How to take a taxi in Bosnia: a complete guide for visitors
Taxis in Bosnia & Herzegovina are cheap, metered and easy to use once you know the basics. There is no Uber or Bolt, payment is mostly in cash, and the one place visitors slip up is the airport. This guide walks through the whole process — from finding a car to paying — so your first ride is a non-event.
Three ways to get a taxi
1. Call a dispatch number. The most reliable option, day or night. Every city has companies with a short dispatch number; the operator sends the nearest car, usually within minutes. Numbers, with sources and a verified date, are on each city page — for example Sarajevo, Mostar or Tuzla.
2. Use the Moj Taxi app. Moj Taxi is the local ride-hailing app — the closest thing Bosnia has to Uber. It shows the car on a map, the driver’s name and plate, and runs the regulated meter. The catch: it often fails for foreigners — foreign cards get rejected and sign-up may want a local phone number. Treat it as a bonus, not your only plan. Best taxi apps in Bosnia →
3. Hail one at a rank. Taxi ranks sit outside stations, big hotels and squares. This is fine in town — just make sure the meter goes on. At the airport, the rank is exactly where overcharging happens, so be a little more careful there (see below).
Understand the meter
City rides are metered. A typical tariff is a fixed amount to start, then a price per kilometre, plus a waiting rate for time stuck in traffic. Sarajevo, for instance, has a single regulated tariff of 3.50 KM to start, then 2.30 KM/km, the same day and night. A short city hop usually lands around 8–15 KM. Other cities differ — Mostar starts free with a 3 KM minimum, Tuzla charges a flat amount for the first few kilometres — so check the city price pages or run the numbers in the fare calculator.
Rule of thumb: for any ride inside a city, the meter should be running. For trips between cities or to the airport, the meter is usually not used — you agree a fixed price instead.
Paying: cash in marks is king
The currency is the convertible mark (BAM / KM). Many cars are cash only, so carry small notes. Cards are accepted by some companies but never guaranteed — ask first. Euros are sometimes taken; if so, confirm the rate, which is fixed by law at 1 € = 1.95583 KM, so roughly 2 KM to the euro. Tipping is not expected — locals just round up to the nearest mark or two.
Airports: the one place to be careful
A metered ride from Sarajevo airport to the centre is usually 20–30 KM; a flat rank price can climb to ~40 KM. If someone quotes far more with no meter, decline and call a company — or take the ~5 KM airport bus. Tuzla and Banja Luka airports work similarly: short ranks into town, but onward trips to other cities are fixed-price and worth comparing with the bus. We break each one down in Tuzla Airport → Sarajevo and the city route pages.
A quick safety checklist
- Make sure the meter is on before a city ride; “it’s broken” is your cue to take another car.
- For long trips, agree the total (and whether waiting is included) before you leave.
- Keep small KM notes so you don’t depend on the driver’s change.
- Most drivers are honest — the risk is the unmetered airport pickup or a late-night flat quote, not drivers in general.
In short
Call a number or use Moj Taxi, insist on the meter in town, agree a price for longer trips, and pay in marks. Do that and taxis here are one of the easy, cheap pleasures of travelling in Bosnia. For the specifics in your destination, pick your city: Sarajevo, Mostar, Tuzla, Banja Luka, Trebinje, Međugorje.