Lukomir Short History

Lukomir’s history is intertwined with the rugged landscape and nomadic traditions of the Dinaric Alps. For at least six centuries, the area has been populated by shepherds due to its fertile pastures and abundant water sources. Medieval tombstones, known as “stećci,” scattered throughout the village, serve as silent witnesses to this long history of inhabitation. The unique carvings on these tombstones offer glimpses into the lives of those who came before.

Due to its isolation, Lukomir was not untouched by broader historical events. The village’s strategic location made it a refuge during turbulent times, including the Ottoman era and the more recent Bosnian War. Remarkably, the village remained largely unscathed during the war, thanks in part to its remoteness.

Following the war, Lukomir experienced a gradual revival. While many traditional villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina faced depopulation and decline, Lukomir’s residents recognized the value of their cultural heritage and chose to remain. Today, the village stands as a living testament to the resilience of its people and the enduring traditions of the region.

Recommended Guides for Lukomir

Leaving Sarajevo

Having spent the last night in a hotel, which was fairly civilised for us, we were fully refreshed and we got cracking early after a light breakfast.

The plan for today was to find our way out of Sarajevo and head for the isolated mountain village of Lukomir, which has a population of around 13 Bosniak people on the Bjelašnica mountain. This is one of Europe’s last remote villages.

We were planning on having a look around the beautiful area and then later in the day we would continue and hope to either camp wild, a room, or find a campsite. We had no idea where we would land.

Where is Lukomir, Near Sarajevo, BIH

Getting out of Sarajevo was easier said than done. The city has a one-way system, we wanted to head out of the city to the southwest.

For a start vaguely towards the airport and then end up on road 18. We only need to get out a few kilometres, to find the turn-off to the roads in the mountains. But there was a surprising lack of signs indicating places/destinations and exits out of Sarajevo. You would expect for instance to see the airport sign posted or the next largest city. But there was nothing. Well, nothing we could see.

Luckily city driving is fairly easy, there is a big circular oneway system around the centre, it takes about 10 minutes to go around. The previous day we did it several times, so by now we were the experts! Once we got to the western end of the system we headed south over one of the bridges and eventually with a few missed turnings found our way out, with some amusing giggles.

Before we got too far, we needed a few supplies before we headed up to Lukomir, I was anticipating wild camping up on the mountains somewhere, as without decent scale maps or a working GPS I was a little vague on how exactly to get there or what to expect. So wanted to be prepared for whatever happens.

The best map we had was a 1:200 Bosnia and Herzegovina map, which turned out to be totally inaccurate for the dirt roads. Anyway, conveniently there was a fuel station at the hotel and also conveniently at the turning off the main road was a tiny shop. Which meant we were now ready for anything … sort of.

As we headed up off the main road towards Bjelašnica which is the local Ski resort, we climbed at first what seemed a fairly none descript dusty road past a load of industrial cement works (I think), beyond these, we continued up toward Bjelašnica, the road continued to become smaller and with occasionally broken tarmac. By comparison, with French and Swiss Ski resorts, Bjelašnica is tiny.

We continued to follow the signs to the most easily accessible village of Umoljani. This is reasonably well signposted and only involves a short section of dirt track to get to the village from Bjelašnica. What we found out was that if you approach from the other side, via Ozimine, is that you can do the whole route by tarmac, on very minor roads.

Our plan was to get to Umoljani and then try to find Lukomir. Which, we thought would be a simple affair as the map shows a track to Lukomir and we also saw the occasional sign. But we were wrong, these led to Umoljani.

After about 40 minutes or so, we decided to just follow a track we came across in the opposite direction to which we had been indicated. I think we had given up on the idea of Lukomir and just fancied doing a bit of exploring, I could see a zig-zag track going up what I think was Vlahinja, which looked like it could also turn out to be a good stop.

However, after about 15 minutes we spotted a small sign indicating Lukomir so obediently turned as indicated by the sign.

The track seemed to go on forever. But eventually, after passing a few shepherds and their flocks we could see houses in the distance. Just outside the village is a tourist sign, which tells the “Story” of the village, we parked there and went for a wander.

The first thing that hits you is the smell of sheep manure, there were huge piles of it, setting the odour of the area, it was not unpleasant, just strong. As we passed the first houses on the track through the village, the old ladies of the houses shouted for us to buy some of their products, which they had hanging on the fence. They seemed to mainly be slippers made of wool.

We continued to wander along the track and we got to the water spring in the centre of the village, which in the heat, offered an opportunity to cool off. Here we saw there was a small wooden sign indicating food, which led us to a few tables outside a house. We sat down and tentatively asked for a drink. Cassie had juice, I cheekily asked if they had a beer … I was in luck. The guy running the place stopped to have a drink too, he had been cutting wood. He was spending the summer up in the village with his mother, at his grandfather’s house. He used to be a tram driver in Sarajevo, but having spent a year training he had been waiting for two years to get a new contract. This was an opportunity for him to earn some cash for the winter, in Sarajevo. He explained that not many people spend the winter in the mountains anymore, most opt to return to Sarajevo or lower towns for the cold months. We also learnt some of the villagers’ stories and how sometimes too many tourists can appear. Which seemed a shame.

Later we purchased some slippers and grabbed some stuff out of the car, so we could go for a short walk and have a picnic lunch. We found an excellent spot on a peak overlooking the canyon beyond the village.

During lunch we talked about what to do next, I had asked if we could camp nearby and the guy who gave us drinks said we could camp where we parked. Wendy was not comfortable with that, feeling like we were intruding. So we drove down from the mountain tracks.

Finding our way out

At first, we headed out the way we came but spotted a sign to Vrdolje and opted to follow that a different was down. This would we hope lead us to a main road on which lies Konjic, which we thought would have camping.

These tracks require a certain amount of faith. You’ll pass loads of branches, and with no signs, we always opted to take what we thought was the continuation of the main route. What always plays on your mind is landmines, which are normally indicated and should not be a problem in the area we were in but, it just sits there. We were lucky we passed a man and he confirmed we were headed in the right direction and that we should just continue.

Camping at Jablaničko Jezero, near Konjic

About an hour or so later we popped out on the main road and looked for camping near Konjic. Which was fairly well signposted. We had to pay a small 5 KM toll to take the road into the campsite, which considering it was 50m beyond the toll gate was steep. We did not mind though. The campsite was basic, which we liked, outdoor shower, a lake to swim and a horrible toilet.

We parked, grabbed a beer from the fridge and went to cool down in the lake. Later we popped into the restaurant on the site and had Ćevapi for dinner with several beers. All of these places have restaurants and being so cheap, we have been using them rather than cooking.