Hidden Corners Recommended by Vanja Mišić: From a Festival to a Village Revived by an Old School

"What's certain is that we get to know our own regions, and we get to know ourselves," she once said, describing travel through her homeland as something personal as much as touristic. That sense grew into her own personal list of favorite destinations - places she happily recommends to anyone willing to step off the usual tourist route.

Tjentište, where a mountain gets its own stage every July

Vanja has experience putting somewhat overlooked destinations on the map through her work with the regionally popular OK Fest, held in the almost otherworldly natural setting of Sutjeska National Park. She adds that it's there she's had the chance to meet and talk with people from all over the world.

"I always bring up this girl who came all the way from Lebanon for our festival, and who's a close friend of mine now. Alongside the music program, where you're sure to find something for yourself, since we jump across genres depending on the crowd, you get to see these magical landscapes the region has to offer, along with a real dose of adrenaline," she says.

OK Fest has been running at Tjentište since 2014, and 2026 marks its twelfth edition, making it one of the longest-running regional music festivals set in nature. The program unfolds across three stages inside Sutjeska National Park, right next to the Tara Canyon - the deepest canyon in Europe - and Perućica, one of the continent's last remaining primeval forests. Beyond the concerts, festivalgoers can spend their days hiking the slopes of Maglić and Zelengora or rafting nearby, turning the festival into a gateway to one of the region's best-preserved mountain areas.

Pecka, the village an abandoned school brought back to life

Among her personal favorites, Vanja singles out a small village near Mrkonjić Grad. "Take the village of Pecka, near Mrkonjić Grad, for instance - nowhere do you sleep as you do in the countryside, and you won't be able to resist the energy and enthusiasm of Boro Marić, who turned an abandoned school into a genuine little oasis of peace," she says.

Pecka's story begins with a school built back in 1931, during the era of the Vrbas Banovina, which closed in 1985 once there were no children left in the village to attend it. A village that once counted as many as 2,500 residents shrank to fewer than a hundred, as most locals moved away back in the 1960s and '70s. More than a decade ago, Boro Marić and the Greenways association leased the abandoned school building and turned it into a Visitor Center - a project funded partly through donations, partly through an online campaign, and partly through contributions from the local community.

Today, Pecka, sitting exactly where the Sana River springs to life, offers overnight stays in wooden cottages, traditional country cooking, and a program that includes hiking, rock climbing, cycling, and the well-known Mushroom School run by Boro Marić and Rade Gašić, two pioneers of popularizing mushroom foraging in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Every June, the village comes further alive during the Pecka Outdoor Festival - the only festival of its kind in the country - which draws as many as a thousand fans of active outdoor holidays.

Trebinje, the town that already smells like the sea

Trebinje holds a place of particular sentimental value for Vanja. "I always like to mention Trebinje too, because that's a town where you can already smell the sea," she says.

That sense of the sea being close isn't a coincidence - Trebinje sits barely twenty kilometers from the Adriatic and enjoys a mild Mediterranean climate that sets it apart from the rest of Republika Srpska. At the heart of town lies Plane Tree Square, lined with sixteen century-old plane trees planted more than a hundred years ago, under which generations of locals still celebrate births, weddings, and farewells. The Old Town, Kastel, built on the foundations of a Roman and medieval settlement, today houses the Museum of Herzegovina and preserves the region's history, while the Arslanagić Bridge, raised in 1574 by Mehmed Pasha Sokolović, ranks among the finest Ottoman bridges in the region. The town, which holds eighty-eight spots on Bosnia and Herzegovina's list of national monuments, is also known for the vineyards on its surrounding hills - which is why it's increasingly called the town of sun, plane trees, and wine.

The Japodian Islands, five islets on the region's cleanest river

Last on Vanja's list of destinations that blend calm with adventure are the Japodian Islands near Bihać. "I'll add the Japodian Islands near Bihać, on the surreal Una River, to this list too," she concludes.

Five small river islets, connected by wooden footbridges, sit in the settlement of Račić, just minutes from downtown Bihać, and take their name from the Iapodes, an Illyrian people who settled this area more than two thousand years ago. The Una River, one of the most ecologically pristine rivers in Europe, is home here to the endemic huchen trout, while the nearby Una National Park, starting just a few kilometers away, offers further attractions like Štrbački Buk, a waterfall roughly fifty-four meters high where the Una River flows into the Una. The islands today offer overnight stays in treehouses and transparent stargazing domes, while visitors after an adrenaline fix can raft through rapids that rank among the most exciting in Bosnia and Herzegovina.