Bayan’s Vice President and Professor Munir Shaikh will be the faculty escort for the tour. He holds an M.A. in Islamic Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, and certificates from academic programs in Morocco, Egypt and Spain. As an academic historian, he has taught courses on Middle Eastern history, Islam, and world history, given public talks on Islamic history and civilization, and has led world heritage tours in numerous countries, including two previous excursions in the Balkans.

Bayan’s tours are focused on providing a well-rounded experience featuring academic knowledge, historical site visits, cultural exposure, recreational activities, and free time. The itinerary includes visits to mosques and other sites of prayer. By participating in a tour, you are helping sustain and advance Bayan’s mission as a non-profit educational institution. Our group size tends to be in the range of 20-30 participants. This enables participants to get to know one another and develop bonds of friendship and camaraderie that can last a lifetime.

We are accepting registrations until we reach capacity or need to close the registration period so as to confirm hotel room bookings, arrange in-country transportation, obtain entrance tickets for sites, and finalize other details. After the early-bird period ends, we will continue to accept reservations if space is available, at the normal rate. If you join a tour after initial arrangements have been finalized, you may be lodged in comparable hotels near the main group in some locations, if additional rooms cannot be booked at the group location. Alternative timings for entrance to certain monuments may also be necessary if tickets for the group timing are not available.

To be officially registered and receive further communication in preparation for the tour, you must register with a partially-refundable deposit of $1,000 per traveler. For this tour, the refund deadline is March 31, 2026. Prior to this date, a refund of your deposit LESS $250 per registration will be provided. After this date and only until July 31, 2026, your deposit payment and any additional payment you have made towards the total cost of the tour will not be refunded, but can be used as a credit on another Bayan tour within 12 months of the start date of this tour. There is a $100 fee per registration to transfer the credit to another tour within the indicated timeframe. After July 31, 2026, your deposit will neither be refunded nor credited to another tour, as the funds will have been utilized by Bayan for non-refundable deposits with hotels and other vendors.

Bayan's tours are open to participants who wish to join from anywhere in the world. However, the majority of participants tend to be from the United States. US passport holders do not need to obtain a visa to enter the countries in this tour for up to 90 days. Passports need to be valid for at least six months after the conclusion of the tour. Citizens of other countries should determine whether they need and can obtain a tourism visa in due time if required, prior to registering for the tour (given our deposit refund policies). Bayan cannot secure visas for this tour on behalf of participants who may need one.

Our group will be transported from city to city in a luxury air-conditioned tourist bus. However, in each city or location, we will mainly be walking from site to site, covering 1/4 to 1/2 mile at a time between rest points. There will be a significant amount of walking on most days, and streets will sometimes have cobblestones, steps, and inclines. Participants should expect to walk around 10,000 steps per day on average. We will take into account the differing abilities and health conditions of group members and regulate the pace and intensity of the tour accordingly.

Bosnian cuisine reflects a mix of eastern and western influences. Dishes represent Mediterranean, Balkan/Central European, Turkish and Arab elements. We will have opportunities to sample kebab (cevapi), phyllo pastry with meat or potato (burek), soups, stews, rice dishes, pastas, cheeses, and local breads, along with unique desserts and sweets such as the stuffed apple (tufahije), not to mention Bosnian coffee and teas. The food in Croatia will feature seafood items and Mediterranean-inspired dishes. Likewise, Montenegrin cuisine is a blend of Mediterranean and Central European influences.

Yes, all participants who have completed their full payment will receive a detailed information packet that includes descriptions of the cities and sites to be visited, the daily schedule, currency exchange, local prayer times, electrical adapters, weather, what to pack, and more.

We encourage participants to be fully vaccinated with at least one booster shot, if eligible to receive these shots. There are no COVID-19 related entry requirements for the countries we will be touring.

If a participant feels ill during the tour and tests positive with a rapid test, they will be required to maintain isolation and distance from other travelers in the group. Alternative transport along the tour itinerary may be arranged and expenses for such shall be the responsibility of the participant. The cost of additional hotel nights, if necessary prior to return to travel, shall be the responsibility of the participant.