A friend who lives in Sarajevo told me about a new road to Split - 3 hours drive.
I have not visited Sarajevo since before the war, but I think most travelers would find it an interesting place for a day or two.

I haven't been there, but I've been to Novi Sad...

Doug:

Last time I visited Sarajevo it was two months before the 1984 Winter Olympics ..renovations everywhere as the city tried to put its best foot forward. And it did...We throughly enjoyed the city then...have not been back since the war...it and its people suffered greatly ...but my Serbian friends say it's "all the way" back!

Stu T.

Thanks everyone. I've been told the same thing about Sarajevo. I'm still hoping someone will have some good insights, so keep the comments coming!

My last visit was in 1991.
Sarajevo has always been attractive to tourists because of its interesting history: assassination
of Duke Ferdinand ( the provocation for the First World War) ,
the old Muslim part ( Bas Carsija) ,
the mix of religions, "east" meets "west" etc.
From what I hear, it has a more " islamic" feel now than before the war
(more mosques, more women covered).
I'll ask my friend for the names of a few good restaurants and hotels.

My wife and I were in Sarajevo overnight in May 2007. We were struck by the contrast between the war damaged buildings (still many of them) and the ones which had been repaired. It seems virtually every building suffered some damage. This set a mood which the people we had contact with seemed to mirror. They were cautious, lacking in confidence when it came to service. It will be still some time in our view before life is "normal" there, a great shame.

Marking. I plan to be there in May.

I have a friend who is working for the war crimes tribunal in Sarajevo and our family is seriously considering a trip there in the next year. She assures me that it is a very interesting city with its mixture of cultures
My sense is that looking for great hotels and restaurants is not going to produce a lot of options. On the plus side my friend says there are plenty of basic inexpensive places to stay and good food.

my friend mentioned a restaurant called Pivnica - inside the local brewery as the poshest in town
Holiday Inn still seems to be "the"
hotel, although there are many small inexpensive hotels.
There are many restaurants and cafes in the old town ( Bas Carsija) open late at night.
I think that people looking for great hotels and excellent service may not find it there.
Considering the new road from Split
I would recommend a visit to those who are looking for a very scenic ride , and a place so influenced by history.

Doug - can I have your job? Well not yours specifically but one exactly like it?

Please

Back in the pre-war days, The Hotel Europa was the best place in town...old European style, large rooms...may still be in business...we loved it. At the time, the Holiday Inn was being completed for the Olympics and painted a horrid mustard and maroon! Now I hear it's the #1 place to stay in Sarajevo..I would choose the old Europa if it's there.
Stu T.

p.s. I just checked the web. and there is a new Europa Hotel..may be the old one renovated..dunno. Check it out.

http://www.europa-garni.ba/eng/hotel.php

I was in Bosnia in 2006 but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to visit Sarajevo. I read this post with great interest because I plan on visiting one of these days.

Tracy

Stu T.
my friend tels me they are renovating hotel Evropa!!!.
It was the place to be when I was there; we used to sit on the terrace and listen to music.

We are headed to Croatia in March and are spending one night in Sarajevo at Guest House Halvat before going on to Mostar.

http://www.halvat.com.ba/

We are hoping Sarajevo is worth the detour!

I wrote a Mostar trip report following my visit there in October 2007, and posted it here because I found it the most amazing place. After that small taste of Bosnia I am longing to get to Sarajevo before too long. Hopefully later this year.

One thing I am beginning to seriously consider and research is taking a winter sports holiday based in or near Sarajevo. Currently we ski/snowboard in Bulgaria, but are looking for good alternatives. Last week I met a lovely young couple from Serbia while we were skiing in Bulgaria. We talked about Sarajevo and they told me that it is an up-and-coming place. The skiing is excellent, it is just the infrastructure in the resorts that needs to be improved but they are working on it.

If I can offer any advice on Bulgarian ski resorts (I've been to Borovets and Pamporovo) let me know and I'll tell you what I can about them, though I doubt many Fodors readers travel to Eastern Europe for the skiing!

hi sessa, I think it will be worthwhile.
The hotel is in the old part of town ,close to Bas Carsija, and not too far from the spot where Duke Ferdinand was shot. Sarajevo is rather small so you can walk around.

