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Welcome to Bosnia and Herzegovina, land of Valter. Welcome to Sarajevo, city of Valter, city of 14th Winter Oympic Games and European Jerusalem.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is easily accessible by air, road or train. All larger cities, boast a wide range of furnished and unfurnished accommodations for rent, ranging from centrally located apartments to family homes in quiet suburbs. For shorter stays, hotels of different categories can be found in every city.

Travel by air

Chinese visitors to Bosnia and Herzegovina usually choose to travel via airports in Istanbul, Vienna, Zurich, Munich, Budapest, and London. Sarajevo Airport has direct flights to many European cities and connecting flights to all of them. Major airport in Sarajevo is only 20 minutes away from the city centre.

Travel by road and rail

Bosnia and Herzegovina can be entered by road from road borders in Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro. A standard EU licence is required alongside an International Driving Permit, and third party insurance must be purchased for the duration of the stay in the country. Border crossing points contain insurance brokers making the process simpler. You do not need this insurance if you have a Green Card that covers Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The local bus system functions well. There are few main bus operators that cover all bus connections. Bus companies have reliable bus routes to and from all towns and many villages. Every city and town has a bus station with the daily departure and arrival times posted in local language on the station's wall.

Car rental companies and taxi services are available in all major cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is allowed to stop a taxi on the street and price is not expensive.

In 2005, Bosnia and Herzegovina was added to the Eurorail system which provides much easier travel by train than in the past. The trains are generally slow but offer a great way of seeing countryside. The train schedule is less extensive, but does offer a few really good trips in comfortable trains at very modest prices.

More information and maps are available here.

Tourism

Bosnia and Herzegovina is an ideal place for the active tourist. There are no sandy beaches or luxurious resorts, but for the adventure seeker and nature lover it is a wonderland of pristine wilderness.

This beautiful country has so much to offer for those people who seek different experiences, away from the crowd, whether they are looking for skiing, rafting, hunting or patient bird-watching. Those who search for more cultural tourism will be able to relive centuries of history by visiting many vestiges and heritage dating back to Roman, even prehistoric times.

The tourism market in Bosnia and Herzegovina is gradually increasing and Bosnia and Herzegovina is an emerging tourism destination!

The country has an important potential especially in winter tourism, thermal tourism, hunting and nature sports. Moreover, the country has a 25 kilometre coast to Adriatic Sea which contains various facilities.

Also in eco tourism, which is considered as one of the fastest growing segments in tourism industry in recent years, Bosnia and Herzegovina has an important potential regarding its natural beauties.

The most promising tourism segments:

• Winter Tourism
• Ecotourism
• Thermal and SPA Tourism
• Cultural, Historical and Religious Tourism
• Adventure and Sports Tourism
• Sea Tourism

Winter Tourism

Winter tourism has been an important element for Bosnia and Herzegovina for all along. In the winter, quality and continuous snow in the mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina constitutes suitable climatic conditions for winter tourism. In Bosnia and Herzegovina which hosted the 1984 Winter Olympic Games, winter tourism season begins in mid December and continues till mid April. Facilities in the Jahorina Mountain, which are located at the southeast of the country and also had no damage during the war, are the most important facilities for winter tourism regarding the area and the country. Facilities, approximately 30 kilometres away from Sarajevo and has total of 20 km long ski track for Alpinism, hosts tourists especially from different countries of Europe as well as neighbouring countries Republic Serbia, Montenegro, Republic Slovenia and Republic Croatia.

Facilities in the Bjelašnica and Igman Mountains are closer to Sarajevo and have world class alpine and Nordic ski trails. These facilities were damaged during the war. After the war, the facilities in the region underwent major restoration and renovation efforts. New modern facilities have been built on these mountains and they have the largest potential for further development in terms of infrastructure and sport resorts for both summer and winter occasions. The region of Igman Mountain is known for high quality air containing the highest share of ozone in Europe. Investments have been made in the field of eco-tourism development supported by International programs, and tourist agencies work hard on developing adventurous and hiking tourism programs, with unlimited potential for development.

