3 days in Sarajevo

Sarajevo! Capital city of Bosnia & Herzegovina and the final destination of my solo mini backpacking adventure.

Despite a relatively recent and deeply troubled history, Sarajevo is now a vibrant and lively city which is nestled in a valley surrounded by scenic mountains.

During my stay in Sarajevo I participated in a day tour to the picturesque towns of Jajce and Travnik, then a half day educational tour of the Bosnian war sites of Sarajevo followed by a free walking tour of the city. This post covers all of the Sarajevo elements and the next post covers the day I spent further afield visiting Jajce and Travnik.

I arrived in 24 degrees and sunshine but unfortunately the weather then did a sharp u-turn and I had rain for the final two days of the trip.

The River Bosna runs through the centre but it’s brown colour makes it look much less appealing than the gorgeous turquoise of the Podgorica river!

Many of the interesting things to see are located in and around Bascarsija, the Old Town. I have a mix of photos some of which were taken as I walked around the city by myself and some were taken when I joined a *free 2-hour walking tour of the city.

*This wasn’t exactly free as a recommended tip of around 10-15 euros was expected!

I learned a great deal about Bosnia & Herzegovina as a country and about Sarajevo as a city during the 3 tours and the 3 excellent local guides leading them. Each of the guides were from Sarajevo which meant the information provided was authentic and came from people who had either lived through horrific times or their parents had done so.

Firstly, as a small example, I learned that the official name of the country is ‘Bosnia & Herzegovina’ and this is because it comprises of two regions, Bosnia which is about two-thirds of the country to the north and the sunnier Herzegovina in the south.

I walked through the courtyard of the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque, but I didn’t go inside. This mosque was completed in 1532 and is the largest mosque of the country.

Constructed in 1887, the neo-gothic style Sacred Heart is the largest cathedral in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

In front of the Sacred Heart Cathedral is a statue of Pope John Paul II. This was erected to honor the Pope who worked hard to help stop the Bosnian war and return the city to peace.

A service was being conducted when I looked inside so I only stayed in there for a minute or two.

The cathedral was damaged during the Bosnian war and siege of the city which took place between 1992 and 1995. It has since been repaired although the scars left by mortar shells can still be seen on the left side of the building. This was in the direct firing line of Serbian snipers.

Within the city ‘Sarajevo Roses’ can be seen. These are red-resin filled marks on the pavement to commemorate the victims in places where at least 3 people were killed during the seige. This one is in front of the Sacred Heart Cathedral.

The ‘multi-cultural man’ statue is located in Liberation Square with the Orthodox Church of the Nativity of Theotokos in the background. This statue was a gift to the city from an Italian artist and the statement underneath the statue says “A multi-cultural man will build the world”.

Also located in Liberation Square is the giant chess board where elders of Sarajevo teach young people how to play chess.

This ‘Sarajevo Meeting of Cultures’ sign on Ferhadija Street is a symbol of east meeting west, that is the unique blend of the east side of the Old Town of Ottoman mosques and the west side of the Old Town with its Hungarian architecture.

Nearby, the indoor Latin market shopping centre is lined with little shops where you can buy souvenirs.

Morica Han is a historic inn and courtyard in the centre of the Old Town. This place contains a couple of coffee shops and a gallery of Persian carpets and colourful oriental lamps.

Bascarsija Square dates back to the 1400’s and is filled with stalls selling sizzling cevapi, a popular Bosnian street food snack consisting of small grilled minced meat sausages.

Sebilj is an Ottoman style wooden fountain found in Bascarsija Square. Sebilj means fountain and the above photograph, taken in the rain, unfortunately doesn’t do justice to this historic feature. There used to be many of these throughout the city but this is the only one left.

Walking through the east side of the Old Town with its Ottoman influences of strong coffee and hookah.

I walked along this as part of the free walking tour, a small group of around 10 of us following our young, enthusiastic and knowledgeable student guide. It was raining on and off (mostly on) and I shared an umbrella with a friendly German lady who was also travelling around the Balkans on her own.

The Sarajevo City Hall was built in the late 1800’s. I didn’t go inside but apparently this is worth doing as the interior is said to be stunning with unique architecture. In 1992, during the seige, this building was shelled by the Serbs and thousands of rare books and manuscripts were destroyed by fire. The building has since been repaired and is now a national monument and a venue for a range of different events.

The Ottoman style Latin Bridge was the site where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914. This led to the outbreak of World War I as explained by our walking tour guide.

Taslihan ruins can be found next to the Europe Hotel.

Fall of Yugoslavia

The next part of this post reflects on the ‘Fall of Yugoslavia’ a half day tour I found and booked while I was in Sarajevo. Together with another female solo traveller from Australia and a guy from Hong Kong, I was part of a small group of 3 guests who were driven around the city to the various places by Armin. The first stop was to the Yellow Fortress which gave panoramic views of the city.

Here, Armin explained the complex politics and dynamics of life in Bosnia and Sarajevo which set the scene and gave a foundation for the rest of the morning.

