Mostarska Bijela hiking tour is an ideal opportunity to experience the pure beauty of Herzegovina karst and the unique adventure of exploring the amazing Bijela canyon.
The spectacular Bijela Valley has been carved by the river Bijela and is a completely remote piece of heaven where only few people so far have had a chance to set their foot on and experience this untouched natural beauty.
Get ready to see the stunning valley, diverse wildlife, and an amazing 80m long canyon of the Bijela river with the waterfall at the end of the canyon.
Either if you do it from Sarajevo or Mostar, this tour is a perfect day trip for people with medium or even medium-low physical condition.
Region of Mostarska Bijela is completely safe from any perspective of mines. Funky Tours will NEVER conduct trips to any areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina having ANY risk at all from perspective of mines.
Safety of our guests and ourselves, is our most important priority.
Departure Times Daily: 8 AM from Mostar or 7 AM from Sarajevo.
Pickup LocationsThis tour can depart from Mostar or Sarajevo. For Mostar departure we shall pick you up at your address. For guests leaving from Sarajevo, we can start from our office or arrange free pick up on request as well.
Activity Note: The tour is adapted to all ages and is medium/easy demanding. Due to the distance of the locations, we use vehicles to get to the starting hiking point, but the rest of the tour is done on foot through amazing nature surroundings.
As soon as we reach Salakovac lake on its left side, where Mostarska Bijela river is entering the Neretva river, that is the beginning of our Mostarska Bijela hiking trail.
As soon as we leave our car, we shall start hiking through the beautiful Mostarska Bijela valley.
It is a six kilometre long and wild valley where vertical rocks often reach heights at over 300m above. Majority of the trail are the riverbed waterways carved by the Bijela river. The valley itself was created by glacial movements and ice melting processes at Prenj mountain thousands of years ago, offering us today an amazing insight into natural processes of the Balkans since the Ice Age.
Depending on the season, Bijela river for the most of its flow through Herzegovinian karst can be completely underground, but also during the spring, it could be quite tricky to cross. It means that in some parts we have to take off our shoes in order to jump across the numerous creeks in aim not to get wet, making this experience one of the tour highlights.
During the walk animal wildlife is so easy to spot. We can easily meet up viper snakes (Vipera ammodytes) and several types of differently sized frogs and lizards. The region is known to be home for chamois, wild horses and eagles, with stunning biodiversity of herbs and trees.
During the 1990ies the canyon of the Bijela river was used to connect Mostar and Jablanica, with a two day hike across Prenj mountain. Our hiking tour is a unique way to further additionally understand the story of Siege of Mostar, the situation in Herzegovina and aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Later trail will take us by an interesting cemetery of the Lojpur family and via an amazing set of rock formations called “Kravlje pećine” (eng. Cow caves), we shall reach the entrance to the Bijela river canyon itself.
The cave itself is extremely narrow, at places being 1 metre wide and over 20-25 metre high, with Bijela river passing through. It is recommended if the water levels are high during the spring and post heavy rain periods, to have an extra pair of shoes or flip-flops to wear, in order not to get your hiking boots wet. Cave is chilly and the water temperature is around 6-8 Celsius.
Cave being 80m long, is a 15-20 minute walk through the ice cold, crystal clear, drinkable water flow. Perfectly polished, non slippery rocks are quite easy to walk, and if you are an expert jumper, you can even avoid wet feet too. (But where is the fun then? Get wet and enjoy this amazing nature creation as much as you can!)
At the very end of the cave is a kind of, “heavens open” above us, 10m high waterfall. The water comes from higher parts of Prenj mountain and via these karst crafted holes, canyons and passages, eventually ending in the beautiful Neretva river. Upper flow of the river is not accessible beyond the point of the waterfall. At the very bottom the waterfall is a small river spring too.
Spending 30min to an hour inside the cave is recommended and stunning photos can be taken.
Once we are out of the cave, picnic lunch will be served while enjoying the view of Bijela river passing into lower canyon caves and disappearing in front of our eyes.
The return will take approximately 2.30 hours.
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