The Highlights of Bosnia and Herzegovina

A visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina offers a fascinating opportunity to sample the cultures of three major faiths within a relatively small area.  In the same day, you can inhale incense in a mystical-feeling Serbian Orthodox church, hear the subtle clicking of rosary beads in a Roman Catholic church, and listen to the Muslim call to prayer echo across a skyline of prickly minarets.

WHERE TO GO?

♥ MOSTAR ♥

Mostar is the country’s most accessible and tourist-friendly town. The city’s centerpiece and icon is its Old Bridge, commissioned in 1557 by the Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. Despite the scars of war, Mostar is still stunning, straddling the banks of the gorgeous Neretva River, with tributaries and waterfalls carving their way through the rocky landscape. The sightseeing — mosques, old Turkish-style houses, and that spine-tingling Old Bridge — is more engaging than much of what you’ll find in Croatia or Slovenia. (And it’s cheap: Hotels, food, and museums are less than half the prices you’ll pay in Dubrovnik or Ljubljana.) While a visit to Mostar was depressing not that long ago, the city gets more uplifting all the time: Mostarians are rebuilding at an impressive pace, tentatively reintegrating, and working hard to make Mostar tourist-friendly. Mostar is well on its way to reclaiming its status as one of the premier destinations in the former Yugoslavia.

♥ SARAJEVO ♥

Guide to Sarajevo: European Jerusalem
For a more authentic and complete Bosnian experience and a few hours further to reach from Mostar we would recommend you to visit our capital Sarajevo. Spectacularly set in a mountain valley blanketed with cute Monopoly houses, Sarajevo is a sight to behold. Though now synonymous with sectarian strife, for centuries the city was a model of cooperation and harmony, and today Sarajevo is the delightful product of this rich history. The Ottoman-style Old Town feels transplanted from Istanbul. Then you’ll turn a corner and suddenly feel lost in an almost Viennese cityscape. Listen to the Muslim call to prayer and watch Catholic and Orthodox church bells playfully jostle above the skyline. Ponder the scars of war, hunch over to squeeze through the tunnel that was the besieged Sarajevans’ one lifeline to the world, and listen to a local relate personal stories from the harrowing time of the siege. Then relax in a café with a cup of Bosnian coffee or nibble on some of the best bureks (savory, flaky pies) this side of the Bosphorus. Go ahead — it’s OK to enjoy Sarajevo.

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♥ MEDJUGORJE♥

Worldwide known, the town of Međugorje is second-largest Catholic pilgrimage destination in the world. The name itself, Međugorjedenotes an area between mountains. This place is most famous for Our Lady’s apparitions. According to the statistics, more than 30 million people have visited Medjugorje in thirty years since the first apparition, and the number is increasing year by year. When visiting Medjugorje, then you should visit Apparition Hill, White Cross Hill, and Saint James Church.

Crosses, Sunsets & Sinners: A Brother And Sister’s Medjugorje Journey

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♥ POCITELJ ♥

When visiting Mostar, be sure to visit the historic town of Pocitelj which is located on the left bank of the river Neretva, on the main Mostar to Metkovic road, to the south of Mostar, in the territory of Capljina Municipality.

Back in the middle ages, Pocitelj was the center of governance and its westernmost point, which gave it major strategic importance. It is supposed that the fortified town and its attendant settlements were built by Bosnia’s King Stjepan Tvrtko I in 1383. The walled town of Pocitelj evolved over the period from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Architecturally, the surviving stone-built parts of the town area fortified complex, in which two stages of evolution may be observed: medieval, and Ottoman.

♥ BLAGAJ ♥

One of the magical places that take us back to the past is Blagaj, situated only 12 km away from Mostar.The small and magical village of Blagaj is located on the river Buna. The Buna spring is one of the largest and most beautiful springs in Europe and probably the best example of underground karst river. Buna flows out from the cave beneath the cliffs of 200 meters high and independently creates a dark blue-emerald green river, which runs for about nine kilometers to the west and flows into the Neretva River near the village of Buna.

 WHAT TO VISIT WHILE IN MOSTAR 

♥ KRAVICE WATERFALL♥

All around the world, waterfalls are definitely the natural wonders on Earth. Visiting waterfalls can be a breathtaking experience since they overwhelm with the stunning sight, as well as a splitting voice of nature.

The Kravice waterfalls are one of a kind natural wonder in the region of Herzegovina. Situated very close to the pilgrimage site of Medjugorje and only 40 kilometers away from Mostar, these waterfalls are the perfect picture of untouched nature at its peak.

In case you have missed it, see our previous post – 5 Places ToVisit While In Herzegovina.

This is the place where the Trebizat  River falls down into a large waterfall, which height ranges from 26 -28 meters, depending on the season.