Authentic Bosnia and Herzegovina

Arrival to Sarajevo airport and transfer to your hotel. Enjoy the evening at leisure in this friendly city, before dinner at the hotel.

After breakfast, meet your guide in the hotel lobby. The day starts with walking tour of Sarajevo historic area (WHL) which includes the Princip Bridge (the scene of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in 1914), Vijećnica (City hall), Svrzo Museum – (the house and garden of the former Ottoman governor), Gazi Husrev Bey Mosque (one of finest examples of the Ottoman architecture in the Balkans). After lunch in local restaurant, proceed to National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina (with the famous Sarajevo Haggadah, an illustrated Jewish manuscript from the 14th Century), Arts Academy, Franciscan Monastery of St. Anthony, Emperor’s Mosque.

After breakfast, meet your guide in the hotel lobby and proceed to full day excursion to Kraljeva Sutjeska where you will visit the Franciscan monastery that includes a museum in which it houses historical treasures, a library which keeps rare and valuable historical records. Later proceed to Kresevo, via Kiseljak to visit old housing ensemble and famous Franciscan monastery. Kreševo is a Bosnian town with the greatest number of monuments per one inhabitant (8 NM, 6000 inhabitants). Together with Fojnica, Kreševo is the oldest mining place in BiH. At the end of the 14th century, the Franciscans built their monastery (its library is considered one of the biggest in BiH). They built the church in the 15th century. ‘’The Glorious Court’’ in Kreševo was a temporary seat of King Stjepan Tomaš (Ostojić) Kotromanić. After Kresevo we continue to Fojnica were is located famous Franciscan monastery which keep the richest collection of documents about Bosnian history and arts such as Ahitnama of Sultan Mehmed Fatih from May 28, 1463. It holds today about 50 000 books, among which around 10 000 books several centuries old. One should mention ahdnama, a charter from the Ottoman period, by which the military leader Mehmed II el-Fatih, in 1464, guaranteed security to the Bosnian Franciscans and enabled them free activity in the country he had occupied. Continuation of the tour to the medieval village and fortress of Vranduk before reaching our next destination Visoko, where you will have the opportunity to visit Bosnian Pyramids. Sightseeing includes Ravne tunnel, and the sites of the Moon Pyramid and the Sun Pyramid, which contain the largest megalithic blocks in the Balkans. Return to Sarajevo, dinner and overnight in the hotel.

After breakfast, meet your guide in the hotel lobby, departure firstly to next tour site is Travnik, an old trading town and military strongpoint of the Turks. After a break at a cafe near the rushing stream where the Nobel Prize Winner Ivo Andric used to go, climb to the fortress which houses an excellent new museum, visit the coloured mosque and the birthplace of Ivo Andric. After saying goodbye to Travnik, heading north to explore Jajce – in the 14th Century served as the capital of the independent Kingdom of Bosnia (WHL). Lunch in restaurant. Sightseeing includes the Roman temple of Mithras, St. Luke’s tower, the walls and fortified gates and famous waterfall below the old town. Return to Sarajevo, dinner in a local restaurant, overnight in the hotel.

After breakfast, meet your guide in the hotel lobby and proceed with a full day excursion to Foca (a former caravanserai on the trade route to Dubrovnik) where you can see the remains of the old town centre and the famous Aladza Mosque. Proceed via a wild landscape of gorges and torrents to Visegrad to cross on foot Sinan’s bridge from the 16th Century over the River Drina (WHL since 2007). Visiting Andricgrad, a complex in Visegrad, dedicated to a Nobel Prize winner, Ivo Andric built so that visitors, when they walk through its streets, are under the impression that they pass through different historical periods. When it comes to architecture, the complex is designed to mix Byzantine style with the Ottoman period, Renaissance and Classicism. Lunch in a local restaurant in Andricgrad. Return to Sarajevo for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast, this day starts with visiting Tunnel of Escape, used in the 1990’s war to move supplies in and refugees out of the city. It proeeeds with Sarajevo History Museum, Brusa bezistan (City museum), Ali Pasha’s Mosque from the 16th Century, former Austrian official buildings, Jewish Museum, Catholic and Orthodox cathedrals. Lunch in a local restaurant. Free time recommended for shopping and walking, visit of bazaars and market places. Dinner in one of the local restaurant, overnight in the hotel.

Transfer to Mostar for two nights, a town situated in the valley of the river Neretva. It is known for the famous Old Stone Bridge from the 16th Century with a unique arch, included in the UNESCO’s List of World Cultural Heritage since 2005. Lunch in a local restaurant, afternoon reserved to visit old town, Kujundziluk bazaar, Kriva Cuprija (crooked bridge), Stari Most (Old Bridge), Turkish House and Karadjoz-Bey’s Mosque. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

After breakfast, meet your guide in the hotel lobby heading through Eastern Herzegovina you will learn about the rieh history of this region. In the small town of Blagaj, twelve kilometres away from Mostar, below a steep rock, there is one of the most abundant river sources in Europe. There is also an old dervish monastery, an attractive cultural venue, originating from the end of the 15th or the beginning of the 16th Century. On the way south you will have a short break at Zitomislici, where is an Orthodox monastery from the 15th Century, and you will visit small town of Počitelj (WHL).
After visiting Arts colony, hamam and mosque, you will continue towards Stolac. Arriving to Stolac you will visit the most beautiful necropolis of Standing tombstones – stecci (WHL). There are numerous archaeological finds from the Paleolithic and from the 3rd Century B.C. In the vicinity of Trebinje, there is one of the largest karst caves in Europe, 6100 meters long. The Vjetrenica Cave is well-known by its endemic species of animals. (WHL) The last Station of this trip is the centre of East Herzegovina – the town of Trebinje, well-known for Arslanagic’s Bridge from Turkish times and many other interesting venues worth visiting. Lunch in a local restaurant. Retourn to Mostar for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast, transfer to Sarajevo airport for departure flight.