditional), one with spinach, one with cheese, and one with potato. It was nice to have a sampling and try a bunch of different kinds.
The last stop was our favorite, we tried a Bosnian version of ravioli and we LOVED it. We loved it so much in fact that we went back and got it for dinner the following evening!
I loved this tour because we made so many stops that we likely never would have made on our own! The tour concluded with Bosnian coffee being made for us in a back alley. We learned about the culture of Bosnian coffee and how it works here. It was such a lovely outing and we enjoyed it so much. I would highly recommend this tour as a great way to get initiated into Sarajevo.
We booked our food tour with Sarajevo Experiences but you have a bunch of options when you’re in town so you can find the one that suits you best. Check them out here.
Wander the streets & up to the yellow fortress
After the tour we spent a few hours wandering the streets on our own. This city is so incredibly cool in so many ways. We walked up to the Yellow Fortress, which is a very popular sunset spot over Sarajevo. The views from up here are beautiful over the city and the mountain. We also tried to wander around and get a glimpse of the decaying abandoned fortress, but it was just a few peeks through a fence, there wasn’t much we could see. Overall it was certainly worth walking up here, walking around, and seeing the views.
Dinner at Restoran Libertas
We had been eating traditional Bosnian food for an entire week at this point and I was ready to switch it up a little bit. This was a mostly seafood restaurant hidden up on a quiet street in Sarajevo. The soup I had here was insanely good and so were the tomatoes. Our entrees were solid as well and the place was very quiet and relaxed. Overall we were glad for the little change up in meals and enjoyed this place.
Day 6: Cable car, bobsled track, explore town, museums, picnic
This was an action packed day from start to finish!
Run/walk along the Dariva path
I love to go for early morning runs wherever we are. So I went for a nice run down the Dariva path in the morning. This path stretches along the river and into a canyon. It’s paved the whole way and people walk, run, and cycle along it. There is also a spot along the path where you can spot rock climbers practicing. Overall it’s just beautiful and worth exploring if you have the time.
Cable car up Mount Trebević & exploring the abandoned bobsled track
This was SUCH a fun adventure that I would highly recommend! We took the cable car up and WOW is the view epic. It’s hard to conceptualize from the ground how high up this actually goes! The views keep getting better and better and the ride takes about 8 minutes!
Once we reached the top we checked out the views and then headed for the bobsled track. Sarajevo hosted the 1984 olympics and built an entire bobsled/luge track into the side of the mountain. After the olympics, and the war, the track was abandoned. It is now covered in street art/graffiti, and is a site that people come to walk/climb and explore around.
We had so much fun exploring the track. We probably walked it for the better part of an hour. It’s so neat that you can walk/climb all over it. We enjoyed checking out all the art along the way and walking through the forest was so beautiful. It was quite a unique adventure!
In the end we walked all the way back down into Sarajevo. It took about an hour and it was a LOT of downhill. In retrospect it may have been easier to walk back up and take the cable car back down.
We did this on our own but there are also a number of tours you can do if you want more information or want to graffiti the track yourself! You check check them out here.
Lunch at Klopa
We were looking for a little bit of a break from eating the same foods over and over. Our guide had mentioned that Klopa was a great spot if you want a healthy lunch so we popped over. It was so lovely we had an excellent meal here. I had a salmon salad and Griffin had their plate of the day (chicken meatballs). We both enjoyed our meals and the location is right by the Sacred Heart Cathedral so there is a lot of great people watching to be done here too.
Visit some museums
You have a number of options if you want to visit museums in Sarajevo. Some of these visits can be very heavy so it’s possible you’ll want to space them out or do one per day. We chose to visit the “Museum of Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide”. This visit was incredibly powerful, moving, and I wanted to cry a number of times. It is so important for people to visit and see these types of museums to better understand the Bosnian people, to keep the history alive, and to understand the place you’re visiting. This is all still very raw and real to the Bosnian people and I think if you can handle it emotionally, it is very valuable to visit and get to know more about what happened here.
There are a number of other museums you could visit here as well and if we’d spent more time we’d have loved to check out more. Naturally I didn’t photograph much inside the museum out of respect for the people and the exhibits.
Bakery stop
On our tour the previous day our guide had mentioned a semi hidden bakery that is open 24 hours a day. This is basically our love language! We remembered and decided to go find it! It did not disappoint! The bakery is called Pekara Imaret.
Sarajevo picnic
Luckily we had a nice pick me up after the museum! We were picked up at our hotel by Sarajevo experiences and driven WAY up into the hills for our picnic. We went well beyond the yellow fortress and up to a spot I can imagine only locals could possibly know about.
We had the most LOVELY picnic set up for us. They provided nuts, berries, cheese, meats, a salad, wine, beers, water, etc. A lovely blanket was set up with cushions to make it super comfortable.
The spot was an absolute DREAM the views over Sarajevo can not be beat. You could see literally EVERYTHING from here and it was so peaceful. Quite honestly a picnic is always one of my favorite experiences and having it put together and cleaned up for you when traveling is even better! This was one of the most lovely experiences of our trip!
You can click here to book Sarajevo Picnic for yourself. I HIGHLY recommend that you do!
Final dinner
After the picnic we rushed back into town for a quick final dinner. Nanina Kuhinja was a huge hit! We had to go back after our guide took us the previous day. We got the klepe which is Bosnias version of a dumpling/ravioli hybrid and it is AMAZING. These dumplings were meat filled and in a garlicky yogurt type sauce that was just fantastic. We loved this meal and this spot is genuinely the cutest. Everything that came out of the kitchen looked wonderful and someday I hope we come back and try more.
Last Thoughts on our Bosnia Trip
After this we headed into the mountains of Montenegro and then spent a week in Montenegro as well. I will post a continued itinerary for the Montenegro part of this trip soon! But my last thoughts about Bosnia are simply that we loved this country. I can’t say enough good things about Bosnia. From the insane nature, to the coolest cities, to the food, to the history, to the incredible people, we had the best experience here. I genuinely hope to come back someday and discover more.
I hope this inspires you to visit or helps you in your planning. As always, if you have any questions or need anything from me you can reach out to me at planformedani@gmail.com or on instagram at planforme.dani
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