A long grey stone bridge with two large and two small arches reflected in a calm river, with houses and a bare mountain behind

Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Trebinje

The Ottoman Arslanagić Bridge over the Trebišnjica in Trebinje. (Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0)

The southernmost town in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the Trebišnjica river about 30 kilometres by road from Dubrovnik. An Ottoman walled quarter, a 16th-century bridge and Austro-Hungarian streets shaded by plane trees mark its long role on the road from the coast inland; today it is the economic and cultural centre of East Herzegovina, ringed by vineyards and bare limestone hills.

Neighbourhoods

  • Old Town (Kastel)
    • First-time visitors
    • Historic district
    • Cafés

    The walled Ottoman core on the west bank of the Trebišnjica, enclosed by ramparts on one side and the river on the other. Its walls, square and two mosques date from the early 18th century, and people still live in its lanes, which fill with café tables on summer nights.

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  • Centre and Trg slobode
    • Best for food
    • Local life
    • Close to public transport

    The Austro-Hungarian town built westwards from the walls, with the main street, squares and parks laid out after 1878. The plane-shaded square just outside the Old Town holds the daily morning market and is ringed by cafés.

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  • Krš
    • Historic district
    • Quiet and residential

    The first quarter to grow up outside the walls, in the first half of the 18th century, its houses following the rise and fall of the ground. It mixes Mediterranean and Ottoman ways of building and is part of the protected historic centre.

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  • Crkvina hill
    • Viewpoints
    • Religious sites

    The hill above the town where the Hercegovačka Gračanica monastery and its amphitheatre stand, looking down over the red roofs, the river and the valley. It is a short, steep climb from the centre.

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Things to do

Famous landmarks

  • Arslanagić Bridgelandmark

    An Ottoman stone bridge of 1574 with two large and two small arches, moved stone by stone in the 1960s from its original site upstream to escape a reservoir, and a national monument since 2006.

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  • The Old Town wallslandmark

    The well-preserved ramparts and gates of the walled quarter built in the early 18th century by the Resulbegović family on the site of a medieval fortress.

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  • Osman-Paša Resulbegović Mosquelandmark

    The mosque inside the Old Town, first built in 1726 and fully renovated in 2005.

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  • Cathedral of the Birth of Marylandmark

    The Catholic cathedral in the town centre, begun in 1880 and blessed in 1884, one of four Roman Catholic cathedrals in the country.

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Monasteries

  • Hercegovačka Gračanicalandmark

    A Serbian Orthodox monastery completed in 2000 on Crkvina hill as a loose copy of Gračanica in Kosovo, with an icon gallery, an amphitheatre and a view over the whole town.

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  • Tvrdoš Monasterylandmark

    A Serbian Orthodox monastery of the late 15th or early 16th century two kilometres south-west of the centre, whose church stands on late antique foundations and whose monks keep wine cellars.

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River and hills

  • The Trebišnjica river beachbeach

    One of the longest sinking rivers in the world, running through the town past old mills and a summer river beach across from the bus station, where people swim and sunbathe.

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  • Austro-Hungarian hill fortstrail

    Several of the peaks around the town carry forts built during Austro-Hungarian rule, reached by hiking paths of varying difficulty with wide views over the valley.

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Short trips from the town

  • Duži Monasterylandmark

    A Serbian Orthodox monastery in Popovo Polje about 10 kilometres west of the town, near the Adriatic coast.

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  • Dubrovnikattraction

    The walled Croatian port on the Adriatic, about 30 kilometres away by road across the border.

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  • Vjetrenica Caveattraction

    The largest cave in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the most biodiverse cave in the world, in the Popovo Polje karst west of the town.

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  • Bileća Lakepark

    An artificial lake upstream on the Trebišnjica, created by the Grančarevo dam, with part of its length forming the border with Montenegro.

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Seasonal events

  • Music & More SummerFestAugust

    A music festival of about two weeks held at venues across the town, including the amphitheatre on Crkvina hill and the culture centre.

Eat and drink

Long-standing places and food districts in Trebinje. Hours, ratings and directions come from your maps app, always current.

Trebinje classics

  • Morning market on Trg slobodemarket

    Women from the surrounding villages sell fruit and vegetables from their own gardens under the plane trees every morning, along with home-made rakija, wine and cheese; Saturday brings the widest choice.

