Experience Bosnia: A European Country No One Seems to Talk About

There’s this feeling that you get when you’ve reached roads less traveled. As you’re making your way through this new foreign place you think, “This is what it means to be ALIVE” . You realize that most people may never walk down these same streets as you.

Yet you wish they could, so that they too could understand this feeling.

You are surrounded by people who speak a different language, and this time it’s one you’ve never heard spoken until now. And it is now that you recognize that YOU are the foreigner.

And in this giant world that we have such a small place in, we all should feel that feeling once in a while. It is then that you are no longer a master of your surroundings. You have to work a bit harder to ask for what you need and to communicate overall. You are more vulnerable, and it is one of the most humbling things you can experience.

Communication is left to smiles, body language, and the few words you learn with what you’re sure is a very strange accent, and it’s then too that you realize it’s no longer about words because you can no longer really use them.  It’s about how you communicate in the ways you know how.

And in all of this there is a sense of comfort you get anyway, no matter how foreign the place and no matter how far you’ve stepped outside of your comfort zone, because you realize that in a sense we’re all the same just from different places on the globe. It’s a sense of what it’s like to travel off the beaten path.

And this is what it feels like to travel in Bosnia.

Bosnia is a European country you really don’t hear much about. We had never heard anyone talk about traveling to Bosnia or that it was even on anyone’s list. Mike remembers hearing about the war when he was younger that happened in the 90’s. I was too young in the early 90’s to remember or to understand.

As you walk through the streets of these towns you can feel the mark the war made on the country and it’s people, while being aware that you couldn’t possibly fathom the effect it made on their lives.

It’s hard to grasp that many of these people we would cross paths with on the streets had lived through that war. After all, the early 90’s wasn’t that long ago.

It gave us a sense that these people were strong and invincible as they carried on with life and continued to live it.

You can feel the war and the mark it made, yet despite this the country now feels incredibly safe, welcoming, and warm. 

We didn’t meet a single American on our travels there, though I’m sure there had to be a few others out there, curious as we were.  The well-traveled Europeans and Australians had recognized that there was something to be discovered there.

We fell in love with Bosnia instantly, and want others to know the magic there is to be discovered there. We spent most of our time in Mostar, Bosnia specifically, so the highlights for us were in this magical city.

Here are some of the many reasons we loved the country and why you should consider it on your next trip to Europe.

The people are some of the friendliest you’ll ever meet

People were always willing to help us. We didn’t speak the language, which can give people on the other side tons of opportunity to take advantage of you if they really wanted to. But to our surprise, it was quite the opposite. 

I remember walking in to a bakery and pointing to a baked pretzel we wanted to try. We paid the lady thinking we had understood the amount, but as we began to walk away she stopped us making us realize we had overpaid. 

We’ve experienced our fair share of being overcharged in other countries simply because we’re tourists, so it was a simple act of kindness that really stood out to us.

We ran in to only one rude person in all of Bosnia, and it was on our first tram ride in Sarajevo, Bosnia. When you ride the tram, you must stamp your ticket as soon as you hop on. This is true for most transportation in Europe.  If you don’t and the officer is on board, they can charge you a substantial fee that you must pay them right then and there. 

For whatever reason, one of our tickets didn’t stamp correctly even though we had ran both through the machine and of course, this was the time that the officer was on board and checking tickets. 

When he got to us, he stopped and asked why our ticket wasn’t stamped – first in Bosnian until he recognized we were looking at each other very puzzled and then he went on to ask us in broken English.

We told him that there must be something wrong with the machine, because clearly one of our tickets was stamped, but the other was not. He wasn’t going to let this one slide. He told us we needed to pay 50 marks (around $25 USD) because of this. We were shocked as we stared at each other not knowing what to do.

Right away, we heard a man behind us say something in Bosnian to the officer. Then a lady sitting in front of us did the same. They went back and forth for a few minutes until the officer looked frustrated, stamped our ticket, and exited the tram.

The lady and man both looked at us and said the only English words they knew, “It’s okay.”

I looked them both in the eyes, trying not to fill them with grateful tears, and said the only word I knew in Bosnian, “Hvala.”

It was a moment we will never forget.

It was hard to communicate with almost anyone there, but through body language, smiling, and trying to use the few words we learned (thank you, hello, good afternoon, and even 1,2, & 3) were simple acts that were genuinely appreciated. 

There is a type of energy that you get from the Bosnian people that is unmatched, and you feel it in every interaction you have.