Armin next drove us to the former front line and the children’s and maternity hospitals. These are located on Kosevo hill and were on the front line of attack. During the siege in 1992 they were brutally shelled which resulted in the lives of newborn babies being lost.

The Hotel Holiday was a Holiday Inn hotel which was built for the winter olympics which were held in the city in 1984. Located on ‘sniper alley’, 10 years later this was where journalists from around the world stayed during the siege. This was the most dangerous part of the city as it was close to the front line.

Armin explained the story of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ a couple from Sarajevo where she was a Bosniak and he was a Bosnian Serb. In their mid-20’s they were killed by snipers as they tried to cross a bridge.

His own parents had lived through the siege and as the city was cut off from supplies there was hardly any food and they both, along with the rest of the city, suffered the effects of severe malnutrition. Water supplies were cut off and thousands of people relied on the goodwill of the city brewery which had its own water supply. Electricity was also unavailable so people had to burn whatever they could for heating and survival.

We visited the ‘Tunnel of Hope’ which was constructed in 1993 during the siege. The secret tunnel was dug by hand using shovels and when finished, it provided a link from the cut-off city to the outside world. The tunnel went under the airport (controlled by the UN). This incredible tunnel took under 4 months to build and allowed food and supplies to be brought to the city and enabled wounded people to carried through the tunnel outside of the city to be treated.

The entrance to the tunnel was located in the cellar of a private house, this house is now the museum.

We were able to walk through this replica of the tunnel although the real tunnel was constantly flooded with up to waist high water and would have been dark and cold and much lower and narrower.

From the Tunnel of Hope, Armin drove us to the abandoned bobsled. Having parked his car, the 4 of us walked for about 10 minutes through the mist to the bobsled.

As mentioned, in 1984 the winter olympics were held in the former Yugoslavia with a focus on Sarajevo as the host city. This was where Jayne Torville and Christopher Dean won their figure skating gold medal with their famous Bolero performance and perfect scores. The winter olympics were a fantastic boost for the city.

The bobsled was opened in 1982 after $8,500,000 being spend on its construction. After only 10 years, during the Bosnian war in 1992 it was closed and fell to ruin.

Following the destruction during the Bosnian war, the bobsled has since been partially restored and is used for as a cycle track… a dangerous cycle track.

Armin was an excellent guide and during the 4 hours of the tour he described the Bosnian war and siege of Sarajevo with many examples of the tragic events which happened. The 3 of us participants felt shocked and humbled throughout as we tried to understand it all.

Tour company

I booked the Jajce and Travnik day tour, the Fall of Yugoslavia half day tour, the walking tour of the city and also an airport transfer with Meet Bosnia, a company I highly recommend and wouldn’t hesitate to book again with them.

Food in Sarajevo

For the first night I went to Klopa, firstly as they advertised vegan and vegetarian dishes and secondly they had excellent reviews. I had ‘Veggie Pastry Pot’ which was actually vegetable lasagne and it was most enjoyable. And of course with a glass of local Bosnian wine 🍷

On the last day I had lunch in ASDZ Ascinica which was absolutely delicious! I don’t often eat meat however this and the vegetables was perfectly cooked and served with soft warm flatbread. This was recommended to me by Armin and the cost was 8 Bosnian Marks, or the equivalent of around £3.50. You choose what you want at the counter and they bring the food over to you.

Above is Tufahija a traditional dessert and Ramis was one of the recommended places to try this. Tufahija is basically an apple which has been poached in sugar water and filled with a crushed walnut mixture, topped off with cream.

Accommodation

I stayed in another AirBnB, this time in Emina’s apartment. The location was perfect, less than 5 minutes from the bustling Old Town but in a quiet street away from the noise. The apartment was spotlessly clean and had thoughtful touches like some luxury toiletries in the bathroom, some sweets in the kitchen and a chocolate on the top of the towels on the bed. When I give a review for Emina, this will be a 10!

Money matters

While I was able to pay for the tours by card (I was charged in Bosnian Marks), cash is still the preferred method of payment in many of the places within the Old Town. Most of them were not keen on taking Euros either so it was necessary to have some Bosnian Marks (called ‘BAM’).

Again, I changed a £20 note in an exchange booth and received a better rate than I would have from an ATM. As I had run out of sterling, I then had to change a 20 euro note but this is less advisable given I had already paid to change this back in the UK. Next time if travelling in this region I would take more cash in sterling with me.

Getting to Sarajevo

I had pre-booked a bus transfer to take me from Podgorica to Sarajevo with an online bus agency called GetByBus who used a local bus service called ‘Sons’. The cost was 25 euros for the 6+ hour journey.

We set off from Podgorica bus station on time at 07:40 in an ancient and dirty mini bus. The bus broke down on the side of a main road after about 30 minutes and wouldn’t start again. After about another 30 minutes, several heated calls by the driver, a couple of people having stopped to assist, the bus re-started and we were on our way again.