However, the potentials of this area cannot be fully utilized due to the excess number of residential buildings, limited hotel capacity, and the shortening of the snow season because of global warming. Therefore, major investments in construction and renovation need to be made to improve the infrastructure and the quality of the accommodations. Master plans prepared by the relevant agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina also point out these inadequacies and recommend major investment in order to utilize the great potential of the country for tourism.

Ecotourism

For Bosnia and Herzegovina, ecotourism has the most important development potential in the tourism sector. Ecotourism is a kind of nature based tourism, which has grown in importance in recent years. In the field of ecotourism, it conceptually includes social and cultural activities and also contains fields like plateau tourism, ornithology tourism, photo-safari, river sports, mountain tourism and hiking, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a great potential with its unique natural beauty that has been created by its diversity in ecosystems.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has many national and natural parks which are well preserved and untouched natural beauties. Sutjeska National Park is one of the first that was opened in Europe. Sutjeska National Park, which offers a chance to see the thousand years’ old Peručica Forests and Maglić Mountains which is the highest place in the country, is an interesting place with 17, 500 hectares spreading over an area of high peaks, waterfalls and valleys. Except Sutjeska, there are also suitable areas for ecotourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina like: Una National Park, Kozara National Park, Hutovo Blato National Park, Bardaća Nature Park and Blidinje Nature Park.

Bosnia and Herzegovina with its appropriate climatic characteristics, superior landscape, traditional life style where rural factors are more dominant and suitable areas for mountain climbing, nature trips with horses, trekking, paragliding, flora/fauna study, jeep safari has a high potential for tourism. The rivers in the country create a suitable environment for rafting, canoeing and river skiing. Regarding bird watching area (Ornithology), Mostar, Hutovo Blato, Zvornik, Srebrenica, Bijeljina, and Brčko sites are transition points where bird migration can be observed especially during spring and autumn. In addition, due to its geological structure, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a lot of caves and as a result of that it has a great potential for tourism regarding this field. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s and the region’s most important and longest cave is Vjetrenica Cave.

Thermal and SPA Tourism

Bosnia and Herzegovina is among the first three countries in the Balkans, and ranks in the top 10 in Europe in terms of geothermal resources means and potential. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s thermal waters have superior qualifications when compared with European thermal waters like flow and temperatures along with various physical and chemical properties. Thermal waters, has a natural spring and also is water efficient. Furthermore, thermal waters have high value of metal solutions and are rich in terms of sulfur, radon and salt. Because of the clean and therapeutic qualities of these thermal waters, Bosnia and Herzegovina is attracting many tourists to the country. Today implementation of SPA applications by using thermal waters in body care and treatment with advanced physical therapy tools emerged as an increasingly important area in tourism sector.

In recent years, many advanced therapeutic thermal centers have been established. Important thermal centers and locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina are as follows: Vilina Vilas (Višegrad), Sanska llidža (Sanski Most), Dvorovi (Bijeljina), Slatina and Laktaši (Banja Luka), Fojnica, Banja Vručica (Teslić), GATA (Bihać), Guber (Srebrenica), Kiseljak (Sarajevo), Gradačac and Mlječanica (Dubica).

Cultural, Historical and Religious Tourism

Cultural tourism constitutes an increasingly important area. According to a study conducted by World Tourism Organization, approximately 40% of the touristic trips are based on cultural tourism; moreover the importance of cultural tourism will increase in further years. In respect to this, it can be said that countries with rich historical and cultural heritage are important attractive centers for tourists. Bosnia and Herzegovina which had hosted different cultures like the Mediterranean, Roman, Ottoman and European throughout history, as a mixture of the old and the new World, has many unique historical artifacts. From old monasteries and churches to bridges and mosques which reflect Ottoman architecture, medieval features have been well preserved in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Besides these, there are also architecture works from the period of Austro-Hungarian Empire. Every city in the country, especially Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar and Bihać, bridges, mosques, churches, synagogue reflect this historical and cultural heritage.

Locating at the meeting point of different civilizations and cultures, the religious elements in Bosnia and Herzegovina have an important role in terms of religious tourism. Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which the Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, Judaism and Islam religions have coexisted throughout history, has been referred to as the Jerusalem of Europe. Because of the different religions and ethnic origins have been found in the country, it offers a chance to visit different kinds of religious figures and holy values by people with different preferences.

