SEPTEMBER 2023
Strbacki Buk is a stunning waterfall, but we were a little disappointed in our visit. Bosnia-Hercegovina still is a relatively unknown tourist destination and with that comes its perks. However, this is not how we experienced Strbacki Buk. You are allowed to call us spoiled tourists because of this opinion. If you read this blogpost you will be better prepared for what to expect and you take the necessary measures to enjoy your visit better.
Practical information
Strbacki buk is located inside of Una national park, which is the newest national park in Bosnia-Hercegovina. It was established to protect the Una river and the surrounding nature. There are some small villages in Una national park, where you can stay the night. You do not need to pay an entrance fee to enter the national park. This might explain the condition of the roads, because in some parts the paving just stopped and you had to drive really slowly adding a sense of adventure. This stood in stark contract to how developed Strbacki buk felt with its boardwalk-pathways. When we visited at the end of July it was really crowded and we had to wait with our car for 30 minutes to be able to pay the entrance fee of a few euros per person and enter the free parking lot.
There are some food stalls/restaurants near the entrance and there is a picknick area inside.
Strbacki buk: our experience
When we were standing in the queue for the ticket office with our car, we already figured out that Strbacki buk was not going to be the hidden gem we thought it would be. We didn’t expect so many cars to have driven the unpaved roads to get to the entrance, but in fact there were many cars. All these people then are directed to the boardwalks that you can walk down to admire the Strbacki buk waterfalls. Strbacki buk turned out to be a really popular summer activity for families, and everyone was crawling over the boardwalks to get from viewpoint to viewpoint.
What surprised us even more was that we weren’t allowed to swim in the waterfall. In most locations we visited the Bosnians have an ” anything goes” mentality. In Mostar you are even allowed to jump off a bridge in the middle of the city 😉 We optimistically brought our bathing suits to go swimming, but this was forbidden! To be honest, once you see how impressive the waterfall is I can totally understand this. Even though the waterfall is cheap to visit, it still felt overly commercialized and because of that un-Bosnian. Don’t get me wrong the 24 meter high waterfalls are absolutely stunning, but I didn’t feel like I could explore nature like I would like to. When we were walking around the waterfalls we did notice that there is a possibility to go rafting in the Una national park, which did seem like a lovely way to discover this area. We should have prepared better on what to expect, so I hope you are fully prepared by reading this blogpost. Apparently, it is really stunning in autumn and the amount of tourists is much lower.
