Best Day Trips from Sarajevo: Mostar, Travnik, Jajce & Vrelo Bosne

Sarajevo is compact enough to explore in a day or two, and once you’ve walked Baščaršija, visited Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque, and understood what happened at the Latin Bridge in 1914, the rest of Bosnia opens up around you. The country’s major attractions are all within two to three hours by road: the Ottoman old town of Mostar, the medieval fortress at Travnik, the waterfall at Jajce, and the spring gardens of Vrelo Bosne. All four work as day trips.

Mostar + Kravice Waterfalls (2.5–3 hours each way)

Mostar’s Stari Most bridge is the most photographed sight in Bosnia. The 16th-century Ottoman span over the Neretva was destroyed during the 1993–94 siege and painstakingly rebuilt using original limestone blocks; it was reopened in 2004 and added to the UNESCO list in 2005. The old bazaar (Kujundžiluk) running north from the bridge is the best-preserved Ottoman market street in the western Balkans.

Organised tour: Most travellers combine Mostar with Kravice Waterfalls (45 minutes west of Mostar), a broad cascade into a swimming pool set in a forested gorge. Combined Sarajevo–Mostar–Kravice tours run approximately €35–55 per person, departing around 8:00am and returning by 8:00–9:00pm. Operators including Sarajevo Walking Tours, Green Visions, and multiple GetYourGuide-listed local operators run this route daily in summer.

Bus: Autoprevoz and FBH buses connect Sarajevo’s East Sarajevo bus terminal with Mostar in approximately 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours. Ticket approximately 18–22 BAM (€9–11) one way. Kravice is not on the direct bus route, so for the falls you’ll need a tour or a rental car.

Self-drive: The road via Konjic and the Jablanica reservoir is one of the most scenic drives in Bosnia. Total approximately 130 km, 2 hours 30 minutes without stops. Kravice admission is approximately 5 BAM (€2.50) per person; parking approximately 3 BAM. Mostar city parking around the old town is approximately 2 BAM/hour.

Best season: May–September. Kravice’s swimming is best in June–August when water levels are high but not flood-level.

Travnik (1.5 hours each way)

Travnik was the seat of the Ottoman viziers (governors) of Bosnia for most of the 18th century, and its historic core — a steeply walled fortress, a colourful old mosque, a clock tower, and the house where Nobel Prize novelist Ivo Andrić was born in 1892 — is compact and walkable in three to four hours. The town’s ćevapi (minced meat sausages) are among the most celebrated in Bosnia; Ćevabdžinica Pišta on the main street has operated for generations.

Bus: Regular departures from Sarajevo’s main bus terminal to Travnik; journey approximately 1 hour 30 minutes, fare approximately 10–14 BAM (€5–7). Buses run every one to two hours throughout the day. Last return around 7pm, so check before you go.

Self-drive: 90 km on the M17 motorway. Fuel approximately 30–35 BAM. The drive itself follows the Bosna river valley and is worth doing slowly with a stop at the medieval necropolis at Bobovac if you have time.

Travnik’s Stari Grad fortress: admission approximately 3 BAM (€1.50), open 8am–5pm (check locally for updated hours). The Ivo Andrić house-museum is free.

Best season: April–October. Travnik is uncrowded compared to Mostar and works well in shoulder season.

Jajce (2 hours each way)

Jajce’s main attraction is visible from the road into town: a 17-metre waterfall where the Pliva river drops into the Vrbas just before the old town’s medieval walls. The fortified upper town — occupied by Bosnian kings before the Ottoman conquest of 1463 — sits above the cascade on a limestone spur. The Pliva Mill complex, a set of traditional wooden watermills on the lake upstream, is a short walk from the centre.

Bus: Buses from Sarajevo to Jajce run via Travnik; total journey approximately 2 hours to 2 hours 30 minutes, fare approximately 18–24 BAM (€9–12). Departures are less frequent than Travnik, so plan the return carefully — afternoon buses are the most reliable.

Organised tour: Jajce is sometimes combined with Travnik in a single day tour from Sarajevo, running approximately €40–60 per person.

Self-drive: 148 km, approximately 2 hours. The route via Travnik allows a coffee stop in that town. Jajce waterfall is free to view from the road and the adjacent terrace; entry to the fortress walls approximately 3 BAM.

Best season: Spring (April–June) when the Pliva is running full and the waterfall is at its most dramatic. The cascade can reduce significantly in late summer dry spells.

Vrelo Bosne (20 minutes each way)

The easiest half-day option. Vrelo Bosne (Source of the Bosna) is a protected natural park on Sarajevo’s western edge where the Bosna river emerges from the base of Mount Igman at several springs. The park is a series of channels, ponds, and meadows connected by wooden bridges; a tree-lined avenue leads from the park entrance to the springs, and horse-drawn carriages (fijaker) make the 2 km run for approximately 20 BAM per carriage return.

Public transport: Tram line 3 runs from Baščaršija to Ilidža (end terminus) in approximately 35 minutes; fare 1.80 BAM (under €1). From Ilidža tram stop, walk 20 minutes or take a fijaker to the park entrance. Total cost well under €5.

Taxi: From the city centre to Vrelo Bosne approximately 25–35 BAM (€13–18) each way. Most central Sarajevo hotels are a 20-minute drive.

Park admission: free. The park has good picnic facilities and a restaurant (Restoran Vrelo) at the springs charging approximately 20–40 BAM for main courses.

Best season: April–June when spring flow is at maximum and the trees are in leaf. The park remains pleasant through October.

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We recommend Neretva river rafting if you want an active add-on to a Mostar day trip — the Neretva canyon between Jablanica and Mostar runs through one of the most dramatic gorges in the Balkans.

Book guided day trips from Sarajevo — Mostar, Kravice, and private transfers — on GetYourGuide.