Six young villagers reported apparitions on the rocky slope above Podbrdo in June 1981, and the parish of St James has been receiving pilgrims ever since. Our Medjugorje tours depart from Dubrovnik and Split with free cancellation and instant confirmation.
Updated 2026-08-15
Quick answer
Medjugorje sits in Bosnia and Herzegovina, roughly 2 hours from Split and 2.5 hours from Dubrovnik by road, so every coast departure is a long day of 9 to 12 hours with a real border crossing on the way. A shared coach day costs $98 to $137. The combined trips pair the shrine with Mostar and leave you 2 to 3 hours in the village; the pilgrimage-focused tours spend the whole visit at St James Church, Apparition Hill and Cross Mountain.
Key takeaways
best tour The Medjugorje Pilgrimage Tour Travelers Recommend Most
Experience the charming small towns outside of Dubrovnik on this trip to Počitelj, Medjugorje, and Mostar. Visit a variety of cultural, historic, and religious sites including St. James Church and the Old Bridge.
From a 9-hour group day trip out of Dubrovnik to a fully private pilgrimage with a dedicated guide, these are the highest-rated guided tours reaching Medjugorje from the Adriatic coast. Every tour here includes pick-up, an English-speaking guide, and free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance.
from $98 Experience the charming small towns outside of Dubrovnik on this trip to Počitelj, Medjugorje, and Mostar. Visit a variety of cultural, historic, and religious sites including St. James…
from $133 A spiritual journey with our full-day small-group tour to Medjugorje, one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in the world. Offering a transformative experience of faith and tranquility.
from $98 Discover Mostar — the window to the Orient — and the sacred pilgrimage site of Medjugorje on a full-day tour from Split or Trogir. Includes a traditional Herzegovinian…
from $137 Visit the Catholic pilgrimage site of Medjugorje on a day tour from Dubrovnik with round-trip transportation. Visit St. James Church and climb Apparition Hill, where the Virgin Mary…
from $265 A private day trip from Dubrovnik by air-conditioned vehicle: the Medjugorje shrine, a walking tour of Mostar and UNESCO-listed Počitelj, at your own pace with hotel pickup.
Medjugorje is about 155 km from Split (roughly 2 hours) and about 144 km from Dubrovnik (roughly 2.5 hours), with a border crossing into Bosnia and Herzegovina on both routes. Sarajevo is about 146 km away, around 2 hours 40 minutes, and stays inside Bosnia the whole way. Your choice mostly depends on where you are staying.
Medjugorje is a village in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina that has become one of the most visited Catholic pilgrimage destinations in Europe. Since 24 June 1981, when six local young people reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary on the hill above Podbrdo, the parish of St James has kept a daily prayer programme for visitors. The parish's own records show 51,663,740 Holy Communions distributed since 1985, which is the closest thing to a measure of how many people have come.
On 24 June 1981 six young villagers, Ivanka, Mirjana, Vicka, Ivan, Marija and Jakov, said they had seen a young woman on the slope of Podbrdo, the low hill now known as Apparition Hill. They returned the following day and reported that she identified herself as the Blessed Virgin Mary. The visionaries, as they are known, have described messages centred on peace, faith, conversion, prayer and fasting.
The Church treats those accounts as reported claims rather than established fact, and so do we.
On 19 September 2024 the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published a note titled "The Queen of Peace", signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández and Monsignor Armando Matteo, which Pope Francis had approved on 28 August 2024. It grants a nihil obstat, meaning the faithful are authorised to give the devotion their prudent adhesion and that public acts of devotion and organised pilgrimage are permitted.
It is important to be precise about what that is not. The note does not declare the apparitions supernatural. Cardinal Fernández put it plainly when he presented it: "We do not say that he does so 'because of' or 'through' the apparitions, on whose origin we do not express a judgement." An earlier disposition made public on 14 January 2019 had already stated that it is possible to organise pilgrimages to Medjugorje, "always taking care to avoid that they be interpreted as an authentication of the events". Our full explanation of the parish programme and the Church's position goes through the wording line by line.
Every tour reaching Medjugorje visits the same core places. St James Church is the centre of parish life, where the evening prayer programme runs daily and morning Masses are celebrated in several languages. Apparition Hill (Podbrdo) is the rocky slope where the reported apparitions began in 1981; a white marble statue of Our Lady, Queen of Peace stands near the top.
Cross Mountain (Križevac) carries a 8.56-metre concrete cross built by parishioners in January and February 1934, forty-seven years before the reported apparitions, with the Stations of the Cross installed along the path in 1987. Both climbs are on sharp, uneven limestone, which is why we wrote a separate guide to what the two hills demand.
