Discover Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia is the largest and most northerly part of the country. The region is shaped by the Dinaric Alps, large forests, green valleys, rivers and towns often sheltered between the mountains.

Here you find Sarajevo, where several historical eras exist side by side. You also find Jajce with its waterfall in the middle of town, Travnik with its fortress and Ottoman history, Bihać on the clear river Una, and Banja Luka on the Vrbas.

Bosnia is green, lush and full of contrasts. The region invites hiking, rafting, cycling and nature experiences — but also a deeper look at the country's complex history.

Herzegovina lies to the south and has a warmer, sunnier, more Mediterranean climate. The landscape is shaped by pale limestone mountains, fertile valleys, vineyards and rivers that cut through the dry terrain like green and blue ribbons.

Mostar is the region's natural centre, but Herzegovina holds far more than the famous old bridge. The areas around Čitluk, Ljubuški, Trebinje and Mostar are known for winemaking, local produce and family-run wineries.

Herzegovina keeps its own pace. Meals are allowed to last, and the shade under a tree becomes a natural gathering point. The region suits trips where culture, nature, gastronomy and wine melt together.

Maglić rises in the south-east of the country close to the border with Montenegro. At 2,386 metres it is the highest mountain in Bosnia and Herzegovina and a natural goal for experienced hikers.

The mountain sits in the area around Sutjeska National Park, where steep slopes, deep valleys and dense forest create a dramatic landscape. Here too is Perućica, one of Europe's last remaining primeval forests.

The climb towards Maglić's heights demands respect for the weather and the terrain. In return you are rewarded with sweeping views and the emerald Trnovačko lake on the Montenegrin side of the border.

Prenj stands like a mighty limestone wall above the Neretva valley and is often called the Himalaya of Herzegovina. The name makes sense when you see the pale, jagged peaks rising over the green valleys around Konjic, Jablanica and Mostar.

The mountain has a raw, alpine character: steep passages, high plateaus, open pastures and views that change with every step.

Prenj is for walkers who want something special and prefer to be away from the busiest routes. On demanding trips we always recommend an experienced local mountain guide.

Čvrsnica rises above Blidinje Nature Park and is one of Herzegovina's most striking mountain areas. The landscape shifts between pine forest, open plateaus, steep cliffs and far-reaching views.

One of the best-known natural features is Hajdučka Vrata, a natural stone arch standing high in the mountains. Getting there takes stamina, but the reward is one of those views that stays with you long after you get home.

Čvrsnica suits both longer hikes and trips based around Blidinje.

Bjelašnica lies close to Sarajevo and is known as one of the mountains from the 1984 Winter Olympics. In winter it is a popular ski area, but in summer it opens up as a large hiking area with fresh mountain meadows and access to traditional villages.

The best known is Lukomir, one of the highest and best-preserved traditional mountain villages in the country. Stone houses, pastures and the view over the Rakitnica gorge give the place a particular atmosphere.

A walk can be combined with home-cooked food, local cheeses and meeting people who know these mountains as home.

On the other side of the Rakitnica gorge lies Visočica. The mountain is less well known than Bjelašnica, and for exactly that reason it often feels quieter and more untouched.

The paths run through open grassland, over gentle ridges and past small communities where the pace still follows nature. From the high ground there are views towards Prenj, Bjelašnica and the deep Rakitnica gorge.

Visočica is an obvious choice for travellers who want hiking away from the best-known tourist trails.

Where Maglić is steep and dramatic, Zelengora is softer in its shapes. The name is associated with the green mountain, and the landscape lives up to it. Grassy heights roll across the horizon, while small mountain lakes lie like dark mirrors between the slopes.

Zelengora is known for its mountain eyes — natural lakes such as Orlovačko, Kotlaničko and Štirinsko.

It is a place for calm, long walks and the feeling of being far from modern everyday life.

Lake Boračko lies in a green bowl between the mountains near Konjic. The road there runs through a landscape where the mountains gradually close in around the water.

In summer the area is used for swimming, kayaking and relaxing. The lake also makes a calm stop after rafting on the Neretva.

