British magazine Standard described Bosnia and Herzegovina as “The land of turquoise rivers, medieval castles and tumbling waterfalls” and added that country of BiH is one of the best kept European secrets.
Also, they added that only two and half hours of traveling by plane are needed to get to BiH from London and that BiH is great experience for all travelers who got bored by neighboring Croatia and who want to discover all magic of exciting and mountainous country, 20 years after catastrophic war.
They highlight that not many countries of Eastern Europe are cultural center where east and west meet and all of that in the heart shaped borders.
“You’ll find a mix of influences at its most spectacular, born from its blended Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian histories,” writes Standard while presenting ten reasons why tourists should visit BiH in 2016.
- You can go bridge-jumping in Mostar
Those who are looking for adrenaline, Standard advises to visit Mostar and try to jump off the Old Bridge in Neretva River, in the beautiful city of Mostar. They remind that collective jumps in river are organized every July in this city, but advices tourists to hire someone who will teach them before jumping, since some jumps ended tragically.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is cheap
“Incredibly so. Sarajevo is one of Europe’s cheapest capitals, and outside of the city the prices fall even lower. Unlike Croatia, which has prices rising towards Western Europe, you can expect to eat out for as little as 3-5 Bosnian Marks (less than £1.50).”
The food is excellent
The food in BiH is almost fully organic, and as they stated, BH cuisine offers a lot of choices to gourmands who would like to taste Turkish, Austro-Hungarian and Balkan cuisine. They advise visitors to necessarily eat in traditional restaurant “Dveri” in Sarajevo. Standard states that BiH is paradise for meat lovers, but that there are also places for vegetarians such as “Karuza” in Sarajevo.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is not touristy
BiH was presented as one of the latest undiscovered places of Southern Alps, where tourism is growing sector and was recommended to be visited before everyone else does it.
The land of adventure
There are several places in BiH where tourists can enjoy in mountain hiking, beautiful nature, rafting, swimming and skiing. They recommended visiting Perucica for which they state that it is one of the last original woods with spruce, fir and beech, that is, woods that sometimes grow over 50 meters and all of that on the place with 70 meters tall waterfalls. To those who are not for this type of adventure, they recommended to visit Bjelasnica.
The architecture
Despite much of the old cities being destroyed in the civil unrest, Bosnia’s architectural heritage is a delightful interplay of Ottoman and later European styles. Standard here specially noted Sarajevo and Mostar, the old city centers that are peppered with old clock towers, fortresses and stone buildings as well as beautiful courtyards.
Dozens of castles in BiH
Standard states that in the 15th century the Ottomans arrived and build castles which later belonged to Austo-Hungaria which continued to build. For this reason, BiH is heaven for castle and history lovers. They specially noted Jajce and its famous castle which was used as home for local kings, and Tesanj Castle.
The Balkan Peninsula is one of the unexplored parts of Europe that tourists visit more and more in last years. Standard recommends Sarajevo as starting destination from where tourist will go to explore Peninsula and cultural treasure of Montenegro, Macedonia, Croatia and Albania.
“The World’s Biggest Pyramid”
As they stated, it is theory of researcher Semir Osmanagic who claims that largest world pyramid Visocica is in Visoko. They add that scientific investigations have shown there is no pyramid there but that it is still fascinating to see this unusual geological formation.
Visit Turquoise Una
One of the rivers that they specially noted is turquoise Una, where is possible to make perfect photos for Instagram. Locals advise taking a trip to Kostelski Buk, a natural waterfall.
(Source: klix.ba/standard.co.uk)
