Recent Blogs Created

There are currently 0 users online.

Jan

10

Sarajevo Travel & Sightseeing Guide

Filed Under Balkans

A trip to Sarajevo
As the dust of the Bosnian War clears, Sarajevo has emerged from the longest military siege the world has seen in modern history. As one of the world’s longstanding epicentres of culture and religion, Sarajevo has hosted the Winter Olympics and served as the setting of the assassination that ignited WWI. Represented by strong Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim and Catholic populations, Sarajevo is awash with vibrant history and culture.

Flights to Sarajevo
Sarajevo Airport is kept in a suburb not far from the city centre. Still a growing facility, the airport currently sees around half a million passengers off to destinations across Europe and the Middle East. There are no public transit links between the airport and the city centre, giving taxi drivers license to gouge prices. If you’re worried about the fare, you can take a taxi to one of the outlying tram stops and then continue on to the airport. If you are looking for a cheap flight to Sarajevo try lastminute.com.

Trains and buses connect Sarajevo to the rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The local tram network is the best way to get around the city, though it’s occasionally necessary to use public buses in conjunction with the trams in order to reach your destination. As long as you’re sticking to the city centre, walking is the preferable method of getting around.

Sarajevo

Sightseeing in Sarajevo
The cobbled alleys and side streets of the Old Town are a delight to meander, characterized by Ottoman-influenced architecture and a distinctively Eastern flavour. Ali Pasha’s Mosque is particularly noteworthy, with its dome and minaret. The main marketplace in the Old Town is fascinating and features a fountain.

At Ilidza, there’s a remarkable alley lined by more than 700 maple and chestnut trees that form a sort of tunnel over the top of the pedestrian path. End to end, the trail extends about 2 miles and has been popular since the late 19th century.

Fun by night – eating drinking and partying
Local cuisine in Sarajevo covers a range of flavours and influences. Meat pies (burek) are for sale in several little shops. Phyllo pastries layered with spinach, potatoes, pumpkin and cheeses are a rare treat eaten with homemade yoghurt.

Such a tight fusion of cultures in the narrow streets of Sarajevo means that you’ll find a broad assortment of international cuisines. The same applies to the bar scene as well, with Italian wines, German beers and live music playing in and out of numerous cafés.

A couple of local hookah bars are great places to enjoy conversation between intermittent tufts of sweet, chalky smoke. A few dance clubs are located in the Old Town centre, and all of the entertainment is within easy walking distance of local accommodation.

Fun by day - shopping and activities
Sarajevo hosts a film festival and a jazz festival that attract a small share of international attention in their seasons. No matter what time of year you visit, perusing goods in the open air marketplaces is a nostalgic experience, worth your while even if you’re not buying.

Daytrips
Sarajevo is surrounded by attractive hills endowed with nice gardens, small mosques, and pretty houses. You can enjoy great views of the city from the hills and enjoyable walks. About 10kms southwest of downtown Sarajevo lies the city of Ilidza, featuring spa facilities and walking trails. There are also small islands on the Bosna River, accessed by wooden bridges.

North of Sarajevo you can visit Skakavac Waterfall and Bukovik Mountain. These sites are perfect rural settings to enjoy both a friendly atmosphere and stunning scenery. South of Sarajevo is Bjelasnica, which held many events of the 1984 Olympic Games. Great ski spots are to be found in this area.

You can drive out from Sarajevo and visit Mostar and Travnik. Mostar, located on Neretva River, is a popular destination among tourists, especially thanks to its Stari Most (Old Bridge). The old town here has historic landmarks but also painful memories related to the misery of war.

From Mostar you can head to the village of Blagaj and visit the source of Buna River, or go to Stolac, towered by a ruined castle, and visit its Radimjla necropolis. Travnik features many sites, including the ‘Many-Coloured Mosque’, a nice castle and Plava Voda, a recreation area.

Must-see attractions
The major attractions of Sarajevo are the Turkish bazaar ‘Bas Carsija’ (also known as the Old Town of Bascarsija) and multi-religious places of worship, including mosques (especially the Beg Mosque), synagogues and churches (such as Saborna Orthodox Church).

You can start exploring the city from ‘Pigeon Square’ (Bascarsija Square) and stroll around the quarter. You will then reach the lively and colourful Ferhadija Street and visit one of Sarajevo’s most impressive buildings, the Beg Mosque (also known as the Gazi Husrev Beg Mosque). Nearby lies Svrzo’s House, built in Ottoman style.

If you follow Ferhadija to the west you will reach a more central European atmosphere, with buildings dating back to the Austrian empire lined along Miljacka River. Here you will be pleased by the view of the National Library, the National Theatre and the main Post Office. On the other side of the river, many sites await exploration, such as the Franciscan monastery.

Other popular tourist destinations are the Olympic Stadium and the Sarajevo War Tunnel Museum, epitomising the scars and pains of the war endured in the 1990s.

Best time to go
The best months to go to Sarajevo are March, April, August, and September. With a continental climate, Sarajevo has quite hot weather in summer and very cold temperatures in winter.

If you are attracted by ski slopes, Sarajevo is a great place to travel to but beware that winters here are freezing. The cold weather is, however, conductive to snow fall, making for superb winter sports.

Rainy day suggestions
Sarajevo has many museums including the Museum of Sarajevo and the Ars Aevi Museum of Contemporary Art. For more art make a beeline for the Paleta gallery, where Bosnian works of art are exhibited. Located on Zmaja od Bosne, the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina was founded in 1888 and combines cultural and scientific artefacts.

Share and Enjoy: