15 Actually Useful Travel Tips for Bosnia and Herzegovina

The land of waterfalls, bridges and strong coffee!

The natural beauty and medieval towns in this small country will make sure that your camera storage is bursting at the seams by the time you leave.

When you ask someone from back home in the UK about Bosnia & Herzegovina, it is very often the war in the 90s that comes to mind, and this is such a shame!

This beautiful country is so much more than that.

It is chatting over a strong coffee, being blown away by the impressive waterfalls, climbing ancient medieval ruins, hunting for modern street art, hiking for panoramic views, stuffing yourself with all the delicious pita, exploring intricately decorated mosques sat next to Orthodox churches sat next to synagogues, and sampling the local rakija.

We have visited twice and spent one month on each occasion travelling around the country to see as much as we could.

These are all our top travel tips for Bosnia & Herzegovina that we wish we knew before we visited, and hopefully they’ll help you out on your trip too!

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1. Transport is Limited but Good

Buses connect cities and towns around the country, but we would recognise them more as coaches than buses. They have large seats that recline, aircon, and are clean and comfortable.

You can buy tickets at the station or get them online in advance. But, make sure you have a few coins on you to pay the driver to stow your large luggage under the bus.

a look through Sarajevo bus station shows a parked bus, blue plastic seats, and all the platform signs. Bosnia and Herzegovina

There is a very limited train network that we have not ourselves experienced, but apparently the Sarajevo-Mostar route is really scenic.

Many people choose to hire a car in Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH), which really makes sense!

There are loads of beautiful areas in the country that are just not easily accessible by public transport, the roads are in good condition from what we’ve experienced, and you don’t have to follow the tour groups.

We made the mistake of not hiring a car in advance and had to enlist the help of our amazing accommodation host to find us an available car at the last minute.

Otherwise, we would have hired through LocalRent as we have had several friends recommend their services.

If you fancy heading to places like Una National Park, Pocitelj, Kravica Waterfall, Jablanica and Šćit Lakes, having your own transport will make your trip so much easier!

2. Embrace the Bosnian Concept of Ćejf

Ćejf is a Bosnian term that doesn’t really translate into English, but is about doing something that you enjoy with a mindfulness that keeps you in the present moment.

The most common examples of this in BiH are sipping slowly on a strong coffee and rolling a cigarette.

So, slow down your travels, order a coffee, sit, sip, people-watch, chat. There is no rushing in BiH!

a traditional Bosnian coffee set of a copper plate with a copper coffee pot with a long handle, a small pot for sugar cubes, a small pot for lokum, a small glass of water and a small coffee cup. Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Psst… Booking.com Has a 15% Off Sale!

Planning a last-minute trip? Well, you might have timed it just right!

Booking.com is running a 15% off promotion for many stays before 7th Jan.

The discounted properties have the green ‘Late Escape Deal’ badge!

🛏️ Grab a Bargain! 🛏️

Savvy Traveller Pro Tips 🇧🇦

After exploring Bosnia and Herzegovina for two months, these are our favourite booking tools that we couldn’t travel without!

Travel Insurance: our favourite budget-friendly insurance is SafetyWing – no question.
Flights: we book flights through Trip.com to earn loyalty points to use on our next flights.
Accommodation: for the best deals and to build up loyalty points, we use Booking.com.
Transport: 12Go is a great way to check bus schedules and reserve tickets.
Tours: GetYourGuide has a great selection of experiences at an affordable price.
Car Hire: have the freedom to travel all around Bosnia and Herzegovina with DiscoverCars.
Food Delivery Apps: Glovo and Korpa are used all over the country.
SIM: Eronet has great coverage across the country.
ESIM: be connected from the second you arrive with Airalo.

3. Local Languages & Greetings

The three main ethnicities living within Bosnia & Herzegovina are Bosnians, Serbs, and Croats, so there are three main spoken languages in the country.

Luckily for tourists, the basics of the three languages are pronounced the same:

Hello: Zdravo/Ciao
Thank you: Hvala

English is also very well-spoken almost everywhere.

4. Local Currency

The local currency is the Bosnia-Herzegovina Convertible Marka (BAM) but you’ll more likely see it written as KM.

a handful of Bosnian currency notes - Bosnia-Herzegvoina Convertible Marka (BAM)

5. Cash vs Card

BiH is very much still a cash society. You will be able to use card for some larger businesses, such as in supermarkets, but in general you will need cash.

6. ATMs Without the Fees

BiH is a country where we very nearly failed at finding an ATM that did not charge withdrawal fees!

However, after lots of digging and trying a ton of different machines, we found that Nova Banka is the magic ATM if you use a Revolut card.

Every other ATM charges an obscene amount of between 12-20 BAM (≈ £6-10!!!) per withdrawal.

You are welcome 😉

7. Local SIM Card

BiH is one of the easiest countries to get a SIM card that we have experienced.

We turned up to the official stand, asked for a SIM card, they popped it in the phone and took payment.