A wise lady once said, “It are the eyes that speak”, a statement we have found that couldn’t be more true. It were the eyes that were always telling us that the people of Bosnia were good people.

The food is to die for

The meat is some of – if not – the very best meat we’ve put in to our mouths. If you’re a vegetarian you’ll have options, but the magic here is in the meat.

It’s hard to walk away from a meal in Bosnia without a full stomach.

Our favorite breakfast choice was a Burek, which is a (most times, giant) flaky pastry that is filled with either cheese, spinach and cheese, or meat. We preferred the meat filled option, which was full of a flavorful shredded beef. You could find these for under $1 and when hot, they would melt in your mouth.  

Bosnia is very famous for their cevapi or cevapcici. It’s a type of minced meat many times stuffed in to a grilled pita-like bread served with grilled onions on the side. It’s generally not served with the buttercream that you might see people eating with it, unless you specifically request it. The meat has so much flavor though that as good as that butter cream may look, it really doesn’t need anything to accompany it. 

The grilled meat plates in Bosnia are everything. Our favorite place we ate in Mostar (we’re convinced it may be one of our top picks, ever) was called Tima-Irma. It’s a MUST if you ever find yourself in Mostar.

It’s family owned with a great atmosphere. You’ll meet two sisters, one serving the tables and the other behind the tiny counter up front grilling piles of meat. They both speak English and are SO, unbelievably friendly. We ordered a large plate of grilled meats to split. It came with the pita-like bread covered in olive oil, salad, delicious cheeses, and vegetables, with a creamy yogurt dipping sauce to compliment every piece of the dish. Our meal, including two beers, was under $7 total and we (Mike included) couldn’t even finish it.

Coming from a girl who is picky with her meats, I was wildly impressed by how many types of meats I tried in the country and fell in love (yes, I said it) with each and every one of them. I find myself dreaming about that meat.

There’s something about the coffee

If you love a good strong coffee, you will love the famous Bosnian coffee. A woman there told us that the Bosnian’s always say, “Don’t marry a woman that can’t make a Bosnian coffee.”  

I think the point was – that it’s incredibly simple to do.

They simply put the grounds in and pour the boiling water on top, so the grounds are served to you in the coffee itself. When it’s served, the grounds have sunk to the bottom, so you’re not drinking grounds with your coffee. They’re there waiting at your last sip to drink it or leave it. The intensity is what really makes the flavor of the coffee stand out.

It’s served in a beautiful way. You will almost always find the coffee served in a decorative metal set with a cube of sugar, a gelatin cube covered in sugar that tastes like a gourmet soft gummy candy, and a small espresso cup that you can generally fill up a couple times. 

The coffees, like most we’ve found in Europe, are around $1.

Bosnia is wildly cheap

The food, the accommodation, the souvenirs, everything – it’s incredibly reasonable.

We’ve spent a good time in South America, and the US dollar goes quite far there. We had no idea that it would go even further in Bosnia. 

Depending on your tastes, a simple private room on Airbnb or Booking.com would generally run anywhere from $15-25 a night. Of course, the more luxurious you want to go, the more you will pay – but you will find that you will always get much more bang for your buck. 

For example, in Mostar we rented a one bedroom apartment with a kitchen, bedroom, and living room in a great part of town for $19 a night. You can’t beat that.

Meals were extremely cheap. You could get a GIANT plate of meat with a salad, bread, and vegetables for under $3. Gelato was never over $1 for a single scoop. We never spent over $5 for the two of us on a single meal. 

The bus system is efficient, easy to use, and reasonably priced

If you’ve traveled outside of the US you’ll notice a major difference of something most other countries have that we don’t. Outstanding transportation. You don’t have to have a car to survive. You can rely on transportation to get you from place to place, within the city or from one city to the next. Transportation in Bosnia was cheap, safe, constantly running, and easy to figure out.

The younger generations do speak English

Almost anywhere you go these days you can find some one who speaks a little bit of English. Don’t let your inability to learn Bosnian steer you away from visiting. There are people in the more touristy areas that do speak English and if they don’t, you can always find ways to communicate.

Visiting the Old Town in Mostar is like walking in a fairy tale

When we first arrived in Mostar, it was nearly 10pm. We were starving after arriving nearly six hours later than originally planned because of border crossings and traffic, so we had high hopes that a specific restaurant (Tima-Irma) we had read about in town would be open. Lucky for us, it was. We spent a nice long meal there and after it was over, it was nearly midnight. 

