Flight time
2h 45m
Best season
April–June & September–October
Budget
Budget
Best for
History, Ottoman heritage, food, resilience
Overview
Why Sarajevo for a city break?
Sarajevo is the most historically layered city in Europe — the place where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914, triggering the First World War; where four competing empires (Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, Venetian, Yugoslav) left their architecture in a city centre so compact you can walk from mosque to Catholic cathedral to Orthodox church to synagogue in five minutes; and where the siege of 1992–96 (the longest siege of a capital city in modern history) left a legacy that the city confronts with a directness and a lack of self-pity that is entirely its own. It is one of the most moving and most unexpectedly warm destinations in Europe.
From London and several UK airports it's around two hours forty-five minutes — Ryanair, Wizz Air and Turkish Airlines fly direct or with one stop. Sarajevo International Airport is 6km from the centre (taxi €10, 15 minutes). The city is extraordinarily cheap: a full dinner with drinks costs under £10, a coffee is 30p, and a night in a good hotel rarely exceeds £40. Go in April to June or September to October: the city is surrounded by mountains (the Olympic ski venues from 1984 are still operating) and the Neretva valley to the south is spectacular. December and January bring heavy snow and extraordinary atmosphere.
Where to stay & explore
Sarajevo's best neighbourhoods
Baščaršija (Old Bazaar)
The Ottoman quarter — the 16th-century bazaar of coppersmiths, cobblers and carpet sellers, the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque (the finest Ottoman mosque in the Balkans), and the most atmospheric streets in Sarajevo.
Ferhadija & the Latin Bridge
The meeting point of Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Sarajevo — the Latin Bridge where Franz Ferdinand was shot, the Ferhadija pedestrian street of Austro-Hungarian buildings, and the city's four great religious buildings within 200 metres of each other.
Grbavica & Marijin Dvor
The post-war city rebuilding — the Holiday Inn (HQ for the world's press during the siege), the rebuilt Vijećnica (National Library, burned in the siege), and the Sniper Alley of the war years now a functioning boulevard.
Things to do
What to see in Sarajevo
1
Baščaršija & Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque
The 16th-century Ottoman bazaar — a labyrinth of craft workshops (the coppersmiths on Kazandžiluk Street still hammer their wares as they have since 1543), the Sebilj fountain (the symbol of Sarajevo, surrounded by pigeons), and the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque (1531, the finest Ottoman mosque in the Balkans, open to respectful non-Muslim visitors outside prayer times). The bazaar area is the most atmospheric part of the city and the easiest introduction to its Ottoman heritage.
2
Tunnel of Hope Museum
The 800-metre tunnel dug under the airport runway in 1993 to connect besieged Sarajevo to the outside world — the only supply route for food, medicine and ammunition during the siege. The Kolar family, in whose house the tunnel entrance was hidden, now run the museum. The section of original tunnel open to visitors (25 metres) and the documentary film are profoundly moving. Take a taxi (€10, 15 minutes south); allow 90 minutes.
3
War Childhood Museum
The most affecting museum in Sarajevo — 105 objects donated by Sarajevans who were children during the siege, each with a short text explaining what it meant to them. A typewriter. A cassette tape. A bicycle pump. The cumulative effect of small objects and short stories is devastating. In the city centre; allow 90 minutes. The museum won the Council of Europe Museum Prize in 2018.
4
The Four Religions in 200 Metres
The most remarkable 200-metre walk in Europe — from the Ferhadija pedestrian street you can see the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque (Ottoman, 1531), the Sacred Heart Cathedral (Catholic, 1889), the Old Orthodox Church (Serbian, 16th century) and the Ashkenazi Synagogue (1902) all within a single city block. The coexistence of these four religious communities — not always peaceful, frequently contested, ultimately surviving — is the defining fact of Sarajevo. All four buildings are open to visitors.
Food & drink
Where to eat in Sarajevo
Inat Kuća (Spite House)
Traditional Bosnian / Latin Bridge
The most legendary restaurant in Sarajevo — the house whose owner refused to sell it to the Austro-Hungarian authorities in 1894, forcing them to physically move it across the river overnight (the "spite" of the name). Now a restaurant serving excellent traditional Bosnian food: ćevapi (small grilled minced meat sausages, the national dish), sogan-dolma (onions stuffed with meat), tufahija (poached apple stuffed with walnuts in rose syrup). Book ahead.
To Be or Not to Be
Bosnian cafana / Baščaršija
The most atmospheric traditional cafana (coffee house) in Sarajevo — Bosnian coffee (fildžan, served with a sugar cube and a piece of rahat lokum, to be drunk slowly), burek (filo pastry with meat, served at any hour), and the feeling of a city that takes its coffee culture with Ottoman seriousness. On the edge of the Baščaršija.
Ćevabdžinica Petica Ferhadija
Ćevapi / street food
The finest ćevapi in Sarajevo — the small grilled minced beef and lamb sausages served in a somun (soft flatbread) with raw onion and kajmak (clotted cream). Under €3 for a portion of 5 or 10. The Ferhadija street location makes it the most convenient and the most reliable. Queue; it moves fast.
Itinerary
3 days in Sarajevo — a suggested itinerary
Day 1
Baščaršija, four religions, Inat Kuća for dinner
Taxi from the airport to the Baščaršija (€10, 15 minutes). Walk straight into the bazaar — the Sebilj fountain, the coppersmiths on Kazandžiluk, the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque. The 200-metre four-religions walk on Ferhadija. The Latin Bridge — the exact corner where Gavrilo Princip shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand at 10.51am on 28 June 1914 is marked by a small museum in the building on the corner. Ćevapi for lunch at Petica Ferhadija. The War Childhood Museum in the afternoon (allow 90 minutes; it deserves your full attention). Inat Kuća for dinner (booked).
Day 2
Tunnel of Hope, the siege geography, Vijećnica
Taxi to the Tunnel of Hope Museum (€10 south, 15 minutes) — the documentary, the tunnel section, the Kolar family's story. Return through the suburb of Dobrinja, built for the 1984 Winter Olympics and entirely surrounded during the siege. The Holiday Inn (still operating on the Boulevard) was the press headquarters during the siege; the facade facing Sniper Alley is still visible. Walk east along the boulevard to the Vijećnica — the National Library, the finest Austro-Hungarian building in Sarajevo, burned by Serbian forces on 25 August 1992 with the loss of 2 million volumes. Rebuilt and reopened in 2014; the restored Moorish interior is extraordinary. Free to enter. Bosnian coffee at To Be or Not to Be. Yellow Fortress (Žuta Tabija) at dusk for the finest panorama of Sarajevo in the Miljacka valley.
Day 3
Trebević mountain, the Olympic bobsled run, one last ćevapi
The Trebević cable car (reopened 2018 after being destroyed in the war) runs to the mountain above Sarajevo — the 1984 Winter Olympics bobsled and luge track is visible from the gondola, now covered in extraordinary graffiti art by artists from across the world. Walk the abandoned track (free, open access, 2km), swim in the mountain stream below, walk in the beech forest. The view of Sarajevo in its valley from the Trebević summit is the finest available. Back down to the city for a final hour in the Baščaršija. One last ćevapi before the taxi to the airport.
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