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For me, the name Sarajevo has always evoked memories of the early-mid 90s. I was in middle school, Bill Clinton was president, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan were making headlines ahead of the ’94 Olympics. We were seeing snippets of Sarajevo on the news, but not really understanding the impact of what was going on.
I was originally going to visit Sarajevo with some friends that were coming to visit me in Barcelona (one of whom is Bosnian), but we didn’t end up going. But the idea was planted and I wanted to go, so I went solo.
At first, I wasn’t sure if it was safe to go alone to Sarajevo. Sarajevo didn’t exactly seem to be a top 10 vacation destination. But I started talking to people that had traveled to Sarajevo solo and had loved it. Now that I’ve been, I don’t know why I was ever worried. I suppose it was just fear of the unknown. But what I found was beautiful landscapes, cheap beer, great food, kind people, and of course, a tumultuous history. But as Neno the tour guide said, you don’t have to walk around wearing a bulletproof vest as the war’s been over for over 20 years. He laughed when he said it but it’s sad to think that was actually the reality such a short time ago.
Sarajevo is a really interesting city because of the blending of cultures – you can find cathedrals, mosques, and synagogues all on the same block. Walking from one part of the city to the other can feel like being in Istanbul on one side, and Vienna on the other. This can be attributed to Sarajevo’s history – being founded by the Ottoman Empire in the 1400s and then later being annexed to Austria-Hungary in the 1800s.
I visited Sarajevo for 3 days in November 2017, and it was really cold (from a Californian’s point of view). Never higher than 50 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, and down to the high 20s/low 30s at night.
I stayed in the Franz Ferdinand Hostel, which was great! It was clean and quiet, each bed had its own night table and power outlets, and the design of the bed made it feel very private. On top of that, it was in an excellent location, just steps away from the Old Town (Baščaršija). They also have private rooms available if you’re not about that dorm life.
Now that you’re convinced Sarajevo is a great place to visit, what should you do there? Here are some of the things I did that I recommend.
Best Things To Do In Sarajevo
Take a free (tip-based) walking tour with Neno & Friends
This tour was a great introduction to the city and history of Sarajevo. Neno was informative, interesting and very funny. The tour lasts around 2.5 hours and Neno (and/or his friends) will show you around some of the city’s best sights, including the Latin Bridge where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated (which sparked World War I), a cathedral, synagogue, AND a mosque, the beer factory, city hall (Vjecnica) and much more! Tips are well deserved and how they make money, so tip what you can!
Go on a war tour (25€ as of November 2017, plus Tunnel Museum entrance)
The Fall of Yugoslavia/Siege of Sarajevo tour from Meet Bosnia Tours was great. I was looking for another tour agency I had found online and was having trouble finding it when I saw Meet Bosnia Tours which was located on the corner of Gazi Husrev-Begova and Mula Mustafe Baseskije. I walked in and was told there was a tour happening in about 30 minutes, so I hung around until it was time, and they even offered me coffee while I waited. It ended up just being me and one other guy on the 2:00 pm tour.
A young Bosnian tour guide drove us in his own car to the Yellow Fortress, Sniper’s Alley, the Tunnel Museum, the old bobsled track, and other sights. The guide also told us personal accounts of what the war was like for him as a young child. It is estimated that over 300 mortar shells bombarded the city of Sarajevo daily for almost 4 years. A reminder of these is found in Sarajevo roses. A Sarajevo rose is where a mortar shell hit and killed someone during the siege. After the war, they were painted red as a memorial.
Visit Galerija 11/07/95
A must visit. This haunting memorial of the genocide in Srebrenica uses both images and video to convey the story of what happened in Bosnia less than 25 years ago. It also includes an exhibit specifically about the siege of Sarajevo including Bill Carter’s documentary Miss Sarajevo.
There are several other museums in the city that I didn’t get a chance to visit, but that are also highly-rated.
Go shopping
Wandering around Old Town (Baščaršija) there are many little shops to visit that sell a variety of things including jewelry, traditional carpets, and copperware.
If you are looking for a shopping mall in Sarajevo, the Sarajevo City Center has a wide selection of retail stores, and a vast food court on the top floor.
Eat Cevapi and other Bosnian delicacies
Of course, food has to appear somewhere on this list! This is not the easiest place to eat if you are a vegetarian, as meat dominates the menu. I ate most, if not all, of my meals in Baščaršija, which boasts a wide variety of restaurants.
Some of my favorites:
Ćevapi – Minced meat sausage with bread and raw onion
Burek – Meat pie with yogurt
Bosanski lonac – Bosnian stew
Sarma – Minced meat wrapped in grape leaves with cream on top
Baklava – A small, rich, sweet pastry that you may have had before in a Greek or Middle Eastern restaurant, but here there were so many different flavors to choose from!
I also recommend eating at an ascinica, a restaurant that has ready-to-eat Bosnian food on display behind the counter. There are things like soups, stews, stuffed onions, creamed spinach and much more. You simply point to what you want and they make you a plate, along with a piece of warm bread.
If you like coffee, there are many coffee shops to be found that serve traditional Bosnian coffee. It is similar (but not the same) to Turkish coffee, a thick, strong, bitter coffee made in a džezva, which is typically made of copper or brass.
Visit the Bobsled track
Just 8 years before the Bosnian War and the siege of Sarajevo began, Sarajevo was the host for the 1984 Winter Olympic Games. After the Olympics, the bobsled track was used for World Cup competitions until the start of the war. The track was heavily damaged during the Siege of Sarajevo and was used by Serb forces as one of their artillery positions. Now, along with other former Olympic sites around the city, it lays abandoned, covered in graffiti and bullet holes. However, there is talk of renovations, and part of it is currently used in the summer for luge training.
By the time we got to the bobsled track during the war tour, the sun was setting. It was so cold I didn’t want to stay out of the car for too long. I returned another day to the track to walk it. You can hike up to the track, or take a cab for around 15 KM (around 7.50 Euro). We chose to take a cab as it was getting later in the day, and we didn’t want to be coming back down in the dark. We walked the entire length of the track, and then back down into the city, of course stopping to take pictures along the way. Great opportunities for the ‘gram here 😉
Try some local beers and bars
On my last night in Sarajevo, a couple of people from the hostel and I went out for a few drinks. We ended up at these 3 bars:
Zlatna (Kaptol 5) – Started off here, and could have stayed here longer. The quirky, eclectic decor was awesome.
Galerija Boris Smoje (Radićeva 11) – This cafe/bar was a quiet, cozy little spot to hang out in. The highlight of the evening was an older woman who was sitting in front of a drawing easel. She was just staring at it. A guy from our hostel joined us a few minutes later. As soon as he showed up and sat down, the woman furiously started drawing and ten minutes later came over with a sketch portrait of him, which of course he ended up giving her a few KM’s for.
City Pub (Hadžiristića) – We ended the night at City Pub. This bar played a lot of early 90’s one-hit wonders (including everyone’s favorite, Vanilla Ice). It had a lively crowd and a decent selection of beer. However, it was pretty smoky since Sarajevo is one of the few places I have been to where you are still allowed to smoke indoors.
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