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  • Tvrdoš monastery winesmarket

    The monks of Tvrdoš make wine from the local Vranac and Žilavka grapes and keep wine cellars, one of them dating from the 15th century, just outside the town.

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  • Ćevapi grills in the Old Townrestaurant

    Small grills inside and just outside the walls serve ćevapčići, grilled fingers of minced meat in flatbread with raw onion.

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Cafés and wine

  • Cafés of the Old Town and the squarecafe

    Coffee terraces on Trg slobode and in the walled quarter, where local Žilavka white and Vranac red are served by the glass and the rakija is often home-made.

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  • Wineries around the townneighborhood

    Family-run wineries on the outskirts offer tastings of the local wines, often with food.

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Experience Trebinje

History

The settlement was known as Tribulium, perhaps "the place of three hills", and the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII recorded the surrounding land as Travunija in the 10th century. The town commanded the road from Ragusa, today's Dubrovnik, to Constantinople, used by Raymond of Toulouse and his crusaders in 1096. It passed between Serbian rulers, the Balšić family and, from 1377, the Bosnian kingdom, and belonged to the Kosača dukes before the Ottomans took it for good in 1478.

Under the Ottomans Trebinje became an oriental-Mediterranean town with a čaršija, stone bridges and mahalas. The Resulbegović family built the walls, square and two mosques of the Old Town in the early 18th century, and the Arslanagić Bridge, raised in 1574 on the orders of Mehmed-paša Sokolović, carried the road from Dubrovnik. The region suffered raids by uskoks and hajduks, and Tvrdoš monastery became a centre of revolt against Ottoman rule in 1596. Austria-Hungary, arriving in 1878, ringed the hills with forts, stationed a large garrison and extended the town westwards with a new main street, squares and parks.

In socialist Yugoslavia the dams, tunnels and power stations of the Trebišnjica brought rapid growth, and the old bridge was moved into town ahead of a new reservoir. During the 1992–95 war Trebinje was the largest town in Serb-held eastern Herzegovina and a base for the siege of Dubrovnik; Bosniak residents fled, and ten of the town's mosques were blown up. Since the late 2010s a building boom has filled the town with new flats, and a new hospital opened in January 2026.

Culture & Customs

Trebinje is the cultural centre of East Herzegovina, a mainly Serb and Orthodox part of the country. Its religious landscape runs from the 15th-century Tvrdoš monastery to the cathedral church built between 1888 and 1908 and the Hercegovačka Gračanica monastery completed on Crkvina hill in 2000, where the poet and diplomat Jovan Dučić, who came from the town, lies buried. Monuments to Dučić and to Njegoš stand in the centre. A Catholic cathedral, the seat of a bishop, and the restored Osman-Paša mosque in the Old Town recall a more mixed past.

The town calls itself the city of the sun and plane trees, and much of its public life happens in the shade: the morning market, the café terraces of the square and the Old Town, and summer evenings that run late inside the walls. The Music & More SummerFest fills venues across the town for about two weeks each August, including the amphitheatre beside the monastery on the hill.

Football means FK Leotar, named after the mountain above the town, which won its only national championship in its first season in the country's top league and now plays in the second tier. Visitors are welcomed easily, but the war and politics are subjects best left for locals to raise.

Daily Life

About 31,000 people lived in the city and its municipality at the 2013 census, spread across the town and some 178 settlements in the surrounding hills and fields. Trebinje is the economic centre of East Herzegovina, and most of its economy is in services. The headquarters of Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske, the entity's state-owned power company and its largest employer, is here.

Most people live in the newer streets west of the Old Town, laid out under Austria-Hungary and after, and in the apartment blocks that have gone up since the late 2010s, a boom that has pushed property prices up. Vineyards and family-run wineries fill the outskirts.

The day begins early at the market under the plane trees, when villagers bring in produce, and continues over long coffees on the square. In summer the river beach fills in the afternoon heat and the town comes back to life in the evening. Dubrovnik, half an hour away by road, is the nearest large city, and the Old Town, bridge and wineries draw day visitors from the coast.