In order to increase Bosnia and Herzegovina’s tourism revenues generated from cultural and religion-based visits which have grown in importance nowadays, it is required to increase the number of visitors to important touristic areas regarding the three religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) like Sarajevo, Medjugorje, Prusac, Travnik by resolving infrastructure and superstructure insufficiencies and lack of advertisement.

In April 2005 during his visit to Visoko, Dr. Semir Osmanagić, a Bosnian anthropology researcher based in Houston, noticed two geometrically symmetrical elevations: Visočica Hill, he named it the Bosnian pyramid of Sun, and Plješevica Hill, named Bosnian pyramid of Moon. The shapes and angles that he studied in America, Egypt and elsewhere gave him an idea that they are constructed by force rather than nature. Shortly thereafter he established the non-profit Archaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation, and since that time the pyramid investigations in Bosnia have become the world’s largest inter-disciplinary archaeological project. After long period of excavation it was determined that Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids consists of five pyramids discovered to date which he has named: The Bosnian Pyramids of the Sun, Moon, Dragon, Mother Earth and Love. The site also includes a tumulus complex and a huge underground labyrinth.

Adventure Sports Tourism

Bosnia and Herzegovina has a variety of adventurous sports, touristic sites and activities. Some of the most popular are: hiking, biking, rafting, sailing, skiing, fishing, photo-safari, canoeing and kayaking.

Due to the existence of the truly untouched wilderness and the wide array of treks available, Bosnia and Herzegovina offers various kinds of hiking from leisure walks in the hills to extremely challenging climbs for the hardcore hikers.

Although the terrain is perfectly suited for mountain biking and road biking/cycling, there are places like the Bjelašnica, Igman and Visočica mountains which are very good for mountain biking.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is well known for its wild-water rafting adventures and it is by far the best-developed outdoor activity. There are four raging rivers that offer professionally guided rafting tours: the Neretva, Vrbas, Una and Tara rivers ranking among Europe’s best for its wilderness that accompanies the ride. The World Rafting Championship 2009 was held on the Vrbas and Tara rivers, with teams from 35 countries competing.

Sailing is popular in the Buško and Blidinje lakes, but the perfect wind is definitely on the Adriatic Sea at Neum.

Despite the fact that here are no five-star ski resorts or high-tech lifts in the skiing areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina but places like Jahorina, Bjelašnica and Igman mountains offer the best skiing in southern Europe.

Fishing in Bosnia and Herzegovina is popular even for non-professional anglers. The rivers and lakes are teeming with trout, carp, bass and other types of fish. Some of the best rivers for fishing are the Pliva, Ribnik, the Upper Drina and the Neretva rivers.

There are many opportunities in Bosnia and Herzegovina for photographing the wildlife; some of them are Hutovo Blato in Herzegovina which is an ideal place for exotic bird photo safari.

Canoeing and kayaking are popular on the three main rafting rivers but also on many other lakes and rivers throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina with its pure and crystal-clear waters. The Tribežat River offers a great canoe safari, and the lake system of Rama, Jablanica, Pliva and Buško are ideal spots for canoeing and fishing.

Sea Tourism

City of Neum, located in the southwest of the Bosnia and Herzegovina, is the gate of the country to the Adriatic Sea. With 240 sunny days in a year approximately and 25 km long coastline it welcomes many tourists every year. However, it is remarkable that current capacities of the plants located in that area is unable to respond fully to the seasonal needs.

According to the estimation of World Tourism Organization, Bosnia and Herzegovina will have the third highest growth rate of visitors in the world in the period of 1995 – 2020 equivalents to 10.5%.

Tourism sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina has enormous potential for development, possessing all preconditions to play a significant role within the country economy. Bosnia and Herzegovina is not only an interesting destination but also can be attractive to foreign investors through:

• Opening and construction of new tourism resorts;
• Expansion and upgrading of accommodation, entertainment, and recreation facilities of existing resorts;
• Hotels privatisation;
• Nature parks commercialisation;
• Resort operators;
• Investment in tourism supporting infrastructure.

For more information about investment opportunities, please contact:

Foreign Investment Promotion Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ministry of Environment and Tourism of FBIH

Ministry of Trade and Tourism of RS