Matt Munro

Bosnia & Hercegovina

Craggily beautiful Bosnia and Hercegovina is most intriguing for its East-meets-West atmosphere born of blended Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian histories filtered through a Southern Slavic lens. Many still associate the country with the heartbreaking civil war of the 1990s, and the scars from that time are all too visible. But today's visitors are likely to remember the country for its deep, unassuming human warmth, its beautiful mountains, numerous medieval castle ruins, raftable rivers, impressive waterfalls and bargain-value skiing.

Attractions

Must-see attractions for your itinerary

Stari Most
Mostar
The world-famous Stari Most (meaning simply 'Old Bridge') is Mostar's indisputable visual focus. Its pale stone magnificently reflects the golden glow of…
Kravica Waterfall
Bosnia & Hercegovina
There's a slightly unreal Disney-esque quality to this outstanding natural attraction, where the Trebižat River plummets in a broad 25m-high arc into an…
Sarajevo City Hall
Sarajevo
A storybook neo-Moorish striped facade makes the triangular Vijećnica (1896) Sarajevo's most beautiful Austro-Hungarian–era building. Seriously damaged…
Blagaj Tekke
Bosnia & Hercegovina
Forming Blagaj's signature attraction, the centrepiece of this complex of traditional stone-roofed buildings is a very pretty half-timbered dervish house…
Tunnel of Hope
Sarajevo
During the 1992–95 siege, when Sarajevo was surrounded by Bosnian Serb forces, the only link to the outside world was an 800m-long, 1m-wide, 1.6m-high…
Kajtaz House
Mostar
Hidden behind tall walls, Mostar's most interesting old house was once the harem (women's) section of a larger homestead built for a 16th-century Turkish…
St James Church complex
Bosnia & Hercegovina
Međugorje's central focus is this rather functional double-towered 1969 church and the parklike grounds behind it. The main daily service is a 6pm rosary…
Partisan Memorial Cemetery
Mostar
Although this cemetery is sadly neglected and badly vandalised, fans of 20th-century socialist architecture should seek out this magnificent memorial…