Once we left the restaurant, the Old Town was almost completely deserted and it was another thing we truly lucked out on. That night we had the opportunity to experience the town without the crowds. We had the streets almost entirely to ourselves.  It was magical and a perfect way to be introduced in to the city. 

When we walked the streets the next night, it was a different kind of special experience watching the people and the culture that filled the streets.  The buildings that fill these cobblestone paths have withstood centuries.  There is music playing in the streets and so much LIFE.

Stari Moist, translated to “Old Bridge”, is impossible to miss while on your visit.  It stood there for over 420 years until it was destroyed during the war, and was rebuilt.  It’s a beautiful bridge that overlooks the river with great views of the city during the day and night.

The Sniper Tower is a hidden gem 

You may even get the chance to have it all to yourself like we did. 

The once bank building that was taken over during the war in the 90’s and used as a sniper point, lies abandoned in the city and has been filled over the years with messages in paint.  We don’t know whether walking through this building is encouraged or not, but we had read many blogs of people who had done it, so – we went for it.

It was one of our favorite experiences in Mostar, so we’re glad we did.

If you walk around to the back of the building, there is a small opening you can walk through in order to enter the building.  You must wear closed toe shoes and be careful where you walk as there is broken glass throughout the building.  Once you enter you will again feel a sense of what once happened in this building and know in that moment you could never comprehend what did.

We counted a total of seven floors in the building and walked up each and every one of them.  There is a giant gap on each level between the stairs and the floors, so just be careful as you walk up each one.  

On each floor the graffiti expresses thoughts, feelings, and ideas through words and art.  We walked through the building for at least two hours in silence as we read all the writings and admired each mural.

Once you arrive to the top, you reach a small metal ladder that you can climb to get to the very top of the building.  Once you reach the top you have unmatched views of the city below you.

The Blagaj Tekke is stunning 

Thirty minutes away from Mostar by bus is the stunning Blagaj Tekke, a nearly 600 year old Dervish monastery that was built at the base of a cliff wall next to the beautiful Buna river. There’s something about the surroundings of the monastery that will have you captivated and feeling at peace. Surprisingly enough, it’s not overly crowded either if you go early enough in the day.

You are able to walk in the bright and vibrant Tekke. Out of respect, you must take off your shoes and women are asked to cover their heads and legs, while men are to cover skin shown above their knees. They have beautiful scarves to provide to you if you don’t have a scarf handy.

It cost the two of us less than 10 USD including transportation, entry, ice cream, and two pairs of earrings for me. The bus ride from Mostar to Blagaj is also very tranquil and scenic.

It is overflowing with culture and history 

The country brings in tourists from all over Europe, so you have the opportunity to experience the country with people from all over speaking a number of languages and practicing different customs and traditions.  

There are women everywhere wearing hijabs and burqas, some clothed from head to toe with everything aside from their eyes covered.  It was something I had never seen before and it was a custom I didn’t know much about. I remember expressing to Mike that I didn’t understand. Why did women have to cover themselves and not men? And what I was to discover is that it goes much deeper than that.

There are many reasons why women wear burqas and hijabs. I also learned that there are a number of names for the different types of veils. Among many of these reasons is one being that women wear it by choice, as a symbol of dedication to their religion and customs. It was a beautiful thing to learn and to recognize. It was a great representation of how we can learn by travel and how a custom can be so different than what we are used to, yet, it’s a person just like us celebrating and expressing life in a different way.

It is beautiful to recognize and accept these differences.

The prayer calls are very special to witness 

Every day, multiple times a day you will hear prayer calls throughout cities across the country.  It was our first time experiencing the sounds of the prayer calls and it was very special to experience, sometimes too seeing people stopping what they were doing to participate. 

It’s truly amazing to witness other people living their lives differently, yet the same, just celebrating different customs and holding on to them.

So go on, friend. Go and experience something wildly different. Go discover what it feels like to experience the roads less traveled, and eat yourself a load of some of the best meat you’ve ever tasted while you’re at it.

“It’s an irritating reality that many places and events defy description. Angkor Wat and Machu Picchu, for instance, seem to demand silence, like a love affair you can never talk about. For a while after, you fumble for words, trying vainly to assemble a private narrative, an explanation, a comfortable way to frame where you’ve been and what’s happened. In the end, you’re just happy you were there — with your eyes open — and lived to see it.” – Anthony Bourdain