Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe, is a country that rings few (if any) bells for most people. This is a country with a complicated past, and even today, a confusing reputation. When telling people about my trip to Bosnia, I heard a wide range of responses, from “where’s that?” to “what’s that,” and even a bit of “why would you go there?” Despite the underwhelming reactions, I am so glad I was able to visit this country and hope that I can inspire others to do the same.
My boyfriend and I visited Bosnia for three days & two nights as part of our Balkans road trip this past summer. While in the country, we stayed in two different cities: Mostar and Sarajevo. Only a ~2 hour drive from the Croatian border, Mostar is a popular day trip. Sarajevo, the nation’s capital, is another two hours east from Mostar by car. We ultimately ended our Balkans road trip in Sarajevo (from the Sarajevo airport, I flew to Jordan for 10 days…more on that later.)
A few points to note:
- Bosnia is not part of the European Union (this is different from many of its nearby neighbors: Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, and Romania are all EU members).
- Bosnia has its own national currency: the convertible mark. One convertible mark is equal to approximately half a Euro, and this exchange rate seems to have held relatively steady historically. Most places we visited accepted credit card, Bosnian currency, as well as paper Euro bills (not Euro coins).
- I found Bosnia to be very affordable. We stayed at nice hotels in both Mostar and Sarajevo that were priced at ~$100 USD per night (or less).
- We entered Bosnia by crossing the Croatian border by car (driving from Split to Mostar). My boyfriend and I were a bit worried about this, given our American passports and little-to-no fluency in the local language. However, the border crossing was quite easy – we passed a few booths, got our passports stamped, and paid 50c in convertible marks (literally about 26 cents in USD) to enter the country.
- Many people take organized day trips from Croatia (Dubrovnik or Split) into Bosnia for a day. However, I have to say we significantly preferred having a car and traveling on our own time. Renting a car allows you to set your own schedule and enjoy moments that the tourist day trippers will miss.
- Luckily for us, we learned that many of the Balkan languages have the same roots. As a result, many words are similar, if not identical, across languages. The words I had already memorized for hello and thank you in Slovenia/Croatia were equally useful in Bosnia (zdravo and hvala).
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosnia is the northern half of the country, Herzegovina is the southern half. Shortening the country’s name to “Bosnia” seemed to be fairly common amongst locals and visitors alike.
While I entered Bosnia with literally no expectations for what I would find there, I left the country pleasantly surprised. Bosnia is quietly beautiful and easy to navigate; all of the people we met were friendly and helpful. Bosnia has quite a few of its own unique customs that shape the country’s character and are definitely worth experiencing.
Mostar
Where to stay
For our one night in Mostar, we stayed at an adorable boutique hotel: Shangri La Mansion. Our room was lovely (although we were barely in it) and quite large by European standards. The most peculiar aspect of this hotel to me was that they only accepted payment in cash. However, this was easy to comply with (only ~$80 USD for a one-night stay). Most importantly, the hotel is ideally located just steps away from the famous bridge.
What to do in Mostar, Bosnia
Visit the country’s main landmark: the Stari Most
When you run a Google image search for “Bosnia,” by far the most prevalent result is the Stari Most (Old Bridge) in Mostar. We were surprised that this one landmark comprised the full first page of search results for an entire country. There has to be more to see in Bosnia! we thought.
Turns out, there is certainly more to see…but the Stari Most still pretty cool.
The Stari Most is clearly the central heart of Mostar. Once you’ve made it to the town, it won’t be very hard to find the bridge. The bridge gets very crowded between midday and ~3pm, mostly with day trippers visiting from Croatia.
The bridge is built out of a smooth, marble-esque rock – I only mention this because it’s actually fairly slippery. As you walk up one side of the bridge and down the other, you’ll want to tread carefully and wear shoes that have grip. I wore leather sandals on my first day in Mostar and hard a hard time navigating. I’d recommend sneakers or something with rubber tread soles instead.
Witness a bridge diver in action
At first glance, the Stari Most is intimidatingly high. At 24 meters (79 feet) tall, thrill-seekers can jump from the top of the bridge into the river. While we were in Mostar, Red Bull was actually setting up for their annual Cliff Diving World Series, which was being held in Mostar that same weekend.
To see the bridge from below, and to get an excellent view of anyone jumping off the bridge, there is a set of stairs that will take you down to the rocky area by the shore of the river.
You can also take a boat tour down the river from this starting point. We didn’t do this, but I saw many groups that did.