My husband and I flew into Sarejevo last October from Milan. We joined a tour of 11 people and stayed for 2 nights at the Holiday Inn before moving on to Mostar.
Sarajevo was amazing- I experienced many emotions in this city from sadness, feeling sorry for the people, proudness for their will to move on,inspired by the young peoples attitude to life,happiness by the scenery and some of the sights and privalaged to learn about their life and customs. We explored the city independantly and also with our tour guide and a local young guide. Will add more info soon.

Hello, I'm from Sarajevo and although I love this town, I am rather objective about it. Despite its flaws, I think it's worth the trip, not in winter because the weather is cold, cloudy, and when snow falls it's rather heavy one. But... in late spring and summer I would recommend it to you, the weather is lovely, sometimes in July and August too hot (up to 35/36 degrees Celsius) but nevertheless great. There is the Sarajevo Film Festival in August, the Bascarsijske noci festival etc etc. so there are things to do. When it comes to museums, we cannot really say we are a museum town, but you can go to the National museum, although it never changes its exhibits, is a relatively good place to see Bosnia's long and rivh history, sit in the really beautiful museum's inner garden etc, also couple of decent galleries to check on the latest exhibitions. There are many mosques, the most beautiful are Gazi Husrevbey mosque, Alipasina mosque, Careva mosque, and to me also Cekrekcijina mosque in Bascarsija (this one being at the end of the pedestrian street and closest to Sebilj), all of them built either in the 15th or 16th century, also the Cathedral which was built by the acclaimed architect Josip Vancas at the end of the 19th century, the old Orthodox church where there is also a museum, built in the 15th century, the new Orthodox church, the Jewish temple etc. For nature lovers, there is plenty to do, just head to the Vrelo Bosne (the spring of the river Bosna) where you can drink the water at its source, or head to the mountains, Sarajevo is surrounded by high mountains... Besides that, Sarajevo is known for its so-called cafe-culture, there are many many cafes with outdoor seats which is great for people-watching, chatting or just basking in the sun The town is also rather cheap in comparison to other European capital, coffee is around one euro at most places, if you prefer beer, you drink it for 1,5 euros. The night life is something many travellers enjoy here, Pivnica, City Pub, Hacienda, Bicakcic, etc. are the most popular places. When it comes to eating, most locals eat in cevabdzinicas (places with cevapcici) or buregdzinicas (serving only pitas - pies). This is the cheapest you can get, you can get so much pita that you're not going to be able to eat it all for 1,5 euros, and cevapi or cevapcici cost 3 euros. Other than that, there are also good restaurants, serving Bosnian food, also rather cheap, but there are also high-class restaurants serving international foods. Sweets include baklava, hurmasica, tufahija (cooked apples filled with grounded nuts and whipped cream), ruzice, all of these either come from the Ottoman cuisine or are its slightly modofied derivatives, these are really cheap as well. All in all, I think Sarajevo is a nice place to visit for a couple of days, it's cheap, fun, safe, and no matter how many people perceive this troubled territory of the Balkans, Sarajevo has always been a place where people of different religions, nationalities and backgrounds have lived for more than 6 centuries together.

http://tinyurl.com/p4jcb

Doug, in August 2006, I did an overland trip, beginning in Sarajevo and ending in Tirana, Albania, and the above link (which I also posted on Fodors just after my return) has photos from that trip, including several from Sarajevo.

I have taken trains worldwide, and the train from Sarajevo to Mostar is one of the most beautiful three-hour trips I've taken, through lots of tunnels, across dozens of tressels, and through nice scenery.

I stayed at a small villa near the Turkish quarter of town (it was recommended in the Western Balkans guidebook put out by one of your competitors) that was reasonably priced and central. For a quick snack, Zeljo (which serves dumplings) is very popular, and the Sarajevo brewery, on the distant side of the river, is similar to a US brewpub.

I enjoyed my short stay in Sarajevo, with its numerous historic sites (including the Latin Bride, near where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, sparking WWI and later giving his name to a popular Scottish band) and co-existing mosques, synagogues and orthodox churches.