Food

Trebinje eats the Herzegovinian way, with Mediterranean influences alongside the many recipes from the Ottoman era. Ćevapi — grilled fingers of minced meat in flatbread with raw onion and kajmak, a creamy dairy product similar to clotted cream — are served at small grills in and around the Old Town. Meat, potatoes and bread are baked under the sač, a bell-shaped lid covered with live coals, and Herzegovina is the usual home of sir iz mijeha, cheese aged in a sheep's skin.

Wine is the town's pride. Žilavka, a white grape known for its freshness and acidity, and Vranac, a red grape of Montenegrin origin, are poured in almost every café, and family-run wineries on the outskirts offer tastings. The monks of Tvrdoš make wine and keep historic cellars. Rakija in local cafés is often home-made, and grape rakija, lozovača, is made across the country.

The morning market on the square is the centre of food life: fruit and vegetables from village gardens, cheese, home-made wine and rakija, with the best choice on Saturdays. Bosnian coffee is taken slowly on café terraces.

Planning tools

Budget

Trebinje costs a fraction of Dubrovnik, half an hour away, and most of what makes a visit — the Old Town, the bridge, the market, the river beach and the hill walks — is free. Rooms, grills, coffee and local wine are cheap; the main extras are wine tastings, taxis across the border and a hire car for the monasteries and the Popovo Polje.

Daily Budget Midrange
USD 80–140 (good guesthouse or hotel, restaurant meals with local wine, a winery tasting, a hire car or taxis)
Daily Budget Shoestring
USD 40–65 (hostel or guesthouse, ćevapi and bakery food, market fruit, buses)

Pay in convertible marks: euros are taken in some places but at a poor rate.

Best Time to Visit

April to June and September to October, when days are warm but not fierce. July and August are hot and dry, eased by swimming in the river and the August music festival. Winters are mild and wet in the valley.

Suggested Number of Days

The town itself is small and a day or two is enough. Allow three or four days to add the monasteries, the wineries and the Popovo Polje, or to use Trebinje as a quiet, cheaper base for the coast. A car shortens the time needed for the surroundings.

First Visit
1–2 days
With Surroundings
3–4 days

Transportation

Trebinje is small and best explored on foot, and bicycles can be hired in town. Buses run to Dubrovnik, Herceg Novi and Mostar and daily to Sarajevo, Podgorica, Kotor and Belgrade, though services to Dubrovnik are few despite the short distance. The monasteries outside town, the wineries and the Popovo Polje are far easier by car or taxi.

Carry a passport: Croatia and Montenegro are both a short drive away, and summer border queues can be slow.

Airport & Station Connections

The nearest airport is Dubrovnik's, across the Croatian border about 30 kilometres away — around half an hour by taxi. Tivat Airport in Montenegro is about 60 kilometres away and Podgorica about 125. Most visitors arrive by road from Dubrovnik, Herceg Novi or Mostar.

Walkability

Very walkable. The Old Town, the square, the main street, the river beach and the Arslanagić Bridge, about a kilometre north of the centre along the river, all lie within an easy stroll. The climbs to Crkvina hill and the hill forts are steep and hot in summer.

Safety

Everyday crime is low and violent crime against tourists is rare; the main nuisances are pickpocketing in Sarajevo's tourist crowds and taxi overcharging — use marked, metered cabs or an app. Trebinje itself is a quiet town. Landmines remain in parts of the countryside, and the horned viper, which is venomous, is native to the country.

Keep to marked paths in the hills, carry water in summer, and let locals raise the subject of the war. Check current official travel advice before travelling.

Climate

A humid subtropical climate with heavy rain, typical of the southern Adriatic coast, with long sunny summers — the town calls itself the city of the sun and plane trees.

Summer
hot and dry — in the lower valleys from Mostar to Trebinje days of 32–40°C
Winter
mild and wet in the valleys, around 3–12°C

Local Customs

Trebinje is a Serb Orthodox town, and Serbian is written in both the Cyrillic and the Latin alphabets. Coffee is a long, slow ritual taken on a café terrace, and the morning market is a social occasion as much as a shop. Dress modestly in the monasteries and the mosque.

Let locals raise the subject of the war rather than probing, and treat churches, monasteries and memorials with obvious care.

Common Payment Methods

The currency is the convertible mark (KM, BAM), pegged to the euro. Cards are widely accepted in hotels and larger restaurants, but cash is needed for the market, small grills, buses and many cafés. Euros are sometimes accepted, at a poor rate.