My Trip to Bosnia Herzegovina

I just returned from a 7-day trip to Bosnia Herzegovina. I had such a great time there that I wanted to write about it. I will also try to give some tips and recommendations.

Bosnia Herzegovina is not part of the European Union. So it isn't in the Schengen zone. It doesn't require a visa from Turkish citizens so I could very easily travel there without worrying about visas. The country uses the Convertible Mark (KM) as currency. 1 KM is 0.50 Euro, so 1 Euro is 2 KM.

Vodafone isn't in Bosnia so if you want to get a local sim card, you need to get it from its local telecommunication company called BH Telecom. You can even get it at Sarajevo Airport. There is also a currency exchange office right across the BH Telecom. 

Most stores and some bakeries are closed on Sundays. So try to stock up on what you need on a Saturday at the latest.

Mostar

My flight was in the afternoon and there was a delay so it was around 19.00pm local time when I arrived in Sarajevo. Shuttle bus operating between the airport and Bascarsija wasn't for another hour and it was already late so I had to get a taxi to the city centre. I was charged a whopping 25 euro, 20 euro for the journey and 5 euro for luggage. The hostel I stayed at said it should have cost around 15 euro. I knew I was being ripped off but I had no other option.

I stayed in Hostel Franz Ferdinand, which is only a 2-3 minute walk away from Sebilj, Sarajevo's top highlight. My dorm room had a private bathroom. However I wasn't very satisfied with the hostel since the floors were creaking a lot and my upper bunk bed was too high for me to comfortably put stuff on without having to climb up. But the staff was very kind and they even gave me a map.

In Turkiye, Bosnia is very famous for its burek, it's some kind of a pita with various fillings such as meat, potatoes, cheese and spinach. Every day I went to Buregdžinica Bosna for breakfast. I had the potato pita for only 3.5 KM. The woman at the counter spoke English and I was extremely satisfied with their food. In Bosnia the word burek is used for meat filling whereas they use the word pita for non-meat fillings; however, in Turkiye we call it bürek, regardless of its filling. I strongly recommend Buregdžinica Bosna.

Bascarsija is a very fun place to spend time in. It's filled with souvenir shops, cafes, cezve shops. Cezve is a bronze equipment which is used to brew coffee. Bosnia has a strong coffee culture and you can find tons of bronze shops where you can purchase fancy looking cezve as well as coffee cups. Interestingly in Bosnia, coffee cups don't have a handle. It's the first time I saw a coffee cup without a handle like that. 

 Bosnian coffee is very similar to Turkish coffee. They just don't add sugar into the cezve while brewing the coffee. You dip the sugar into the coffee for a few seconds, then you place the wet part of the sugar on your tongue and then take a sip of the coffee. I drank my first Bosnian coffee in Teahouse Džirlo, I quite loved this location. It's ambiance was amazing, the coffee tasted great too and it was quite affordable. 

Bosnia Herzegovina is known for its war torn history. You can find many museums that teach you a lot about the war and the infamous Siege of Sarajevo. I do warn you though that these museums aren't for the faintest of hearts. You will read many stories of genocide, rape, torture, concentration camps. You will even see photos or videos of these. You will also see many buildings that are destroyed or filled with bullet holes.

I strongly advise you take a free walking tour from Meet Bosnia Tours which is right at the heart of Bascarsija. You will learn a lot of historical facts and cover many of the city highlights, including where Franz Ferdinand was killed which triggered World War I.

Mlinčići

I had dinner in a few locations but I was particularly happy with Veganer, a vegan fast food restaurant that has wraps, burgers and sides such as onions rings and nuggets. Their double cheeseburger, royal burger, nuggets, onion rings and pepper mayo sauce were absolutely to die for. I am not ashamed to admit that I've been to this place 4 times during my time in the country. I had the best burger and nuggets of my life  here.

On my last day in Sarajevo I joined Jajce Waterfall, Mlinčići Watermills, Pliva, Travnik tour with Meet Bosnia Tours. Jajce Waterfall is truly a magnificent sight and you can even zipline. You actually get the best view of the waterfall if you zipline. Mlinčići watermills were adorable too and we learned that 2 of them are actively used. I was extremely satisfied with this tour and our tour guide Ejub was absolutely wonderful. He even had us do an extra stop to another location to have lunch and that place was absolutely breathtaking.