The six, Ivanka Ivanković, Mirjana Dragičević, Vicka Ivanković, Ivan Dragičević, Marija Pavlović and Jakov Čolo, were teenagers living in the parish when they first reported the apparitions in June 1981. Several of them still live in or near the village. The 2024 note from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is careful on this point: its conclusions, it says, "do not imply a judgment about the moral life of the alleged visionaries", and it observes that pilgrims' experiences occur above all in the context of the pilgrimage itself rather than in meetings with the visionaries.
Guided day tours do not schedule such meetings, and neither this site nor the parish publishes a timetable for them.
Most day tours from Dubrovnik or Split run 9 to 12 hours with pick-up from your hotel or a central meeting point. Your guide gives an orientation on arrival, then you have roughly 3 to 5 hours of your own time: attend Mass at St James Church, walk up Apparition Hill, sit in the outdoor altar area behind the church, or look around the shops along the main street. Some tours add a stop in Mostar on the way back, which shortens the time in the village.
If you are choosing dates, our month-by-month guide to visiting uses the parish's own attendance records rather than guesswork.
Whether you are coming as a Catholic pilgrim or simply as a curious visitor, a few practical details make the day easier. Every tour compared here includes return transport from your departure city, an English-speaking guide and pick-up from a central point, so the border logistics are handled for you. Here is what to bring.
The closest airport is Mostar (OMO), about 27 km and 30 minutes away, but its schedule is thin and largely seasonal, so most visitors arrive elsewhere. Split (SPU) is about 155 km and roughly 2 hours, Dubrovnik (DBV) about 144 km and roughly 2.5 hours, and Sarajevo (SJJ) about 146 km and roughly 2 hours 40 minutes. Split and Dubrovnik both cross the Croatia to Bosnia border, which is a genuine frontier with passport checks because Bosnia and Herzegovina is in neither the EU nor Schengen.
Our guide to reaching Medjugorje covers the buses, the transfers and the queues.
Several tours pair Medjugorje with a stop in Mostar, the best-known city in Herzegovina. The two sit about 25 km apart and work well as a single day out for travellers who want both the shrine and the Ottoman old town from the Croatian coast.
Mostar's iconic Stari Most (Old Bridge), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, spans the Neretva River and is one of the most photographed sights in the western Balkans. Rebuilt in 2004 after being destroyed during the 1990s conflict, the bridge stands for reconciliation and renewal, themes that sit naturally beside a pilgrimage stop. The cobblestone streets of the old bazaar, lined with copper workshops and Ottoman-era hans, are a pleasure to explore.
Allow at least 90 minutes for Mostar to do it justice.
Tours that include Mostar typically run 11 to 12 hours and cost slightly more than Medjugorje-only options. The tradeoff is time: a combined tour means 2 to 3 hours in Medjugorje rather than 4 to 5. If your main reason for going is the shrine itself, attending Mass, walking up Apparition Hill, sitting in the outdoor altar area, choose a Medjugorje-focused tour.
If you want a fuller day of Herzegovinian culture and sightseeing alongside a pilgrimage stop, the combined option is excellent value.
Anna was fabulous and explained everything, full of knowledge about the history, the apparitions, and the sites. I left Medjugorje feeling genuinely moved.
From Dubrovnik: Mostar and Medjugorje Full-Day Tour
Our guide Gabriel was wonderful, full of information about Croatia, Bosnia, and the religious significance of everything we saw. Would highly recommend this pilgrimage experience.
From Dubrovnik: Međugorje Pilgrimage Small-Group Experience
Carmen our guide was very informative and genuinely moving at every stop. Medjugorje itself was special, unlike anywhere I have been on this earth.
From Dubrovnik: Medjugorje Pilgrimage Site Day Tour
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Guides on these tours live in the region and know the parish, the hills and the history of the village.
Dubrovnik, Split and Trogir all have departures. Starting in Sarajevo instead? We set out the workarounds honestly.
Travel with a small group for social pilgrimage atmosphere, or book a private tour for a fully personal, unhurried experience.
Medjugorje is a village in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina where six young people reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary beginning on 24 June 1981. The parish of St James has kept a daily prayer programme for visitors ever since, and its own records show 51,663,740 Holy Communions distributed since 1985. People come to attend Mass, walk up Apparition Hill and sit quietly; visitors of any faith or none are welcome.
Medjugorje is about 144 km from Dubrovnik, roughly 2.5 hours by coach before you add the queue at the border crossing into Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Mostar and Medjugorje day trip from Dubrovnik runs 12 hours in total, the dedicated pilgrimage day tour 9 hours and the small-group pilgrimage experience 10 hours. Our guide to reaching the shrine covers the buses and transfers if you would rather travel independently.
Medjugorje is about 155 km from Split, roughly 2 hours by road plus the border stop. Departures from Split or Trogir have a slightly shorter drive than the Dubrovnik ones. The Mostar and Medjugorje tour from Split also includes a Herzegovinian wine tasting and runs about 10 hours.
