Bosnia-Herzegovina is rapidly rising as a popular destination to discover a long and rich history, picturesque cities and towns home to UNESCO World Heritage Listed sites, and spectacular natural landscapes, but remains quiet enough that it retains a certain charm. The small nation once formed part of Yugoslavia, and Bosnia tourism is now a must when travelling through the Balkans.
Tour Bosnia-Herzegovina and see authentic Europe
Most Bosnia tourism packages start or end in Sarajevo, which is world famous for its role in WWI, as it was here Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. In Sarajevo travellers can take part in an eerie guided tour of the city’s War Tunnels Museum, as well as enjoying free time best spent shopping at bazaars and visiting the many museums scattered throughout the historic city.
When you tour Bosnia-Herzegovina, you will be sure to make the most of cities like Sarajevo and Mostar thanks to knowledgeable local guides. In historic Mostar, home to the UNESCO World Heritage Listed Old Bridge Area – or Stari Most, travellers will also have the option for free time to explore.
Other excursions available under many itineraries in tour comparison Bosnia Herzegovina include optional home-hosted dinners where you are guaranteed to eat until you can’t stand it as per local custom, hiking day trips to mount Bjelašnica, and stopovers at the pilgrimage site of Medjugorie, where several children famously claim to have seen apparitions of the Virgin Mary.
One of the most important perks of taking a tour Bosnia-Herzegovina, is the guarantee of smooth border crossings on itineraries combining other parts of the Balkans and Easter Europe.
Ready to book your trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina? Take a look at our tour comparison Bosnia-Herzegovina [link to page] and find the right itinerary for you.
Want a taste of that insider Bosnia-Herzegovina tourism knowledge we mentioned before? We have collected the best facts from real life tour guides. Impress them on tour with how much you already know.
- Bosnia-Herzegovina forms part of the Balkans, the geographical and cultural area that takes its name from the Balkan Peninsula.
- The list of nations considered part of the Balkans varies depending who you ask, but – at least by cultural definition – includes Albania, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia.
- Within Bosnia-Herzegovina there are two political entities: The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, informally referred to as the Bosniak-Croat federation, and Republika Srpska, along with self-governing administrative unit Brčko.
- Bosnia-Herzegovina’s capital, Sarajevo, is packed with history dating all the way back to the stone age. Somewhat more recently it was the site of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and suffered greatly during the Yugoslav War in the 1990s.
- 40 kilometres south of Mostar lie the spectacular tufa cascade Kravice Waterfalls, offering a stunning colour palette of green and pale blue on the Trebižat River.
- Bosnia-Herzegovina is home to part of the Dinaric Alps, a 645-kilometre chain of mountains that stretches through several other countries including Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo.
- Not far outside Sarajevo are some great options for snow bunnies, with the ski fields of Bjelasnica and Jaborhina roughly an hour away from the capital.
- The picturesque walled city of Jajce, situated on the confluence of rivers Pliva and Vrbas, is home to an old town built as far back as the 14th century, as well the beautiful Pliva Waterfall.
- The scenic Una River forms a natural border between Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and offers opportunity for outdoor adventure with river rafting excursions available.
- Bosnia-Herzegovina’s oldest national park is Sutjeska, which includes the highest peak of mount Maglić and the Strict Nature Reserve ‘Perućica’, one of only two primeval forests left in Europe.
- Bosnia-Herzegovina has just 20 kilometres of coastline, and coastal town Neum is the only place that in the country from which to access the Adriatic Sea.
- The southern city of Trebinje surrounded by peaceful hilltop monasteries, with Tvrdoš Monastery dating all the way back to the 15th century.
- The town of Medjugorje is home to a pilgrimage site where a number of children claim to have seen apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the early 1980s.
- Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, where the Olympic flag was raised upside down during the opening ceremony by mistake.
- The Siege of Sarajevo is the longest recorded in a capital city in the history of modern warfare, lasting from April 1992 to February 1996 – a total of 1,425 days.
- The Dayton Agreement, formally known as the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was signed in Ohio in 1995, putting an end to the Bosnian War.
- The Srebrenica massacre was one of the most brutal events of the Yugoslav War, with more than 8,000 Muslim Bosniak men and boys killed in and around the town over 11 days in July 1995.
- Bosnia-Herzegovina has brought us footballer Edin Džeko, the film Battle of Neretva, novelist, short-story writer and poet Ivo Andrić, and the inspiration for U2’s song ‘Miss Sarajevo’.
Courtney Gahan is a serial expat, traveller and freelance writer who has bartered with Moroccan marketeers, seen the sun rise at Angkor Wat and elbowed her way through crowds on NYE in NYC
