From Sarajevo to Banja Luka

It was time to head north from Bosnia & Herzegovina’s first biggest city, Sarajevo, to its second biggest city of Banka Luka, which feels like a whole other country thanks to to its position as the capital of the “Republic of Srpska.” Now, one might think going from Big City 1 to Big City 2 should be straightforward and because this is Europe, you could just hop on a train or something. Or “something,” quickly became “pricey bus,” because the few train options don’t seem to go from one section of the country to another and no one posted a Bla Bla car ride option either. We’ve been trying and have yet to succeed in using this terrific app in the Balkans… 

Anyhow, we were able to reserve our tickets in advance through the Centrotrans website, which fortunately had one morning option to leave from the Central Sarajevo station rather than the farwaway land of the “east” station. For the five hour ride, which left 30 minutes late, it cost $63/two tickets + $2.30 for our tiny backpacks which apparently cost the same as the behemoth roller bags some travelers have that could fit dead bodies inside. But at least we didn’t solely get ripped off this time. 

In hindsight, after learning how challenging and expensive it is to day trip in the region, and for us to attain a daily rental car in Banja Luka, we realized we planned this all wrong. We wish we had instead taken the Sarajevo-Banja Luka bus to stay over in destinations along the way…two nights in Travnik, two in Jajce and four in Banja Luka.

But maybe someone else can learn from our error….

The silver lining is, parts of this drive are absolutely stunning and gave us a marvelous tease from the dirty bus window of all the parts of Bosnia & Herzegovina we’d be leaving on the table. A country we probably won’t be exploring any further UNLESS it’s with an extended car rental….and probably a tent. 

We did fortunately finally make it to Jajce for my birthday adventure, a dreamy destination which will be featured in the next posts.  Before that, here are some photos of the ride from Jajce to Banja Luka, one of B&H’s most beautiful and nature-nestled sections. It’s overflowing with luscious limestone creations surrounding crystalline river gorges…

….and unique natural attractions. This is one reason why it’s a very popular area for rafting and kayaking. 

Northward bound, back into the Republic of Srpska. Yes, the Balkans continue to be complicated. So, without going into too much backstory, this is a big part of the reason the transportation is challenging in B&H…two (actually three including Brčko) autonomous regions and political entities hack up the country turning it into a bit of a perplexing puzzle for any traveler, especially those who desire to go off-the-beaten path.

The first is the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina and the second is Republic of Srpska. The former is mostly Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) and Croat areas including Sarajevo, Mostar, Tuzla, Bihać. The latter is Republic Srpska  which includes Banja Luka, Foča, Trebinje and Zvornik (where we crossed from Serbia on July 4). This is why culturally Srpska feels quite culturally different from Sarajevo or Mostar. (Map courtesy of Eptihinktank/Eu).

To confuse things further, there are two main geographic regions: Bosnia—the larger, mountainous and greener part which includes Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Zenica and Tuzla. Historically this is associated with the Ottoman and later Austro-Hungarian heartland. And there is also Herzegovina—the southern part of the triangle shape around Mostar and southward toward Trebinje. It is more Mediterranean in character with warmer, drier karst mountains, vineyards and rivers. There is definitely a lot to continue to unpack and learn in this country…

Exploring Banja Luka

After our five weeks in Sarajevo, we decided to stop for eight nights in Bosnia & Herzegovina’s second largest city, and the capital of the Republika Srpska en route to Slovenia. Having never even ever heard of Banja Luka, population 128k, we had few expectations. From a living perspective, we actually preferred the setting and layout of the city to Sarajevo thanks to its tree-lined pathways, subdued pace and walkable thoroughfares. It feels much more Central European than Balkan…unsurprisingly more like the vibe we got in Northern Serbia.

Here one is also more likely to see drops of Austro-Hungarian architecture like these storefronts. Also, a bridge and groom adorably posing for photos with a heck of a prop at the top of the main pedestrian street.

The prominent pedestrian drag and one of the many Orthodox churches, dressed in a rare shades of Halloween. 

