Bosnia Herzegovina Experience

Mostar's bridge over troubled waters

Advantages: Idyllic setting, fascinating history, friendly people
Disadvantages: Difficult to get to - limited range of facilities

Writing any article on Mostar is very difficult for me as every time I think of this city in Bosnia Herzegovina I feel very emotional. I have only visited twice but the whole city and people left a great heartfelt impression on me. I am not sure if it is because of what happened to the town in the Bosnian War, where families who had lived together side by side for centuries suddenly started killing each other, or whether it is the destruction of ...
...The city of Mostar is situated in the southern part of Bosnia Herzegovina spread over both banks of the Neretva River. Mountains are near to the left bank making this area steep. The right bank is much flatter and extended, and forms a small tributary called Radobolja. The city is roughly about 60km away from the Croatian coast and can be found by following the main M17 road. Getting there Trains from Ploce and Sarajevo will take you to Mostar. They ...

Praski 23.09.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Mostar (Bosnia-Herzegovina)

Sarajevo - simply sublime

Advantages: Plenty to see; good value for money;
Disadvantages: No budget flights yet (but also a good thing!)

In 1984 Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympics; just over a decade later, the world watched as Sarajevo burned and the sites of the games became cemeteries for those killed in the siege, at four years the longest in modern warfare. Before the war Sarajevo was often described as the “European Jerusalem” in reference to the mix of cultures who happily lived alongside each other; today an invisible line divides the city separating Bosniaks from Bosnian ...
...and the Siege of Sarajevo very well, it was an earlier event that ignited my interest in Sarajevo: a postcard from a family friend, who was in Yugoslavia on business, captured my imagination and I suppose this was the start of my “Yugophilia”. The postcard showed a famous wooden fountain that stands in BašÄaršija square; it was damaged during the Bosnian War but has since been restored and stands in its original location once more. I dreamed of seeing ...

fizzytom 18.10.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: exceptional
Review of Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina)

Banja Luka - the city I'd like to like

Advantages: Some stunning buildings
Disadvantages: Hard to get to know locals, run down with few signs of regeneration

...you find the people in Banja Luka?" asked a Slovenian friend of mine when we met up recently. We had just been to Bosnia and Herzegovina and had made a point of visiting both parts of the divided country. Under the terms of the Dayton Peace Accord in 1995 Bosnia and Herzegovina was divided into two territorial entities - the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska; the country has one government and people live under the same laws ...
...few people we met in Banja Luka spoke English but then again I've spent time in places like Georgia and Ukraine with people who spoke no English and found the people absolutely wonderful, Banja Luka was different. Banja Luka is the administrative and cultural capital of the Republika Srpska and it's quite unlike any place I've ever been (and I have been to some unusual places - a breakaway Soviet-financed republic, a Communist stalwart in the middle ...

fizzytom 11.10.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: exceptional
Review of Banja Luka (Bosnia-Herzegovina)

Not religious, but i went anyway.

Advantages: Great people, great weather, great scenery, and not over commercialised
Disadvantages: None really but it can be very, very hot.

...spiritual but not religious. Medjugorje is an amazing place. It is a place where you would never think I would visit, especially if you have read some of my other opinion, plus it is a place I would have never thought I would go either. If you have never heard of it, it is a place of religious tourism, thousands and thousands of people travel there every year from all around the world. I first heard of it when my brother was dying in hospital after ...
...told me it was from Medjugorje and that Our Lady blessed it. Many miracles and healings have taken place there. A year later my mother decided to go and see it for herself, three weeks before she was going I suddenly decided to go with her, for no real reason. But now I know there were a few sub-conscious reasons, because of the rosary beads the nun blessed my brother with and gave me, to support my mother, as I knew she was going there to pray for ...

red13 17.06.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Medjugorje

Mrkonjic grad

Advantages: pretty
Disadvantages: recovering from war

...and I both serve in Mrkonjic Grad in 1995-96. Despite the horrific pictures people see on the news Mrkonjic Grad is in fact a delightful small town. Its such a pity it has been depicted as such a dull place. There are lovely quaint hill side houses every where you go. Set in amongst rolling hills and lush forests. In the middle of what is a war torn country, I found it a pleasure spending the winter here. During the summer you have a medditerranean ...

wingbat 08.10.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Mrkonjic Grad (Bosnia-Herzegovina)