UKC

Heading to Bosnia for a climbing trip. Having trouble finding a source for Bosnian currency?

Some currencies don't trade outside of their borders. We just got back from Morocco where we had to buy currency when we landed and Guatemala was the same a few years back, not sure if it's changed. Some use the Revolut card for purchases as the rates are good or take a pile of UK bank notes and convert there if you dare to carry cash. Not sure what the ATM's are like.

Nigh on 20 years ago now but I arrived at a  deserted Sarajevo bus station at 4am, I can't remember lack of local currency being a problem once stuff started opening up. No douby there'll be exchange places everywhere obvious, or euros will do at a push

Not been to Bosnia for many years, when the DM was the commonly accepted currency, and expect (but not definite) that Euros would now be accepted in most places. As it's not a common currency you'd have the same issues trying to convert any excess Marka back to GBP when you returned.

As mentioned previously, Revolut, Halifax Clarity or Starling (other cards available) which do no commission transactions at the current exchange rate might be useful. Cashpoints will be available in most towns, but check the specific area you'll be visiting.

I like Starling as you can get a separate physical card (with different 16 digit number and CVC number) linked to a 'space' in your current account that can't access the rest of the account (useful if it gets stolen/cloned, you just disable it in the app), and 'virtual cards' for use with NFC on your phone, (again linked to separate 'spaces'), that can be deleted and a new one generated if needed.

I was in Bosnia in 2016 and used my Halifax Clarity card mostly. But I also got some currency out of a local atm as cash is helpful and we were in remote areas. 

Thoroughly enjoyed it - great country. The Tara Gorge was well worth a visit

If I remember correctly a few years back, many places accepted Euros in the cities – but for the really delicious food in the smaller local cevabdzinica, buregdzinica, pekara or cafes all over the place, you might be better with some convertible marks. We just exchanged some on arrival.

BTW, if you need some EN‑valve gas stove canisters (as most small general shops used to sell only the "pierce‑once and keep on the stove til empty" type of canisters) and arrive in Sarajevo, they had some in an outdoor equipment store in the Otoka shopping centre, just across the river from the Olympic swimming pool and the main city boulevard. Or there is a Mercator shopping centre like 300 m from the airport, but I haven't tried there.

Enjoy, it's once again a beautiful place. And just for some peace of mind – even if after decades of mine clearance, nowadays just under 2% of the country area is still suspect of having mines or UXOs – you can get up to date landmine and suspect areas maps from EUFOR:

https://www.euforbih.org/index.php/bih-minefield-maps