No. While Medjugorje is a Catholic pilgrimage site, visitors of all faiths, and of none, are warmly welcomed. Many people visit out of curiosity, cultural interest, or a desire for quiet reflection. The atmosphere is peaceful and inclusive.
The three that anchor a visit are St James Church, where the evening prayer programme runs daily; Apparition Hill (Podbrdo), the rocky slope where the reported apparitions began in 1981, with a white marble statue of Our Lady near the top; and Cross Mountain (Križevac), which carries the concrete cross parishioners built in 1934. The Blue Cross sits at the foot of Apparition Hill. Our guide to the two climbs sets out what each path actually demands, and the dedicated pilgrimage tour from Dubrovnik gives you the longest stretch at the shrine.
Yes, every tour leaves free time for it. The climb takes about 30 to 40 minutes on sharp, uneven limestone with no steps and no handrails, and the rock is slippery when wet, so closed shoes with grip matter more than fitness. The small-group pilgrimage tour from Dubrovnik has a guide who walks up with you, and the private tour lets you set the pace. If a climb is not possible, the Blue Cross at the base, the church and the outdoor altar area are all on the flat. We go through both hills in detail in our guide to Apparition Hill and Cross Mountain.
April to October is the busiest stretch. The parish's own attendance records make the pattern clear: August is the peak, June and October are close behind, and January and February are the quietest months of the year. The two dates that fill the village are 25 June, the anniversary of the first reported apparitions, and the Youth Festival in early August. Our month-by-month guide works through the trade-offs, including why November is the wettest month in Herzegovina rather than a quiet bargain.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is in neither the EU nor Schengen, so the crossing from Croatia is a genuine frontier with passport checks. Carry your passport rather than a national ID card. Most Western nationalities can enter visa-free for short stays, but check your own country's current requirements before you travel. Our guide to reaching Medjugorje explains what the crossing is like in practice.
Bosnia and Herzegovina uses the convertible mark (BAM, written KM locally), which is pegged to the euro at a fixed 1 EUR to 1.95583 BAM, so one euro is very close to two marks. Euros are often accepted in Medjugorje, but at a worse rate than the peg and your change comes back in marks, so paying in marks is cheaper. Cards work at hotels and larger restaurants; small cafés and stalls want cash. There is no entrance fee anywhere at the shrine. Our breakdown of what a visit costs has the numbers.
Yes, Medjugorje tours 2026 are available now for all departure cities. Choose from the Mostar and Medjugorje day trip from Dubrovnik, the small-group pilgrimage from Dubrovnik, the Split departure with wine tasting, the dedicated day tour from Dubrovnik, or the private Medjugorje & Mostar tour from Dubrovnik; starting in Bosnia, see our guide to visiting from Sarajevo. All include free cancellation.
Several of the pilgrimage-focused departures are led by guides who know the parish well and explain the history of the reported apparitions along the way. Reviews on the small-group experience from Dubrovnik single out its guides in particular. If you want the parish programme itself rather than a guided commentary, our guide to the Mass times and the daily schedule sets out both seasons.
Departure frequency thins outside the main season, and the shrine itself never closes. Use the Check Availability button on any tour to see the live calendar for your dates.
Cover shoulders and knees in the church and the prayer areas; a light scarf handles it in summer heat. The more consequential choice is footwear, because both hills are sharp, uneven limestone that punishes sandals and smooth soles. Carry water and sun protection, since there is none on either climb and the paths have no shade. Our guide to the two climbs has the full list.
The private Medjugorje tour from Dubrovnik is ideal for families, couples marking a special occasion, parish groups, and anyone who wants a fully flexible day at the shrine. The per-person cost is higher than shared tours but decreases as your group size grows. For groups of 5 or more, the pricing becomes very competitive, and the itinerary flexibility is unmatched.
No, and the distinction matters. On 19 September 2024 the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published a note titled "The Queen of Peace", approved by Pope Francis on 28 August 2024, granting a nihil obstat. That permits devotion and public acts of worship and means the faithful are authorised to give the devotion their prudent adhesion. It is explicitly not a declaration that the apparitions are supernatural: the Dicastery said it does not express a judgement on their origin. We go through the wording in our guide to the parish programme and the Church's position.
The parish runs two seasons. From 1 September to 31 May the evening programme runs 5pm to 8pm, with the Rosary at 5pm and Mass at 6pm. From 1 June to 31 August it runs 6pm to 9pm, with the Rosary at 6pm and Mass at 7pm. Morning Masses are celebrated in several languages, though the parish does not publish those clock times on its programme page. Our guide to Mass times and the daily schedule has the full table, including adoration and confession.
Planning your visit
The guides below answer the questions that come up once the tour is booked: how to get there under your own steam, what the two climbs demand, when the village is busy and what a few days on the ground actually costs.