While another…the Church of the Holy Trinity seems to prefer a more appropriate Christmas theme. But then, you turn the corner at Holy Trinity and spy an absurd concrete monstrosity jutting up in the background. Wtf is that?!? 🤣

Turns out, it belongs to yet another….church?! This one called Saint Bonaventure’s, a Catholic cathedral which may be one of the oddest we’ve ever seen. It juts up like ramps at a skate park, with the tower adjacent resembling a cross between a colossal corkscrew (fitting for Catholics) and a giraffe. 

In actuality, the present cathedral was constructed in 1972–73, during socialist Yugoslavia after an earthquake destroyed it in 1969. Rather than trying to recreate the Gothic cathedral, the architects created a very modernist structure shaped around the symbolism of a tent, which was not accidental. After the earthquake, enormous numbers of Banja Luka residents were forced to live in tents. The architects therefore connected the idea of the Biblical “tent of God” with the very real tents in which local people were living after the disaster. (Visit Srpska)

The tower itself was built two decades later in a quite obvious late-modernist Yugoslav architecture and probably the coolest thing we saw in Banja Luka.

It certainly beats this, which reminded us of some of the communist architecture still seen around the center of Prague.

Strolling the tree lined streets 

We also found the “American Corner” which, according to Google Maps, is funded through the U.S. Embassy and seeks to educate Bosnian citizens on American culture. Unsurprisingly it was located near a hot dog stand….

Speaking of government, this is the Palace of the President of Republika Srpska. I liked the statues so much I decided to pose like one 🤣

Christ the Savior Orthodox Cathedral with a soaring bell tower.

This memorial wasn’t on Google, nor was there any information, but it sure looks like a bunch of birthday candles…pretty sure that’s not it.

This monument is called “Monument to the 12 Babies” which is dedicated to 14 babies born at Banja Luka’s maternity hospital in May-June 1992, who could not receive needed oxygen because of the Civil War. The memorial states, “The inhumanity of world powers that be caused the extinction of these young lives, one by one. Twelve babies left this world at that time. The thirteenth baby lost her battle for life 14 years later, while the incident left the fourteenth with such consequences he will have to fight for the rest of his life.” 

Other than this, Banja Luka was mostly unscathed during the 1990s War; unusual as it never served as a major battlefield. That said, several Catholic (Bosnian Croats) and Muslim (Bosniak) establishments fell in ruins, and ethnic cleansing was prevalent as these populations were forced out in large numbers. Ferhadija Mosque, a 16th Century beauty was one of them destroyed in 1993. It has since been rebuilt since 2007.

The empty Sunday streets of Banja Luka were practically calming after our time in Sarajevo. 

THE Main Tourist Site: Kastel Fortress

Though there’s not a lot of traditional sightseeing activities that draw many tourists, we enjoyed visiting the free riverside Kastel Fortress, which is the oldest historical monument in the city. This rare multi-layered archaeological site is actually kinda fascinating. The first traces of settlements crazily date back to the Paleolithic era, which further developed through the Neolithic era, Bronze Age, and the Roman conquest of the Illyrian territories. 

The fortress began to be constructed more intensively and adopt its present day physique during the Ottoman occupation in 1574-1588 when it grew into a real fortified city.

Its location was strategically excellent: it sits on the left bank of the Vrbas, right where the smaller Crkvena River meets the area. At one point, waterways around the fortress effectively made it an island, adding another layer of natural defense. Today it has a beautiful stone walking path along the river which we thoroughly enjoyed. 

Mandy’s Birthday Bust

Well, my bday road trip was unfortunately a bit of a bust. In order to sidestep the challenging and expensive bus times we’ve encountered, Greg looked everywhere in the center of Banja Luka for an available car rental, and with no luck, reserved at the airport an hour’s commute away. Unfortunately, Google’s local bus schedule was, once again, wildly inaccurate and this time, never came. After flagging down a taxi who wanted to charge $40 for a 25-minute ride we decided to bag it and come up with another plan for another day. All that said, Greg, and the wonderful Petrušić family we are staying with at 3M Studio more than made up for the disappointment. 