The bus made it for the rest of the journey, the majority of which was through spectacular lush green valleys, mountain scenery and several tunnels. As we neared the border with Bosnia & Herzegovina we drove through the magnificent Piva Canyon with dark grey rocks and emerald lakes. Fluffy white clouds softened the jagged peaks of the mountains. I took just a couple of photos as the bus windows were so dirty. And with this being a transfer and not a tourist bus there was no stopping at scenic viewpoints…

There were no queues at the border and my passport was stamped out of Montenegro and stamped into Bosnia & Herzegovina. Most of the other passengers were locals who just seemed to show ID.

There was about 4 stops along the way for people to get on and get off. We stopped for about 25 minutes at a bus station in a town called Foca just over the border in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

The bus finally arrived in Sarajevo East in a place called Dobrinja about 4 km from the city centre. I had to walk for 10 minutes to the main bus station and from here I took bus 103 to the city centre. I had a slight issue as at the time, having just arrived in the country, I had no local currency (Bosnian Marks) and the bus didn’t take a card as payment. The driver didn’t take euros either. He waved me to get on the bus without paying but I wasn’t comfortable about this in case a ticket inspector should get on and make me pay a fine! Thankfully one didn’t but another time I would make every effort to have some Bosnian Marks with me.

Sarajevo airport transfer

I had planned to get the airport bus from the centre of Sarajevo which would have kept the costs down. But the bus timetable apparently isn’t reliable and this is necessary when you have a flight to catch! There is a regular bus but this stops at the bus station which is a 20 minute walk from the airport.

I considered a taxi however, I had been advised not to use taxis as the drivers are corrupt, they overcharge and are not safe.

By then, I was done with waiting for buses and getting soaked in the rain and paid 20 euros for an airport transfer!

Sarajevo summary

A diverse city which tugged on many senses! After hearing first hand and learning what life was like during the siege I came away feeling feeling humbled and grateful. We complain about trivial things such as a flight being delayed by half an hour, or not finding a parking space yet we forget and don’t always appreciate the freedom and home comforts we are so fortunate to have.

Reflections on the trip

As a 50 something solo female travelling in the Balkans I felt safe at all times and certainly safer than walking around London! With the use of websites such as ‘Rome to Rio’ for the transfers, Booking.com and AirBnB for the accommodation, xe.com for exchange rates and Google Maps, and of course researching ideas from other peoples’ blogs, planning the logistics was easy. 20 odd years ago, I did some similar mini backpacking trips within Europe which was a little more difficult.

While it added to the cost I enjoyed participating in the group tours more than if I had been totally independent. Despite the rain the best and most enriching times were during the tours with the friendly guides and the shared experiences where I met interesting people from around the world to engage with and share stories.

I even bumped into two of my new friends at the airport on the way home, again it was lovely to have someone familiar to chat with while waiting for my flight!

Budget summary

The total cost of the flights from Luton to Tirana and from Sarajevo back to Luton were just £69.52 for both (no extras) so a real budget price. (I had an unexpected bonus on the outward flight… the cabin crew asked me to move to an emergency exit seat as nobody had paid to book these… and amazingly I had the row of 3 seats, together with the extra leg room to myself!)

The accommodation mix of budget bed & breakfasts and AirBnB’s averaged around £25 per night. As an inexpensive region a meal and a glass of wine was generally between £5-10 each time. Bus travel was cheap as even the 6 hour leg between Podgorica and Sarajevo was only £21.93.

I parked at Luton Airparks, an offsite carpark located a few miles from the airport instead of the onsite long stay which saved me about £30.

So I could have done this 6 day/5 night trip for around £400. However the cost of the two excursions was £90 for both which pushed the total amount I spent on this trip to £490.

Breakdown:

• 5 nights accommodation: £128 total (I used £70 in AirBnB vouchers towards this)
• WizzAir flights £70 for both flights (no extras)
• Luton Airport off-site car park £45
• 2 x Meet Bosnia tours £90
• 3 x long bus journeys £35
• Airport transfer Sarajevo city to Sarajevo airport £17
• Additional spend (food and snacks for 6 days, entrance fees, short bus journeys etc) £175 (average of £29 per day across 6 days)

This was again over my target budget of £400 but exploring with a small group and a local guide is my favourite thing and I considered it to be worth the extra £90 to have had two fabulous and memorable days, learning a great deal about the places and country I was visiting and sharing this with new friends. By comparison and with all costs (as above) taken into account:

• In Jan 2023 I spent £450 for 3 nights in Essaouira, Morocco
• In Sep 2023 I spent £2200 for 8 nights in Armenia & Georgia (A tour with G Adventures)
• In May 2024 I spent £700 for 3 nights in Macedonia

The £490 (£560 including the AirBnB vouchers) spent on this 6 day trip is still less than any of these past similar trips which demonstrates again that adventures don’t need to be expensive 🙂

Coming next

One final post on the day I spent visiting Jajce and Travnik and then another small adventure is approaching soon…