Lake Blidinje lies on a high plateau between the Čvrsnica and Vran mountains. The open landscape around it feels almost endless, especially when clouds move across the slopes and are mirrored in the shallow water.

The area is part of Blidinje Nature Park and suits hiking, cycling and unhurried stays.

High on Mount Vranica lies Lake Prokoško, surrounded by pasture and traditional shepherds' huts. The drive up through the mountains is part of the experience.

Prokoško is not a polished tourist attraction. It is precisely its simple, rustic character that makes the visit memorable.

Close to Jajce, the large and small Pliva lakes lie in a green and peaceful area. Between them stand the historic watermills known locally as mlinčići.

The lakes invite kayaking, walks and quiet hours by the water. Together with Jajce's fortress, catacombs and waterfall they make a full day where nature and history go hand in hand.

Lake Rama is known for its branching shape, with bays, peninsulas and small islands. The water is ringed by mountains and the view changes constantly.

One of its distinctive sights is the monastery at Šćit. The area suits a scenic drive and quiet stays away from the larger towns.

Lake Jablanica follows the Neretva valley, ringed by the Prenj, Čvrsnica and Bitovnja mountains. On still days the slopes are mirrored in the water.

The area is known for restaurants serving grilled lamb, so a stop here can be as much a culinary experience as a scenic one.

Lake Buško lies in western Bosnia and Herzegovina, close to Livno and the Croatian border. The wide expanse of water sits open between mountains, fields and pasture.

It combines well with Livno's historic town centre and the region's famous wild horses.

Long before the name Bosnia appeared in written sources, the area was inhabited by Illyrian tribes. They lived in the mountains, the valleys and the fertile land close to the rivers.

The Romans gradually conquered the area and made it part of their empire. They built roads, bridges, military installations and settlements linking the Adriatic coast with the lands further inland.

When the Roman Empire was divided, the area came to lie on the frontier between its western and eastern halves. Even then the country's position between different cultural and political worlds was clear.

Slavic peoples settled in the area during the sixth and seventh centuries. Over the following centuries local principalities and centres of power grew up between the mountains and the rivers.

The name Bosnia is most likely connected to the river Bosna. The region was influenced by the Byzantine Empire, by Croatian and Serbian rulers and by the Hungarian kingdom, but the difficult mountain terrain allowed local rulers to achieve a considerable degree of independence.

Trade routes connected the area with the Dalmatian coast, Dubrovnik and the towns to the north. Silver, metals, salt and textiles were carried through the country.

In the Middle Ages Bosnia developed first into a banate and later into an independent kingdom. A ban was a regional ruler, and several Bosnian bans gradually strengthened the country's political position.

Ban Kulin, who ruled from the late twelfth century, is remembered as one of the most important medieval rulers. His charter of 1189 regulated trade with Dubrovnik and is among the oldest surviving documents of the Bosnian state.

Bosnia reached a political high point under Tvrtko I Kotromanić. Crowned king in 1377, he ruled a kingdom that gained access to the Adriatic and became a significant power in the western Balkans.

This period matters because it shows that Bosnia and Herzegovina had its own state and cultural development long before the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian periods.

The Bosnian Church is one of the most fascinating and debated chapters in the country's medieval history. It existed alongside the Catholic and Orthodox churches and held a distinctive position in society.

Older accounts often described the Bosnian Church as Bogomil. The connection is more complicated than it is usually presented, and historians still debate the church's theology, organisation and relationship to other Christian traditions. Simply equating the Bosnian Church with Bogomilism is not accurate.

What is interesting for the traveller is that medieval Bosnia developed a religious landscape that does not fit neatly into a simple division between east and west.

Scattered across mountainsides, pastures and old burial grounds lie the monumental medieval tombstones known as stećci. Most are carved from limestone and date from between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries.

Some stand as plain blocks of stone. Others are decorated with spirals, crosses, weapons, plants, people, animals, riders and figures that appear to dance with raised hands.

Stećci were used by people from different Christian communities and cannot be attributed to a single faith. One of the best-known collections is at Radimlja near Stolac.

The stećci are recognised today as UNESCO World Heritage.

In 1463 most of Bosnia was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. The last Bosnian king, Stjepan Tomašević, was captured and executed. Herzegovina was gradually absorbed into the empire in the years that followed.

