Guided via ferrata near Sarajevo

180 metres of cable and 90 metres of height gain on the white cliffs of Trebević, directly above the city. Fifteen minutes to walk in, roughly 45 minutes climbing, graded B/C. The line starts in beech forest and comes out onto open limestone, so you get shade for the first half and Sarajevo's rooftops below you for the second.

Runs April-October

Our easiest ferrata: 105 metres of cable and 70 metres of height gain in the forest of Skakavac Nature Park, mostly in shade. Graded B, about half an hour on the cable, with room to learn clipping before anyone is waiting behind you. If it is your first time on a cable, start here. Add the walk to the 98-metre Skakavac waterfall if you want a longer day.

Runs April-October

350 metres of cable and 160 metres of height gain on Romanija's limestone, about 28 kilometres east of Sarajevo. Twenty minutes to walk in, then roughly 90 minutes climbing, with cable bridges over ravines deep enough that you stop looking down. Graded B/C and the hardest of our Sarajevo-side routes, so do Bukovik or Trebević first if you have not clipped a cable before.

Runs April-October

One of the most dramatic via ferratas in the Balkans, reached in a way few others are: by kayak. After a 20-minute paddle across the emerald-green Grabovica Lake on the Neretva, you climb a 250-metre Grade D route up steep cliffs at the foot of Prenj, high above the river canyon. It's serious vertical terrain built for experienced climbers, but with a guide it's open to adventurous first-timers with a strong head for heights. The descent follows a marked trail past a viewpoint above Glogošnica.

Runs April-October