Sarajevo
From World travel guide
Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is a lively city of 400,000 people, nestled in a valley, mainly within the Bosniak(Muslim)-Croat Federation, but with parts in the Republika Srpska.
Contents |
Understand
Sarajevo is one of the most historically interesting cities in Europe. It is the place where the Eastern Orthodox east, the Ottoman south and Continental Europe met up. For this reason it has had something of a turbulent past but also has at times been a great example of multi-cultural integration.
Today the city has physically recovered from most of the war damage. Sarajevo is a cosmopolitan European capital that is a delight to visit. The people are very friendly, be they Serb, Croat or Bosniak. There is very little crime, not nearly as many tourists as on the Dalmatian coast and a wealth of architecture (not to mention history) to see.
Get in
By plane
Sarajevo Airport] is connected with major European cities by a number of airlines.
- Belgrade with JAT Yugoslav Airlines
- Budapest with MALEV
- Copenhagen with SAS Snowflake
- Istanbul with Turkish Airlines
- Ljubljana with Adria
- Milan Malpensa with Alitalia
- Munich with Lufthansa
- Prague with Czech Airlines
- Vienna Schwechat with Austrian Airlines
- Zagreb with Croatia Airlines
By train
Interrailnet (official Interrail website) has a good map of the Bosnian rail network
From Croatia
A train leaves Zagreb daily at 08.57, arriving in Sarajevo at 18.24.
Via Mostar
There is another train route from Ploče in Croatia to Sarajevo via Mostar. Apparently a very beautiful route.
Trains depart daily at
- 05:30, arriving in Sarajevo at 09:04
- 16:00, arriving in Sarajevo at 19:57
See Croatian Railways website for more information. There is also a train every day to Budapest. It leaves at 20.20 and arrives in Budapest at 08.48 the following day
By car
By bus
A few buses from Dubrovnik and Split, more if you change in Mostar You can also take the bus from Belgrade.
Get around
The center of Sarajevo is served by two tram lines and a number of bus lines. Tickets should be purchased in advance from kiosks on the street or from the driver, where they cost slightly more (around 1KM). Tickets should be validated upon boarding the vehicle and are valid for a one way trip only. Changing tram or bus means validating a new ticket.
See
- At the heart of Sarajevo is the city's Turkish Quarter. The cobbled streets, mosques and Oriental style shops are a world away from Europe, and when the call-to-prayer music starts, one could be forgiven for thinking that they were actually in the Middle East.
- The Sarajevo Film Festival is held annually, during August. http://www.sff.ba/
- The Sarajevo tunnel museum shows the tunnel which was used to ferry supplies into the besieged city during the conflict and is next to the airport.
Do
- Walk along the roads up one of Sarajevo's surrounding hills for fantastic views over the city.
Eat
Budget
Sarajevo has countless shops selling burek (meat pie, sold in layers by weight), cevapi and pizza stores.
Mid-range
- Inat Kuca, Veliki Alifakovac 1, Bascarsija. An old Turkish house by the river converted to a lovely restaurant selling hearty stew-like meals.
- Park Princeva, Iza Hrida br. 7 (+387 61 222 708). Slightly more expensive than Inat Kuca, also serving Bosnian food. Located on one of the hills of the city, you have a beautiful view, especially around sunset, when you can hear the prayers from the mosques all around the valley.
Drink
Sleep
Budget
There are numerous houses around town offering accommodation in rooms for as little as 3KM per night (around 1 euro), although they can be hard to find. Best bet is to go to one of the accommodation bureaus near the old town and find somewhere for a night (at their prices, with their 500% markup), then arrange with the landlord/lady to stay on for their own rate.
Mid-range
- Pansion Cobanija charges KM100 (€50) per person per night, for a room with a private bathroom and satellite television. The rooms are clean and well-kept, and a continental breakfast is provided.
Contact
Stay safe
There are still many minefields and unexploded ordinances in the Sarajevo and its surrounding suburbs. Never go into damaged buildings and always stick to paved surfaces. Areas that are not cleared are marked by yellow tape or signs, but still not all minefields are identified.
Cope
Get out
By Bus
There are two bus stations in Sarajevo, the main bus station serving Croatia (Split / Dubrovnik / etc) and destinations within the Bosnian Federation. From here there are several buses a day to / from Mostar (journey time is approximately two hours), Split and Dubrovnik (several hours). There is also another bus station in Serb Sarajevo on the outskirts of the city serving the Republika Srpska and destinations in Serbia and Montenegro. To get to this bus station it is probably easiest to book / order a taxi (cost from the Turkish Quarter was around 15KM September 2005). Be warned that in this bus station Cyrillic script is prevalent so you should probably check the spelling of your destination.
The bus ride to Podgorica in Montenegro takes about 6 hours but is an absolutely amazing ride through some wonderful country (mostly through Republika Srpska).
Journey to Belgrade takes about 7-9 hours and was 28KM (bought from the bus driver) in September 2005.
By Train
There is a daily train to Zagreb, via Banja Luca, departing at 9.49am
A train to Mostar leaves in the evening after 6pm, and then on to Ploce, in Croatia.
For those heading to Hungary, a train departs at 8.20pm every evening for Magyarboly, via Osijek, in Croatia.