The Ottoman period lasted more than four centuries and changed the towns, the religion, the trade and the architecture. Islam gained a strong presence, while Catholic, Orthodox and later Jewish communities continued to shape the country.

Sarajevo grew from a small settlement into an important administrative and commercial centre. Mostar developed around the Neretva, and Stari Most was built in the sixteenth century. Travnik became an administrative centre, Višegrad gained its stone bridge over the Drina, and Blagaj became an important religious site at the source of the Buna.

After the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal in the late fifteenth century, Sephardic Jews found a new home in several parts of the empire, including Sarajevo. The Jewish community became an important part of the city's cultural and economic life.

The Ottoman legacy lives on in the architecture, the food, the coffee and the crafts.

After the Russo-Turkish war, Austria-Hungary gained the right in 1878 to occupy and administer Bosnia and Herzegovina. The country formally remained under Ottoman sovereignty until annexation in 1908.

The new administration launched a sweeping modernisation with railways, roads, schools, hospitals and industry. The towns gained new quarters, and a distinctly European architecture grew up alongside the Ottoman districts.

Nowhere is the transition clearer than in Sarajevo. Walking from Baščaršija towards Ferhadija, the streetscape shifts gradually from low Ottoman trading buildings to large facades inspired by Vienna.

The period also left its mark on Herzegovina's winemaking. Around Mostar, vineyards and formal wine education were developed in the time of Emperor Franz Joseph.

On 28 June 1914 the Austro-Hungarian heir Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie visited Sarajevo. During the visit they were shot and killed by Gavrilo Princip.

The assassination set off the chain of ultimatums, mobilisations and declarations of war between Europe's great powers.

The spot by the Latin Bridge in Sarajevo can still be visited, where an event of world history becomes concrete and immediate.

After the war Austria-Hungary collapsed, and Bosnia and Herzegovina became part of a new South Slav kingdom, later named the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Between the two world wars Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The period was marked by political tension and debate about how the new state should be organised.

During the Second World War Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers, and Bosnia and Herzegovina became part of the fascist Ustaša state. The war became at once an occupation, a resistance struggle and an internal conflict.

Civilians were subjected to widespread persecution, mass killing and deportation. Jews, Roma, Serbs and political opponents were among the groups systematically persecuted.

The communist Partisans under Josip Broz Tito organised a large resistance movement. Sutjeska National Park today holds a monumental memorial complex for the 1943 battle of Sutjeska.

In November 1943 the second session of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia was held in Jajce. It laid the foundations of federal socialist Yugoslavia.

Bosnia and Herzegovina was recognised as one of the new state's six republics — an important decision, because the country was not divided between neighbouring republics but kept its territorial unity.

After the war the monarchy was abolished and Tito became leader of socialist Yugoslavia. The country broke with the Soviet Union in 1948 and became an important player in the Non-Aligned Movement.

In the decades after the Second World War, Bosnia and Herzegovina went through extensive industrialisation and urbanisation. Factories, power stations, roads, schools and housing were built.

Sarajevo, Zenica, Tuzla, Mostar and Banja Luka grew. New jobs created social mobility and education levels rose. At the same time Yugoslavia was a one-party state with limited political freedom.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, where families and communities were often ethnically and religiously mixed, a shared Yugoslav identity became a real part of many people's lives.

In 1984 Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympics. The mountains Bjelašnica, Jahorina, Igman and Trebević framed the events. The Olympic venues can still be visited — some modernised, others standing as raw concrete tracks in the mountains.

After Tito's death in 1980, Yugoslavia's economic and political problems grew. Nationalist movements gained influence and tensions between the republics increased.

Slovenia and Croatia declared independence in 1991. In Bosnia and Herzegovina the question was especially difficult, because the population was made up of Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats and other groups who had lived closely together for generations.

Following a referendum, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence in 1992 and was recognised internationally. Shortly afterwards the political crisis turned into war.

The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina lasted from 1992 to 1995 and was the bloodiest conflict of Yugoslavia's break-up. Cities were besieged, villages destroyed, and large parts of the population driven from their homes.

