Kulen Vakuf is an Outdoor Lover’s Dream

Kulen Vakuf is a beautiful small town in Bosnia and Herzegovina, nestled inside Una National Park. This town was our top contender for avoiding the summer heat before we even arrived in the country. Here was our experience in that beautiful part of BiH.

Why Kulen Vakuf?

We chose Kulen Vakuf for a summer stay, not knowing much about it. We knew we wanted to escape the crowds and stifling heat of the rest of Europe, but we also wanted nice scenery and places to swim.

Places to swim tend to demand a premium price and also attract crowds, so we knew we would have to rely on our own resourcefulness if we wanted to find a hidden gem on budget.

I knew the Una River was clean and shallow, so I spent several hours using satellite view to scroll the length of the river. I shortlisted any towns that looked big enough to have a grocery store and vacation apartments. We originally wrote off Kulen Vakuf because it wasn’t going to be easy to get there on public transit.

We ended up visiting for only 2 nights instead of a whole month because we could make a stop in September when we had a car for a road trip. Visoko and Foča ended up being the month long winners.

About Kulen Vakuf

As you now know, Kulen Vakuf is located along the Una River, and it is also inside Una National Park.

The beautiful Una River boasts crystal clear shallow water, and (as it turns out) it attracts fly fishers from all over the world. It is known for trophy sized grayling and brown trout.

The town itself is small, but there is still a grocery store and at least one restaurant. We were challenging ourselves to stick to a pretty strict budget for our road trip, so we didn’t go out to eat.

There were probably more restaurants, but we weren’t looking! (A 50 euro a day challenge that we totally forgot to document and it never went anywhere. Oops!)

Staying in Kulen Vakuf

Around the town there are lots of places to camp, and in September there were still lots of campers around.

There is also a pretty good selection of vacation apartments. Most rentals are close to the river, which provides good opportunities to swim, although the water is cold!

We stayed in an apartment inside Villa Nana, which boasts a private “beach” and swimming hole.

We were worried that the apartment didn’t have air conditioning, but it was cool and rainy for most of our time. Having been there now, I don’t think A/C is that necessary even in summer. The local climate seems to be one where it cools off a lot at night.

I don’t believe there are any actual hotels in the town, as it is quite small. (Smaller than it looks from satellite view!)

Know Before You Go!

There are no ATM machines in Kulen Vakuf, but you will very likely be expected to pay in cash for at least some things. The grocery store did accept cards, but our accommodation did not. Plan ahead and bring enough cash with you for your entire stay, because the nearest ATM is in Bihac – a 45 minute drive away!

There is one grocery store in Kulen Vakuf and it is small! There was an okay selection of fresh produce, and a few aisles of dry goods. It does the job, but for a longer stay you may want to bring some items with you.

I definitely recommend visiting Kulen Vakuf with a car. It would be hard to get there on a bus because it is nowhere near any of the major cities that you may be visiting from, such as Sarajevo. You may also be able to visit on an organized tour to Una National Park.

Alternatively you may be able to hire a driver to take you to KV. Bosnia is a place where those kinds of services are still pretty affordable.

Things to do in Kulen Vakuf

Go Rafting

Throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina we encountered rafting excursions over and over again, and Kulen Vakuf is no exception. We sadly didn’t go rafting because our daughter is still quite small, but there are two options in Kulen Vakuf:

• Aqua Nature Rafting
• Rafting Center Discovery Bihac

Apparently the rafting is whitewater, which surprised me, because the river in the town is pretty calm.

Try Fishing

We saw a lot of people fly fishing during our time in Kulen Vakuf. Most were trying their luck near the main bridge in the town.

Fishing season varies by species with brown trout beginning in March and grayling in May. Both can be fished until September 30th. For up to date regulations and information, here is the official site: National Park Una

Picnic at Ostravica Castle

We weren’t aware that there was a castle in Kulen Vakuf, but since it was raining we were happy to have somewhere to drive to!

Ostravica Castle overlooks the town, but it is a short drive to actually get there, followed by a 10 to 15 minute easy hike. Technically you can drive all the way to the castle, but we don’t recommend it because the road gets very rough at the end.

This castle was our favorite in Bosnia. It is totally overgrown by lush greenery, and it seemed very much like a fairy tale castle.

It’s hard to get the full effect from the ground, but one side of the castle is composed mostly of foreboding natural cliffs.

The tower at the fortress is being rebuilt, but it was open when we visited and free to enter, but unfinished. It was also home to some bats, which was a running theme for us in Bosnia!

If you don’t fear ticks and you have good shoes, you could clamber through more of the ruins than we did, and there was also a mysterious trail at the bottom of the castle. (Probably to the village?)

There is a great view of the town and river from the castle. This would be a great place to have a picnic! The castle was very quiet when we visited. We only saw one other couple and they were leaving as we arrived.

Plant Hunting

If there are any botanists among you, you will LOVE Kulen Vakuf. We have never seen so many varieties of plants.

The walk up to the castle in particular was a great place to meet all kinds of flowers and berries that we have never seen before.

Over all Kulen Vakuf was one of our favorite places in Bosnia. It’s one of the places that I think about going back to the most. We loved the camping atmosphere even though we weren’t camping ourselves. It was amazing to be so surrounded by nature, and the most greenery we’ve probably ever seen.

Although we didn’t end up experiencing the heat, it did seem very promising in terms of escaping from it, and it would make a great place to spend the summer…provided you bring all the cash you need and probably some groceries!

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