Browse the cute shops near the bridge
The souvenir shops in Mostar have a bit of Oriental flair, due to the country’s proximity to Turkey. Souvenirs in Bosnia were beautiful and unique from any of the other trinkets we saw on our road trip. I spent hours walking up and down the main area next to the bridge searching for the best souvenirs to bring back home.
Relax and sip on Bosnian coffee
This was one of the activities I was most looking forward to before arriving in Bosnia. I’m not a big coffee drinker but I love the unique way that Bosnian coffee is served. It’s more of an experience than just a drink. (And the copper cup is just adorable.)
The shopping area I previously mentioned has a ton of shops selling ornate Bosnian coffee sets with different design options. If you like coffee, you can bring the Bosnian caffeine customs home with you after your trip.
Eat as the Bosnians do…
…which, as we discovered, means eating a lot of meat.
On the main strip area near the bridge, we stopped for an afternoon snack of cevapi at a small cafe. I had read that cevapi was one of the national dishes of Bosnia and knew we had to try it. Cevapi are basically small sausages. Ours were served inside a delicious puffy bread with only diced onions as accompaniment.
For dinner, I didn’t have any major leads. We happened to be walking past Urban Taste of Orient at around ~5:45pm, so asked them if they had any availability for two people to sit outside overlooking the river. They told us to come back in 20 minutes, and we did just that.
The exterior of Urban Taste of Orient isn’t particularly impressive, but once you head down the stairs and outside to the patio, you’ll find a perfect dinner spot where every table has amazing views of the bridge.
For dinner, we ordered the tasting platter which was recommended by our waiter. This included five different Bosnian delicacies served in decorative metal domed bowls. I don’t know the names of any of the specific dishes, but there was a lot of meat and potatoes.
We stayed at the restaurant for a good while into the evening. We were able to appreciate a view of the bridge lit up at night as well.
Other recommended restaurants in Mostar include:
- Tima-Irma
- Cafe Alma
- Šećerlook
- Bjeli Bar Terasa
Wander off the beaten path
The main area to explore in Mostar is the cobblestoned streets on either side of the Stari Most. However, I took an early morning walk before any of the shops or restaurants had opened. While walking, I stumbled upon beautiful views within Mostar that I wouldn’t have seen if I had just stuck to the main bridge area.
Sarajevo
Where to stay
We stayed one night in Sarajevo at the Hotel President, which was perfectly located near the market and town square. The hotel is quite nice, although we spent almost no time there other than to sleep.
What to do in Sarajevo, Bosnia
Explore the Baščaršija market
You can’t visit Sarajevo without seeing the Baščaršija market – this traditional bazaar is very different from Westernized shopping. I loved exploring the shops and combing through all the different items. Similarly to Mostar, the shops had an Oriental feel – overflowing with textiles and wrought metal, it felt like we were somewhere far away from Europe.
Try a walking food tour, where you can see and eat at once
We actually did not eat dinner in Sarajevo. Instead, we booked an afternoon food tour with Balkantina where we ate more than enough!
The Sacred Heart Cathedral is a central landmark in Sarajevo and people often use it as a meeting spot. Bosnia has both Eastern and Western cultural influences, including religions.
We tried multiple dishes on the tour, but I would highlight burek. Burek is a Bosnian meat pie made with phyllo dough. While eating the burek, I learned that Slovenians often drink plain yogurt as an accompaniment to the salty, flaky burek. I liked the pastry itself, but could have passed on the drinking the yogurt.
Balkantina, our tour company, offered us an excellent ~2 hour walking food tour through Sarajevo. They were super flexible and accommodated my specific time request. I really liked our tour guide but thought it was a bit expensive, especially by Bosnian standards – 65 euros per person, so 130 total.
We also visited a local market on the food tour, and saw one of the “Sarajevo Roses.” Sarajevo roses are remnants of the 1990s war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Craters made by the mortar shell’s explosion were filled with red resin, and dubbed “blood roses” as a memorial.
On our tour, we also happened across the Compass Rose at the entrance to the Baščaršija market. This was a cool reminder of the most important thing we had learned about Bosnia and Herzegovina: the country is a blend of many cultures.
Epilogue
We left our hotel in Sarajevo at 4am to head to the local airport, from which I was flying to Amman, Jordan and John was flying to Nice, France. The airport is a very quick drive from the city (maybe 20 minutes). The entire Sarajevo airport had less than 10 gates total, so was very easy to navigate.
Although Bosnia and Herzegovina doesn’t have the reputation of some of the more famous Balkan countries, it definitely has a distinct character of its own. I entered the country with little to no expectation for what I’d find there, but enjoyed every moment of our experience and would recommend it to anyone wanting to travel somewhere a little different.