Sarajevo endured a siege lasting almost four years. Its residents lived under shelling and with severe shortages of food, water, electricity and medicine. Even so, parts of cultural life and daily routine continued as a form of resistance.

In Mostar, Stari Most was destroyed in 1993. The bridge was later rebuilt using traditional techniques and reopened in 2004.

The war involved widespread ethnic cleansing, internment camps, sieges and systematic abuses against civilians. In July 1995 more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed in and around Srebrenica. International courts have established the crime as genocide.

The war cost more than 100,000 lives, while around two million people were forced from their homes.

When the war is presented on a trip, it must be done with respect for the victims and for the complexity of the history. It is not about turning suffering into a sight, but about creating understanding of the people who lived through it.

The war ended through the peace negotiations at Dayton in the United States in 1995. The agreement preserved Bosnia and Herzegovina as one internationally recognised state, but created a complicated political structure with two entities — the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska — plus the Brčko District.

Dayton stopped the war, but the political structure has since made reform difficult. The country continues to work through questions of reconciliation, return, identity, economic development and its relationship with the EU.

At the same time Bosnia and Herzegovina is far more than its political challenges. It is a society with music, film, art, sport, cafés, restaurants, entrepreneurs and a new generation determined to create opportunities in their own country.

Traces of the war are still visible, but the country should not be reduced to its most recent conflict. Travelling through Bosnia and Herzegovina is also a story of survival, humour, hospitality and the ability to build something new without forgetting the past.

The history of Bosnia and Herzegovina becomes clearest when it is tied to the places where the events happened.

In Sarajevo you can walk from the Ottoman trading town to Austro-Hungarian boulevards and on to the spot where the 1914 assassination took place. In Jajce you can encounter both the medieval kings and the story of socialist Yugoslavia. In Mostar you meet a bridge that speaks of Ottoman craftsmanship, wartime destruction and later reconstruction.

At Radimlja the medieval stećci stand under open sky. In Sutjeska you find both one of Europe's last primeval forests and the memory of a decisive battle. In Srebrenica the memorial centre tells the story of the genocide and the people who lost their lives.

We work with local guides who can place these sites in a wider context and handle sensitive subjects factually, humanly and with respect.

Herzegovina is one of Europe's lesser-known wine regions, but winemaking has deep roots here. The sun, the mineral-rich soil, the dry summers and the stony fields create particular conditions for growing vines.

In many places the vines stand in a landscape that can look harsh at first. The soil is red, the stones pale, the sun strong. The grapes thrive nonetheless, because the roots reach deep for water and nutrients.

The white Žilavka is Herzegovina's best-known grape, giving fresh, mineral wines. The blue Blatina is a local speciality: its flowers are functionally female, so other varieties are planted between the rows to ensure pollination. Trnjak and Vranac give darker, more powerful reds.

Herzegovina's official wine route brings together around 30 wineries, linking Mostar, Čitluk, Ljubuški, Čapljina, Stolac and Trebinje.

A particular chapter in Herzegovina's wine history is Carski Vinogradi near Mostar. The name means the imperial vineyards.

The story goes back to the Austro-Hungarian period and the time of Emperor Franz Joseph. Today the estate combines that history with modern winemaking, local grapes and a large property of vineyards, olive groves and views across the landscape.

A visit is therefore about more than a tasting. In the cellar, oak barrels, amphorae and modern methods sit side by side, while the fields outside speak of the sun, the soil and the grapes that shaped the area.

Spring is ideal for round trips, culture, hiking at lower altitudes and active days out. The landscape turns green, the rivers run well, and temperatures are pleasant in both the cities and Herzegovina.

Summer suits mountain hiking, rafting, lakes, city life and longer round trips. In Herzegovina the days can be very hot, while the mountains offer cooler air and more comfortable temperatures.

Autumn is a special time for food and wine. The grapes are harvested, the landscape changes colour, and the temperature is often right for both city walks and time outdoors. It is an obvious moment for a combination of culture, wine and local meals.

In winter the mountains around Sarajevo become the centre for skiing and snow. At the same time the cities take on a quieter mood, where cafés, restaurants, museums and historic sights can be enjoyed without the summer heat.