Jajce Waterfall

My next journey was to Mostar. Of course there would be no skipping Mostar if you are visiting Bosnia Herzegovina. I read about how the train ride between Sarajevo and Mostar is one of the most scenic train rides in Europe. Sadly the train times are quite far apart and there are only 2 train rides per day. The first train is at 7.15 and the second train is at 16.50. The good news is that if you happen to miss the train ride, the bus station is only a few steps away from the train station so you can easily take a bus instead. But the buses aren't that frequent either but they are also not as infrequent as the trains.

The train station is a very old building. Sadly there is no seating, no information boards. Cafes have seating areas but you have to be a customer to be able to use them. Even if you buy an online ticket, you have to get it in physical form. Staff prepare tickets by hand manually so you have to wait for them to fully prepare each ticket that was purchased online before you get your hands on yours. It's a very outdated system, they really need to upgrade.

View from Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque

But the train ride is magnificent. It really is worth it to go through all this trouble. To get the best view, sit on the left side of the train if you are going to Mostar from Sarajevo. You will have the river view on this side. When you return to Sarajevo from Mostar, sit on the right side. You aren't assigned any seats so you can sit anywhere you like. The train ride takes about 2 hours. The train has toilets and outlets for you to charge your devices. Again, you have to have a physical ticket to show to the staff so don't lose your ticket.

Mostar is the most touristic and well known city of Bosnia Herzegovina. It's also very close to other Balkan countries like Croatia and Montenegro. You can easily join a day tour to Mostar from Dubrovnik for example. This makes the city extremely crowded. The old town, where the famous old bridge is, was so crowded that I could hardly walk among all the people. There are souvenir shops literally everywhere and lots of people are constantly inviting you to their restaurant. It was all too much for me. The city is absolutely adorable and I enjoyed it a lot but even Sagra da Familia I visited in Barcelona 6 months ago wasn't this crowded. But if you stay in Mostar, you can get to see it when things are calm because most of the people visiting Mostar do it on a day trip. So in the afternoon at around 5-6pm, the city can feel very calm and peaceful, though you may still have to wait in a queue to have your dinner.

I strongly advise you to climb up to the minaret in Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque. You pay about 12 KM but it's so worth it to get amazing views of the old bridge. The mosque also has fountains where you can get very cold and refreshing water to fill your bottles completely for free. Women don't need to cover their heads and you don't have to remove your shoes to enter this mosque. It's a museum so you don't need to worry about your clothes. It's a steep and narrow climb up to the minaret so pay extra attention. The minaret itself is also extremely narrow but you can get a 360 degree view of the city.

Blagaj

In Mostar I stayed in Pansion Most for 2 nights. I wasn't very happy with this place but if I were to go to Mostar again, I'd still pick this place because it offers a private room with a private bathroom for the price of a stay in a hostel shared dorm room. It's quite cheap. I had my meals at Food House Mostar. I strongly recommend the Grilled Vegetable Plate, it was very yummy and it had quite a big portion. I don't recommend the vegan İmam Bayildi cause its portion was too small and when I was finished I wasn't full at all. And between the two foods there was only 2 KM difference.

During my 2nd day in Mostar, I did a day trip with Mostar Travel & Tours to Blagaj, Kravice Waterfalls and Pocitelj. This tour was definitely the top highlight of my trip. Our driver Adis and tour guide Esmer were both absolutely wonderful. I didn't know that you could swim in Kravice Waterfalls. The tours give a slightly longer free time here so you can take a dip in the waterfall if you want. My favourite part of the tour was Blagaj and then Pocitelj. Blagaj had a stunning landscape. It's one of the best natural landscapes I've seen in my life. 

Blagaj Tekke

Pocitelj is also a lovely little village but with a sad history. Our tour guide said only 11 people actively live in this village. During the war there was a concentration camp on a hill near the village and all the village residents were taken there. After the war ended the people returned to their village but they quickly realised that they couldn't cope with the bad memories every time they faced that hill. Therefore they had to leave the village behind. If you go to Pocitelj I strongly recommend climbing up to the castle tower, you can get an amazing view of the surrounding area. 

All in all my Bosnia Herzegovina trip was amazing. Sadly I couldn't do the free walking tour in Mostar due to heavy rain but I did every other activity I wanted to do so I consider this trip a big success. It's a beautiful country that is waiting to be discovered.