The Turkish quarter (Bascarsija) is particularly strollable and photogenic, with lots of foodstalls and shops (even some that will engrage your name in a mortar shell -- one of which I now use as a pen holder on my desk).

Sarajevo's airport is also useful as a gateway to Dubrovnik since more major carriers (including Czech Air, a SkyTeam member, so I was able to use Delta SkyMiles for free air) fly into Sarajevo than Dubrovnik, although that may shift over time.

Michael

We were in Sarajevo in late September 2007 during Ramadan. We rented a car on leaving Dubrovnik, drove to Montenegro, spent the night there and the next day drove from Montenegro to Mostar - backtracking past Dubrovnik. We stayed in Mostar for 2 nights at Kriva Cuprija, a very well located small hotel/B & B, with small but clean rooms. We drove to Sarajevo for a day trip, returning to Mostar that night. The roads were good, the scenery gorgeous and the color of the river so very interesting. The drive did take longer than we thought it would. About 2-1/2 to 3 hours. That said we were very happy we did it.

It was not easy to find parking in Sarajevo but with patience we did park near the walking street and found an Italian restaurant w/outdoor seating and tried the local pizza because we didn't want to waste time "dining". it was very good and the people around us answered our questions about which pizza to order and what to do next.

We walked through the shopping street, went into the ancient mosque and looked from the outside at the large mosque where prayers were being said and broadcast over the loud speaker and the women were praying on the outside and the men on the inside. Walked through the old market which is filled with up to date stores and ready for tourists.

We saw lots of young people in their 20's/30's seeing and being seen in outdoor cafes. People were friendly and speaking English was no problem.

The city seemed alive and vibrant to us and at the same time the wounds of the war were there on any number of the buildings. There was a lot of new construction and damaged buildings being repaired. In fact, it was hard to believe there had been a war there recently.



I would definitely recommend an overnight in Mostar. The city has a wonderful charm and a feeling that you've left Europe. If we had more time I would have liked to stay a day or so in Sarajevo.

A suggestion: When I was researching Bosnia I could not find information on bus schedules from Dubrovnik to Mostar and from Mostar to Split or the price of public transportation. I think this would be helpful information for those who do not want to rent a car or go on a guided tour. We ended up renting a car which worked well for us. We picked it up in Dubrovnik and dropped it in Split.

Last Oct. I took a bus from Dubrovnik to Mostar. I believe it left Dubrovnik around 8:30 a.m., and is about a 3.5 hr. trip with one rest stop. I would love to visit Sarajevo one of these trips.

We just returned from Croatia with side trips to Sarajevo, Mostar, and Medjugorje.

It was a long drive from Plitvice Lakes (about 6 hours). I would not recommend doing this drive, as there were no major highways at all. It was a scenic drive and certainly an experience - the towns we drove thru were very sad and evidence of the war is everywhere.

We finally arrived in Sarajevo just in time for rush hour, and it was snowing which didn't help. Driving was insane, and we could not even find a place to pull over to get our bearings. It took us an hour to find our guest house. I cannot believe we made it out of the city with our rental car in one piece!

We stayed at Guest House Halvat in Sarajevo, and I cannot recommend this place enough. Valida was so kind and welcoming, and when we couldn't find the place (due to bad weather and LOTS of traffic) she even sent someone to meet us. The breakfast was outstanding. She recommended Inat Kuca for dinner. This place was a fantastic local restaurant across the river from the old city hall. We dined on bey soup and sahan which was delicious (we would have the same meal in Mostar because we liked it so much).

We took a 4 hour tour of the city with Fikret Kahrovic fikret_kahrovic@yahoo.com, or fikret6@hotmail.com. Valida from the guest house arranged this for us. It was AWESOME! So much so that we wished we could have spent the whole day with him. He is an excellent guide who was born and raised in Sarajevo so it was interesting to hear about the recent war from his perspective.

We then drove to Mostar which was about two hours away. We stopped for lunch and walked around the old town before heading to Medjugorje. Being Good Friday, Medjugorje was so crowded but really neat to experience it.

The side trip to Bosnia was very long but so worth it. Bosnia is very different from Croatia, but if you are interested in culture and history as we are then I highly recommend it. I plan to post a trip report on our adventure hopefully soon.

Looking forward to your trip report, sessa.