Chamber Bosnia and Herzegovina offers tourists a cool vacation with an emphasis on “excursion” and excellent opportunities for treatment and skiing. Sarajevo, Mostar and Banja Luka, mosques, cathedrals and fortresses, kebabs, gouvech and rakija – all about Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Charming Balkan shy Bosnia and Herzegovina shyly hides in the shadow of its more hyped tourist neighbors Croatia and Montenegro. Tours to Bosnia and Herzegovinaso far it cannot be recognized as a favorite among Russian tourists – at first, the sad legacy of the conflict in the Balkans prevented this, then – the visa regime and not very convenient flight. Yes, and the Croatian and Montenegrin tourism policy “chopped off” a significant contingent of potential Bosnian tourists. Now, however, things are quite different. Firstly, a visa to Bosnia and Herzegovina “Russo tourist” for up to 30 days is no longer needed, which inevitably follows secondly: the appearance of direct charters in Sarajevo. Finally, there are other nice “chips”: good ski resorts, a decent number of attractions, very beautiful nature and delicious cuisine. In short, it’s time to take a closer look at Bosnia and Herzegovina!
The capital is Sarajevo. The main cities are Banja Luka, Tuzla, Mostar, Zenica. All the details about the cities and resorts of Bosnia and Herzegovina are on the page “Subtleties of tourism”.
Climate
Bosnia and Herzegovina has a temperate continental climate with cool summers and fairly mild winters. The maximum temperature in July in the valleys (where the main tourist cities are located) is + 27 °C, in the mountains – from + 10 °C to + 20 °C, depending on the height. At the same time, sudden changes in the weather are not uncommon during the day. In winter, the thermometer shows no lower than -10 ° C, as a rule, from 0 ° C to – +5 ° C. In the mountains, snow falls in November and stays until April, so the ski season here is pleasantly long. See citypopulationreview.com for weather information.
The best time to visit Bosnia and Herzegovina for outdoor recreation and excursions is from May to September. It makes sense for skiers in search of the perfect snow cover to come in December-February.
The length of the coastline of Bosnia and Herzegovina is only 10 km, which is “run” by the resort of Neum. The beach is sandy, the season lasts from May to September.
Shopping
Shops are open Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 20:00. Private and souvenir shops “adjust to the client”: you can buy essential goods or memorabilia on any day of the week from early morning until late evening.
From Bosnia and Herzegovina, you can bring ceramics (including beautiful decorative plates), woven products – embroidered towels, home textiles, mats and carpets, silver-plated copper products, leather clothes and shoes. It is also worth paying attention to “edible” souvenirs – the all-Balkan strong drink rakia, local white and red wines (the latter are called here “black wine”).
It is imperative to bargain in the markets: having identified a foreign tourist, local sellers do not hesitate to break exorbitant prices.
7 things to do in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Stand at the site of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on the Latin Bridge and reflect on the fate of the world.
- Go to Medugorje and listen to the story of the apparition of the Virgin Mary from the locals.
- Improve your health in the mountain-climatic resort of Ilidzhe, backing up the result with “black wine” for persuasiveness.
- Taste a real gouvech, accompanying your meal with excellent Bosnian beer.
- Go down to Josip Broz Tito’s nuclear bunker in Konjice and pretend to be the only person on Earth.
- Stock up on souvenirs in Sarajevo, providing your family with a supply of embroidered towels for many years to come.
- Feel the delights of a summer holiday in the seaside Neum, and a winter holiday in Igman or Jahorina.
Kitchen
The cuisine of Bosnia and Herzegovina skillfully took a little bit from everywhere: from the Turks – kebabs and other minced meat dishes, from the neighbors in the Mediterranean Sea – an abundance of vegetables and herbs, from the Slavs – a lot of dairy products and cheeses. From meat, beef and mutton, as well as pork, are used more than anything else; cooking method – stewing with vegetables or grilling. Fish is not very popular due to the country’s tiny landfall, but in coastal areas, fish goulash, fish pies and seafood are definitely worth trying. Mostar, for example, is famous for its pastrma, a trout dish.
As a light snack on a sightseeing day, “chevap” is suitable – a local version of kebab, served with bread or pita, or “burek” – the usual cheburek with meat (actually “burek”), cheese (“simitsa”), spinach (“zelyanitsa”), potatoes (krompyrus) or apples (jabukovac).
For a more substantial meal, you should order meat roast with vegetables “bosanski lonas”, shish kebab “shish”, meat stewed with rice and vegetables “guvech”, grilled chop “hayduk”, impressive cutlets “splash”, cabbage rolls “zhaprak”. A vegetable salad is always put on the table, the most popular type is artlessly called Serbian and consists of tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, onions and aromatic herbs. The meal is washed down with beer, which is of excellent quality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, an intoxicating drink made from millet “buza” and white or red wine – local varieties are remarkably tasty and fragrant.
For dessert, you should definitely take “near-Turkish” sweets – baklava, Turkish delight and halva, crumbly gurabye biscuits and sujuk biscuits with hazelnuts. However, Slavic traditions also found a place here: numerous pies with apples, berries and cottage cheese filling will not make you feel like you are in a foreign land. They can be consumed with Turkish coffee or aromatic herbal tea.
Entertainment and attractions in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The sights of Bosnia and Herzegovina are amazingly beautiful nature, where emerald valleys alternate with picturesque mountain slopes, and architectural monuments of the Byzantine and Ottoman periods, many of which, alas, were destroyed during the years of the Balkan conflict.
Sarajevo, founded in the middle of the 13th century, is interesting for its colorful old city, which has practically not changed its eastern appearance – there is a labyrinth of narrow streets, ancient mosques, noisy markets and an old Turkish bazaar, as well as the only inn Moritz Khan has survived from Ottoman times. On the Latin Bridge in 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was killed, which was the reason for the outbreak of the First World War. It is also worth climbing the Yellow Fortress, which offers an amazing view of the city, walking along the banks of the Bosna River and visiting interesting museums – the Bosnian Historical Museum, the National Museum, the Svrzho Family Museum and the Art Gallery.
The sights of Mostar are the Old Bridge, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, and its museum, the Ottoman mansion of Muslibegovitsa, the Historical Museum of Herzegovina, the Mehmet Pasha Mosque and Revolution Boulevard. The village of Medugorje, 17 km from Mostar, is famous for the fact that it was here in 1981 that the Virgin Mary appeared to six children, and Blagaj, located 10 km away, is a medieval fortress.
In Banja Luka, it is worth seeing the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, a 16th-century fortress. on the banks of the Vrbas River, the Presidential Palace (Banja Luka is the capital of the Serbian Republic), as well as experience the healing effects of sulfuric springs.
Jajce is interesting for its picturesque streets rising at almost unnatural angles along the mountain slopes, the Church of St. Luke, waterfalls and watermills on the Pliva River.
Other sights of the country: the city of Trebin with the national shrine of the Serbs, the church of Hercegovachka-Gracanitsa, the monastery of Zhitomislich in the Neretva valley, the Kravice waterfall, the residence of the Ottoman governor and the House-Museum of the national writer Ivo Andric in Travnik, the fortress in Blagaj, the bunker of Josip Broz Tito in Konjice.