End of. No registration, no passport check, nothing. So yeah, it’s dead easy!

Get yourself to Eronet and pick up one of their Hej Tourist packages – we got 20 GB of data for 30 days for 20 BAM + 10 BAM for the SIM itself (in September 2025).

8. Eating Vegetarian Is Tough

It’s not really a thing here in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Meat and carbs is what you’ll find everywhere: ćevapi (minced meat kebabs) with bread, chicken kebabs and rice, meat stews and potatoes.

It will be a challenge! There are several good options for vegetarians in Sarajevo though.

Local food you have to try: pita (soft and chewy dough filled with spinach, potato, or cheese), šopska salad (tomato, cucumber, onion, white cheese salad), baklava (flaky filo pastry with syrup and nuts).
Local drinks you have to try: Bosnian coffee, rakija, Sarajevsko beer, Nektar beer.

a Bosnian potato-filled pita (pastry) held up in Sarajevo's main square, with a historic wooden fountain and pigeons in the background

a bowl of shopska salad is made up of tomato and cucumber heavily topped with white grated cheese, a black olive and sprig of parsley in Bosnia and Herzegovina

9. Taxi Apps Aren’t Great

The taxi app that was recommended to us is called Moj, but the app itself didn’t look any good in all honesty so we didn’t even attempt it.

And Crveni Taxi is a local app that you have to use cash for. Again, we just ended up getting local buses and walking everywhere.

10. Food Delivery Apps

Korpa is a local food delivery app and Glovo seems to have pretty similar prices and restaurants too.

11. Highlights of Your BiH Trip

Chase waterfalls in Una National Park
Eat spinach, cheese, or potato filled pita
Walk the ancient cliffside town of Počitelj
Be amazed by the thundering waterfall in the centre of the medieval town of Jajce
Sip on some super strong Bosnian coffee and finish with some sweet and sticky lokum
See the divers jump from Mostar’s UNESCO bridge
Head underground in Sarajevo to see the Tunnel of Hope
Go for a local wine tasting at Vinarija Bojanic with Stevo in Trebinje
Check out the abandoned Olympic bobsled track on Mount Trebević

a photo of Štrbački Buk waterfall shows water plummeting down to a plunge pool with a green, forested backdrop. Una National Park. Travel tips for Bosnia and Herzegovina — *Štrbački Buk waterfall in Una National Park*

a historic Ottoman style mosque with several domes sits beside a crumbling hammam and other stone buildings surrounded by green trees, while the blue water of Neretva river flows past. Počitelj, Bosnia and Herzegovina — *Počitelj*

12. Bosnia and Herzegovina are Two Different Areas within the Country

Bosnia is a larger portion of the land making up the country, and Herzegovina is a smaller area in the southwest corner.

Mostar is the largest city and it also contains Konjic and Trebinje and the surrounding towns/villages. There are no borders/checkpoints. But it gets even more complicated 👇

the Ottoman-style stone arched bridge (Stari Most) stands above the Neretva river with traditional Ottoman buildings, towers, minarets either side. Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

13. The Federation of BiH & Republika Srpska

So as well as the country having two parts – Bosnia and Herzegovina – it also has two different separations – the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina and Republika Srpska.

Both within the same country operate under different governments, and again, there are no borders/checkpoints. The Federation is mainly inhabited by Bosniaks, while the Republika is mainly inhabited by Serbs. And it has completely different borders to the distinctions between Bosnia and Herzegovina.

14. The Recent History is Dark

The recent history in Bosnia & Herzegovina is tragic and still evident from bullet-hole covered walls around the country. Between 1992 and 1995, horrific war crimes and genocide were committed.

And while BiH is SO much more than the Bosnian War, it is important as a tourist to learn about what happened here.

Sarajevo in particular has many amazing museums on the war, and by joining local tours, you’ll likely be lead around the city by someone who has actually lived through the war and can speak from first-hand experience.

an art installation on a heavily-bombed building near the frontline of the Bosnian War in Mostar, shows a human figure sat on a swing painted in white.

a look inside the Tunnel of Hope underneath Sarajevo airport has wooden floor, walls and ceiling, plus wooden pillar supports.

15. Mines

During the Bosnian War of the 90s, landmines were scattered throughout the country in an attempt to prevent the opposition gaining ground.

Now in 2025, they are still very much a risk which makes venturing off the beaten path and hiking very dangerous. So, while we are all for off the beaten path travel and independent exploring, Bosnia & Herzegovina is not the place for that.

Is BiH Worth Visiting?

Bosnia & Herzegovina is a country full of natural beauty, like, it has actually blown our minds how many rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, just green-ness everywhere that we have seen!

Relatively still off the tourist radar compared to its Balkan neighbours, BiH is a country that you should really make the effort to visit.

Whether it’s a long weekend to Sarajevo or Mostar, or hiring a car for an extended period to explore deeper, we fully recommend making a trip (we wouldn’t have returned ourselves otherwise!). And now you’re equipped with all our top travel tips for Bosnia and Herzegovina!

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