Raft, Hike and Canoe in Bosnia
Explore the Via Dinarica route through the rivers, mountains and canyons of Bosnia's beautiful Zupa Valley
Raft, Hike and Canoe in Bosnia
Explore the Via Dinarica route through the rivers, mountains and canyons of Bosnia's beautiful Zupa Valley
DURATION
3 nights
LOCATION
Bosnia and Herzegovina
ANNUAL LEAVE
2 days off work
SEASON
May-Sept
GROUP SIZE
Up to 12 people
MEETING POINT
Dubrovnik Airport, Croatia
ACCOMMODATION
Classic
Apartment · Hotel
DIFFICULTY
Moderate
The ability to handle up to 8 hours of activity each day is required. While the trip is graded moderate, the hike on day 2 is challenging.
Hike to the remote ruins of a mountaintop castle before rafting along the peaceful pools and rapids of the clear Neretva River
Clamber into a canoe and paddle along the unspoilt turquoise waters of this wild, narrow gorge
Explore the charming Balkan city of Mostar and the unique village of Blagaj, built around a Dervish monastery
Day 1
Mostar
Driving
5.5-6.5hrs
Fly into Dubrovnik in neighbouring Croatia and drive over the border and into the beautiful Zupa Valley, stopping to explore the charming city of Mostar, famous for its 16th Century bridge over the Neretva River. Explore the old town and then sit down for a traditional dinner in a local restaurant before continuing the drive for the final couple of hours to your accommodation by Boracko Lake beneath a starry sky.
Day 2
Raft the Neretva
Hiking
3hrs · 8km · 486m up · 400m down
Rafting
4-5hrs · 26km
Drive to the Upper Neretva Canyon and begin your challenging hike to the remote ruins of a 14th Century mountaintop castle. Head back to the Neretva River and raft through peaceful pools and down grade 2 to 3 rapids, taking plenty of breaks for swimming, cliff jumping, and snacks. You’ll finish your rafting right in the camp, where you can refuel, kick back and relax!
Day 3
Neretva river canoeing
Canoeing
2-5hrs · 10km
Take a short drive to the Neretva River. Jump in your 2-3 person inflatable canoes and learn how to paddle independently and as a team as you drift through wild gorges. Afterwards, you’ll have the opportunity to dry off and change your clothes before heading to lunch. Then drive to Blagaj and explore a unique city built around a remarkable Dervish monastery, if time allows. Head on to Mostar and spend your last night in this charming and famously beautiful city.
Day 4
Departure
Enjoy a last, relaxed breakfast in Bosnia and Herzegovina and then drive back to Dubrovnik in time for your flight home.
Included
Guides
Professional, English-speaking guide
Accommodation
1 night in Mostar and 2 nights by Boracko Lake or the Neretva River (depending on availability)
Meals
Munch on tasty food throughout
Transfers
To and from the airport and everything in-between
Equipment
All your rafting and canoeing equipment
Not Included
Flights to and from the meeting point
Travel insurance
Tips for your guides
Visas where required
Day 1
Apartment · Twin share
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 2
Apartment · Twin share
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 3
Hotel · Twin share
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 4
Departure day
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
What is the food like?
Bosnian food is fresh, home-cooked and hearty. Common food items include local cheeses and other dairy products, dried meats, fish, freshly baked bread and pastries, and local fruits and veggies.
Vegetarians, vegans and other dietary requirements and allergies can be catered for - please just request on your passenger info form.
What is the accommodation like?
Mostar
You'll stay in a 3-star hotel in an en-suite twin room with a TV, fridge and free Wi-Fi.
Boracko Lake or Neretva River
Depending on availability, you'll either stay in an apartment with an en-suite bathroom, balcony and free Wi-Fi at the shore of Boracko lake (30 minute drive to activities), or in private cabins made of stone and wood, with en-suite bathrooms and green lawns right next to Neretva River.
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Dubrovnik Airport
13:30 on Day 1
Ends
Dubrovnik Airport
12:00 on Day 4
Transfers
Your adventure begins at Dubrovnik Airport (DBV) where you will meet your host and fellow adventurers in the arrivals area at 13:30. Please schedule your flight to arrive more than 30 minutes before this time.
At the end of the trip you will be dropped back at Dubrovnik Airport (DBV) at 12:00, so you're free to catch any flight departing after 14:00. Alternatively, you can always stay on and explore Dubrovnik further. There are regular airport shuttle buses to and from Dubrovnik Airport and the city centre for those that are arriving early or staying on after the trip.
If you are unable to get the group transfer from the airport, you'll need to either hire a car or book a taxi to get to the start point in Mostar (2.5 hour drive). Your host is unable to arrange a private transfer to the start point of the trip.
Travel options
There are regular flights to Dubrovnik from airports across the UK and Europe.
Enjoy 12.5% Off Outdoor Gear
In need of a few more items? All bookings receive a 12.5% discount to use at Cotswold Outdoor, Snow + Rock and Runner's Need.
What's included?
- All technical equipment will be provided (including a neoprene wetsuit, neoprene boots, helmet and vest).
What do I need to bring?
- Hiking shoes and trousers
- Breathable, quick-drying sports clothes
- Sandals
- A swimsuit and towel
- Sun protection (hat, sunglasses, sun block)
- Warm layers for the evenings
- A small backpack to carry personal items throughout the day (water, snacks, shirts to use during activities).
