Nightlife in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The bar landscape in Bosnia and Herzegovina is anchored by the kafana, which sits somewhere between a pub, a traditional café, and a place where your grandfather might have argued about football for three hours. In Sarajevo, the highest concentration sits along and just off Ferhadija, the main pedestrian artery, and through the winding streets of Baščaršija. These range from low-ceilinged Ottoman-era rooms with live sevdalinka music, the melancholic Bosnian folk form that sounds like it was written specifically for late nights, to sharper, more modern cocktail spots that wouldn't look out of place in any mid-sized European capital. The Bjelave neighborhood, slightly uphill from the center, tends to draw a younger, local crowd rather than tourists. Wine bars have multiplied in recent years. Craft beer has quietly taken hold. What you won't find much of is the aggressive, shot-focused drinking culture common elsewhere in the Balkans. Bosnia and Herzegovina's Muslim heritage gives the social atmosphere a particular texture, even in venues that serve alcohol freely.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has one of the better late-night food situations in the region, and it requires almost no navigation. Ćevapi, small, dense cylinders of grilled minced meat served in flatbread with raw onion and kaymak cream, is available from small grills around Baščaršija at almost any hour. It's exactly what you want at 2am. Burek, the flaky phyllo pastry filled with meat, cheese, or spinach, is the other pillar. Sarajevo has burekdžinicas that bake through the night. The ritual of finishing an evening with a fresh slice from a tin is one of those local habits worth adopting. Mostar has a similar late-night ćevapi culture along the old town streets. For something more substantial, a handful of restaurants in Sarajevo's center stay open past midnight on weekends, around the areas that border the bar strips.