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Plava Voda, the deep blue karst spring on the edge of Travnik in Central Bosnia

Spring & Riverside

Plava Voda

Travnik · Central Bosnia

QUICK INFORMATION

CATEGORY
Spring & Riverside
COUNTRY
Bosnia & Herzegovina
REGION
Travnik · Central Bosnia
DURATION
1 day

ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION

Plava Voda is the spring that gives Travnik its most unexpected sight. At the foot of the fortress hill, on the edge of the built-up town, water rises straight out of the limestone in a rocky basin and runs a clear, deep blue — blue enough that the name, “blue water,” is literal. The spring feeds a short stream that runs through a green park of trees, paths and cafés, one of the places where the town comes to rest in the warm months. For a visitor it is the natural counterpart to the fortress above it: where the citadel is the hard, military layer of Travnik, Plava Voda is the easy, natural one, and the two sit within a few minutes’ walk of each other at the town’s western edge.

HISTORY & BACKGROUND

The story behind it

Plava Voda is a karst resurgence — water that has travelled through the limestone of the surrounding hills and emerges here at the contact with the valley floor. The spring has been known and used for as long as the town has existed, and the park around it was laid out in the 20th century as Travnik’s main recreational space. The blue colour comes from the water’s clarity and depth over the pale rock, and the flow stays strong and cool through the summer, which is why the spring and its stream became the town’s favoured escape from the heat. The site is protected as part of the natural heritage of the area and remains the most popular local beauty spot.

WHAT TO SEE

What to see here

01

The blue of the spring — the deep, clear blue of the water rising in the rocky basin, the sight that gives Plava Voda its name.

02

The stream and the park — the short channel of cold water running through green lawns and trees, with paths and cafés along it.

03

The setting beneath the fortress — the spring sits at the foot of the fortress hill, so the citadel is visible above the trees from the park.

04

The old watermill — a reminder of the working use of the spring before it became a park, preserved at the water’s edge.

WHY IT MATTERS

Why it matters

Plava Voda is the sight that surprises most visitors to Travnik: a genuinely blue karst spring in a green park, at the foot of a medieval fortress, in a small inland town. It is the natural rest point of a visit — the place to sit after the walk up to the fortress and through the old town — and the clearest expression of the water-and-limestone character that runs through all of Central Bosnia.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Before you go

Access
Plava Voda sits at the western edge of Travnik, at the foot of the fortress hill, a short walk from the old-town centre. The park is public and open at all times.
Best Time
Spring to early autumn for the greenest park and the liveliest cafés; the water is at its clearest blue in dry, bright conditions.
Swimming
The spring basin itself is not for swimming; the water is very cold. The park is for walking and resting rather than bathing.
Context
Pair Plava Voda with the fortress above it and the Šarena Džamija in the centre for a short loop through Travnik’s military, natural and Ottoman layers.

MAP & LOCATION

Plava Voda

Plava Voda, Travnik, Central Bosnia, Bosnia & Herzegovina

44.2190, 17.6570

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MORE ATTRACTIONS

More to see in Travnik

Travnik Fortress (Stari Grad), the medieval and Ottoman hilltop fortress above the town in Central Bosnia
Fortress

Travnik Fortress

The medieval hilltop fortress above Travnik — Stari Grad — the town’s oldest feature and the reason it sits where it does, with walls and towers looking out over the Lašva valley and the Ottoman town below.

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Šarena Džamija (Sulejmanija Mosque), the painted mosque in the centre of Travnik
Mosque

Šarena Džamija

The Šarena Džamija — the “coloured mosque,” also called Sulejmanija — is Travnik’s most celebrated building: an Ottoman mosque whose interior walls and dome are entirely covered in painted floral and landscape decoration.

View attraction
The birthplace of Ivo Andrić in Travnik, now the Ivo Andrić Memorial Museum
Museum

Ivo Andrić Memorial Museum

The house in which Nobel-laureate writer Ivo Andrić was born in 1892, preserved and opened as a memorial museum on the old bazaar street of Travnik — the town he set onto the page in “Travnik Chronicle.”

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THINGS TO DO

Things to do nearby

01

Walk Travnik’s old town, fortress and historic centre

02

Experience Travnik’s traditional food and ćevapi

FOOD & DRINK

Where to eat nearby

01

Ćevabdžinicas on and around the bazaar street — Travnik ćevapi with kajmak, the dish the town is famous for

02

Old-town bakeries for burek and sirnica, and cafés for Bosnian coffee after a meal

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HOTELS & STAYS

Where to stay nearby

01

Small central guesthouses and hotels in the old town — a convenient base for a one-day visit

02

Nearby Jajce and Vitez for travellers combining Central Bosnia in a single trip

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ITINERARIES

Day-by-day routes

Travnik in One Day — Travnik1 day

Travnik in One Day

A walkable one-day loop through the Ottoman vizier town — the medieval fortress on the hill, the painted Šarena Džamija, the Ivo Andrić Memorial Museum on the bazaar street, a ćevapi lunch, and an afternoon rest at the blue Plava Voda spring.

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The Central Bosnia Loop — Travnik1 day

The Central Bosnia Loop

Travnik → Jajce → the Pliva lakes: a day through the Ottoman vizier town and the waterfall town of Central Bosnia.

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NEARBY DESTINATIONS

Continue the journey

Jajce

Jajce

Central Bosnia

Sarajevo

Sarajevo

Sarajevo & Olympic Mountains

Livno

Livno

Northwest Bosnia / Krajina

PART OF

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