Things to Do in Una National Park

Raft the Una from Lohovo to Bosanska Krupa

You'll bounce through grade-II riffles that feel safe but still make the boat shiver. Water so clear you can count every pebble on the bottom. Mid-trip the guide beaches the rafts on a sandbar, pulls out a tin kettle and makes Turkish coffee while eagles circle overhead, the smell of grounds mixing with willow sap.

Štrbački Buk viewing platform at dawn

The wooden walkway vibrates from the falls' bass note. By 6 a.m. sunlight sneaks through beech branches and turns the spray into drifting shards of rainbow. You'll taste wet stone in the air and feel the fine mist settle on eyelashes while the first cup of park-brewed coffee steams in your hands.

Cycle the Una Greenway to Martin Brod

The trail hugs oxbow loops where the river smells of mint and damp hay. Kingfishers zip past your ear like blue bullets. In tiny Ribić hamlet an old woman sells jars of honey that still contain flecks of beeswax - sweet, resinous, almost pine-flavoured.

Fly-fish the Una's 'English Mile'

Chest-deep in water that feels cool but not cold, you'll see grayling rise with dorsal fins like small sails. The current tugs your thighs while linden blossoms float past, smelling faintly of lemon. When a fish takes, the reel sings a high, metallic note that echoes off the canyon walls.

Evening wolf-watch hide in Djevojačka Plaž

From the wooden blind you hear more than you see. First the soft clop of hooves as red deer move to drink, then a low howl that starts somewhere inside your ribcage. The air smells of warm earth and wild garlic. Stars crowd the sky so thickly that their reflection turns the river milky white.

Martin Brod - hamlet of wooden houses where the river hums you to sleep, roosters replace alarm clocks

Kulen Vakuf - scattered farm-stays above the canyon, evenings smell of woodsmoke and cut hay

Bihać town centre - cafés open at dawn, handy for bus station but you trade river quiet for city hum

Rafting camps near Lohovo - dorm tents on pebble banks, midnight swims and guitars round the fire

Ethno-village Ćorevac - stone cottages restored by a family who distil their own plum rakija

Private rooms in Palentine - orchard backyards, hosts bring morning coffee unasked