What is Štrbački buk?

The largest waterfall on the Una, inside Una National Park south of Bihać, where the river pours over a series of travertine terraces. It is one of the park's main features, and Bihać is the usual base for visiting it.

Can you still ski at the 1984 Olympic venues?

Yes. Bjelašnica, where the men's alpine races were held, and Jahorina, where the women's were held, both still operate as ski resorts, roughly forty minutes from Sarajevo. Check current lift prices and season dates before travelling.

Is rafting on the Una safe for beginners?

On the Una it is organised rather than improvised: the agencies offering rafting, kayaking and canoeing in the national park work with trained, licensed skippers and registered boats, and their guests are insured and equipped. Book with one of them and follow the skipper's briefing rather than taking to the river alone.

What is there to do on the Olympic mountains in summer?

Hiking, mountain biking and multi-day treks across the Bjelašnica highlands, visits to its highland villages, and family activities around the redeveloped Olympic ski-jump area at Igman. Keep to marked trails, as everywhere in the Bosnian hills.

Travel deep dive

Bosnia and Herzegovina Outdoors: Rivers and Olympic Slopes

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a mountain country cut by fast rivers, and its outdoor year splits cleanly in two. In the warm months the rivers take over — the waterfalls of Una National Park, rafting on the Una and the Neretva — and in winter the attention moves to Bjelašnica and Jahorina, the mountains that hosted the alpine races of the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics and still run as ski resorts.

Updated 2026-09-19

Una National Park: travertine falls on the Croatian border

Una National Park protects the upper Una south of Bihać, along the border with Croatia. Its centrepiece is Štrbački buk, the largest waterfall on the river, where the Una spills over a series of broad travertine terraces; elsewhere in the park, the travertine cascades at Martin Brod are on UNESCO's tentative list for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bihać is the usual base for the park, and the same stretch of river is run by rafts, kayaks and canoes, with the operators working under licensed skippers and supplying the safety equipment.

The Una is not the only paddling river. The Neretva, the river of Mostar, is also rafted and kayaked, and the Sutjeska gorge and national park, with the Perućica primeval forest, keep a tract of untouched wilderness for walkers.

The 1984 slopes: Bjelašnica and Jahorina

Sarajevo's Winter Olympics put two ski areas on the map. The men's alpine races were held on Bjelašnica and the women's on Jahorina, both developed as resorts for the Games, and both are still working ski areas about forty minutes from the capital. That closeness is their great advantage: a ski day can start from a hotel in Sarajevo, and the resorts are generally good value next to the big Alpine names, though lift prices and seasons are worth checking before a trip.

The Olympic mountains in summer

The Olympic legacy is not only a winter one. At Igman, the area around the Olympic ski jumps has been redeveloped for families in summer as well as winter, and in summer the Bjelašnica highlands are a country of wildflower meadows, highland villages and multi-day trekking routes. Walking here follows the country's standing rule for the hills: keep to marked trails and roads, because some rural and mountain areas are still recorded as suspected mine areas.

This overview comes from Visaja's worldwide missions database (visaja.com), checked against official government sources; for binding answers, the mission itself always has the final word.