The birthday basket our hosts made for me overwhelmed me to tears. So incredibly thoughtful! It was also considerate of them to balance out the pile of chocolates with vegetables 🤣 They live next door and have three daughters, who adorably always accompany their parents to do the translating. Pictured here is sweet Marija and her dad. 

For a proper birthday blitz and a fitting Balkans send-off, they also gave me two bottles of homemade rakija. This cherry-flavoured one fit perfectly in the provided thimble-sized shot glass with a teeny handle, seemingly fit for a toddler’s tea party. (The glass, not the potent substance 😅)

We also went out for a long walk where I rewarded myself with not the usual one but TWO scoops of Gelato, which crazily cost almost double what they did in Serbia ($1.77/scoop)

I evened it out with another reward I usually never allow myself…stuffing nearly a pint of antioxidants into my blueberry hole, as well as more atop my yogurt. 🤣 Greg also made me a delicious coconut curry stir fry in our tiny apartment kitchen….

….which was a cozy and comfortable studio we got for $27/night on Booking.

I guess the chair paid for all that indulgence. And Greg panicked. Welcome to 4-6. 

Daily Life in Banja Luka

Our eight-day stopover in Banja Luka was comfortable and economical.  We particularly enjoyed the slow, uncrowded pace of the city, our $27/night studio apartment with air conditioning, and the walkable tree-lined streets and parks.  These were brimming with free plums and apples for us to collect. When we weren’t urban foraging, we also found a fantastic grocery option similar to a high-end establishment like Whole Foods, but for about 75% less. (For those unfamiliar, this US chain is commonly known as “Whole Paycheck” in the States.)

This was clearly not our showy apartment building, but another one near us that looks like it fell out of Skopje, North Macedonia. It was complete with Roman goddesses out front ready to greet guests with cool, moist towelettes. Speaking of bougie, Hotel Jelena is where I treated myself to a $45 full body birthday massage, which was amazing. 

Another treat…iced coffee to go. Little did we know, the nifty container would end up costing nearly $.70 more. 

Our grocery shopping was done at Tropic supermarket, which was a bit of wishful thinking on the branding department’s part considering our location in the mountains of Bosnia. Our bill for the week came to a comfortable $51, which felt much more budget-friendly than in Sarajevo. It included these groceries and a separate run for $30. 

Examples of prices: (August 2026)

• $1.35 oats ($1.21/Sarajevo)
• $.84 liter of milk ($1.48/Sarajevo)
• $1.18 can of beans ($1.36/Sarajevo)
• $.79 1/2 kilo of peppers ($.98/Sarajevo)
• $5.32 eggs (30) or $.17/egg (same in Sarajevo)
• $1.13 1/2 kilo of apricots ($1.48/Sarajevo)
• $2.54 walnuts 300 grams 
• $.34 one fat zucchini 

Tropic also had a food bar comparable to what you might see at Whole Paycheck. It was loaded with Millenials and Gen Z’s buying ready-made goodies. We joined them the first night and spent about $10 for two boxes stuffed with pre-made delicious comfort food. Check! You are NOT in the tropics. But you can sure shop there! 

Although it was definitely pleasantly green, and had wonderful flat parks unlike we had access to in Sarajevo. The parks also had some really unique features like this unusually safe, ground level trampoline.  

More natural and safer playground structures that far exceed the rusty jungle gym bars we had growing up. 🤣 And….an obligatory toddler-size chess set…

…which helps train for giant concert style Chess events, which was being set up nearby. (We think.) There were also multiple structures, including a teeter totter, for kids in wheelchairs. 

Cafes and blingy churches, and really flashy sport courts including clay tennis courts, ones surrounded by plexiglass and a basketball court I would have killed to play H-O-R-S-E on as a child. (Being from Indiana, we actually played H-O-O-S-I-E-R, but I’m guessing the majority of our readers won’t understand what the hell I’m talking about.) 🏀