- Shorts
- Energy/protein bars
- Walking poles (optional)
Optional Private Room Upgrade
Payable Before Departure
Optional Private Room Upgrade
… Per Person
Pre/post-trip accommodation in Mostar (Double/Twin)
Payable Before Departure
Pre/post-trip accommodation in Mostar (Double/Twin)
… Per Night
Pre/post-trip accommodation in Mostar (Single)
Payable Before Departure
Pre/post-trip accommodation in Mostar (Single)
… Per Night
Excellent adventure, great to do something in a totally different location and culture. Everyone very friendly, stunning scenery. The hike is more strenuous than the website description makes out, but well worth it. Really accommodating, food was great even for vegan and vegetarian, nothing was too much trouble. Will be booking along the same lines again.
Lovely trip, the accommodation where you set off rafting was beautiful. Food tasty and plentiful. Guide was very experienced and knowledgeable. Rafting was lots of fun and would definitely do again.
Bosnia is a stunning country. The rafting was a lot of fun (pretty chilled, 4 x 2 minute rapids sections in a 17km raft) with some fun opportunities for cliff jumps. The hiking is tough, especially in the heat (!) but worth it for the views. The canyoning was much harder than described on the website (a 90 minute very steep hike to the canyon and 3+ kms upstream canyoning/swimming) so I was unfortunately not able to do that activity. Accommodation and (vegan) food options were much better than expected. Bring headphones/a book for the long drives.
A fun enjoyable trip with a couple of challenging parts.
Fantastic adventure, doing something new in a place I’d never been before. Not often I would say this but I would go back and do it all over again!
Just go - you wont regret it!
Very nice trip. Good guide make sure to book the right time a year because it has a big influence on your experience!! May is best for canyoning and rafting.
Overall a great trip, we were a private group of 10, and had the most memorable time, the beauty of Bosnia is breathtaking, until the next time.
This was a fun trip, we had a great group and the places we visited were very pretty. The accommodation was good. It wasn’t however a particularly active trip. Days started in quite a leisurely fashion with no activities getting going until mid morning. On the first day we did rafting which proved to be quite gentle (but fun). On the second day the canyoning was unfortunately cancelled as the water level was too high and we ended up visiting a nuclear bunker which some people in the group wanted to do. The host said we could do this and also fit in a decent hike but in the end there wasn’t sufficient time for the hike. So overall I found the trip a bit disappointing as I had booked on it for the activities. I felt we could have got more out of the trip had the days started a bit earlier and our time had been better organised. There was no reason for instance why we couldn’t have done a proper hike on the second day and it would have been nice to see more of the countryside.
What an amazing trip. We booked a private group of 6 women for my friend's big birthday. We were definitely challenged by the hike to and from the canyoning, but it was worth it as the recent rainfall and river flow took us all outside our comfort zones. The white water rafting was incredible, and our instructor was unflappable when one of our party went overboard during the trickiest rapid. The food throughout was really tasty and loads of it, inlcuding snacks. Petar, our guide, was brilliant at making us feel supported the whole time. We are already planning our next MBA trip
We've crunched the numbers to work out the total carbon footprint of this trip, and plant enough trees to suck 2x as much back out the atmosphere.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 167kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal for 2023 to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000miles/1609km would be approx. 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person if there was 2 of you in it).
- A return economy class flight London - New York would be approx. 1,619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approx. 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. For every person booked with us since 2016 we’re planting enough trees to suck at least 2x more carbon out the atmosphere than is emitted by their trips. All native trees, as part of amazing projects that are re-foresting degraded land, tackling the biodiversity crisis and supporting local communities at the same time. We go further than that too, also funding re-wilding projects worldwide to help protect important keystone species from extinction. See the reforestation and re-wilding schemes we support. See our carbon action plan.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
A reasonable level of fitness is required and the ability to handle up to 8 hours of activity in a day. The last part of the hike can be challenging but your guide will be with you every step of the way to help you negotiate it securely and safely. You do not need any rafting or canoeing experience as your guide will also give you full instructions and a safety briefing at the start.
Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
Although shielded from the coast by high mountains, the Neretva Canyon funnels a Mediterranean climate into the Zupa Valley all year round. In the summer, daytime temperatures range from 24 – 30 °C, but it can get cooler at night, so bring layers of clothing to keep you warm if needed, especially during autumn when the temperatures are lower. During the summer, it can sometimes get over 30 degrees during the day, so it's wise to bring a hat and sunscreen.
Any excess luggage can be safely left in your daily transfer vehicle or at your accommodation during this trip.
On this trip, you will be rafting through level 2 and 3 rapids on the Neretva River. There will be 4 sections of whitewater rafting. There are also a couple of milder level 1 and level 2 white water rating sections on the canoeing activity, although you'll mostly be paddling gently downstream during this activity.
Our recommended travel insurance provider is Campbell Irvine.
Travel insurance is compulsory for all of our adventures and you are required to provide your policy information before departing.
Your insurance should include adequate protection for overseas medical treatment, evacuation/repatriation, your baggage and equipment and the specific activities involved on your adventure. We also strongly recommend it includes cancellation and curtailment insurance, should you be unable to join your trip for specific reasons such as illness.
We fully endorse Campbell Irvine as their insurance offers all of the above, so get in touch with them or call on 020 7938 1734 to get your insurance sorted. We suggest that you book travel insurance as soon as you book your adventure, just to cover you for any last-minute life changes. We know you’re an active lot and injuries do happen!
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy (18+) as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. Children can be accommodated on some private departures.
You're in good company. Our adventures are typically made up of a mix of solo travellers and small groups of two or three friends who simply love adventure, pushing themselves and meeting awesome like-minded people. See here for more info about our lovely bunch of Much Better Adventurers.
Want to book a private trip? Just tap ‘Private Group’ in the dates and prices tab.
Your trip is led by carefully curated local hosts and expert guides. See here for more info about the guides we work with.
Pay In Installments
You can choose to pay for this trip in as many installments as you like, with no interest or fees.
Full Financial Protection
Your money is safe. Every booking is fully financially protected.
