10 Essential Things To Do In Sarajevo & Other Travel Tips

I’ve never quite visited any place like Sarajevo. A skyline of minarets in a European capital. The ravages of a horrific 30 years-ago war still felt very acutely. A Bosnian woman on a tram welcoming me via Google Translate to her “City of Soul & Warmth”. We recently spent two weeks getting to know Sarajevo in Bosnia & Herzegovina. And I can absolutely recommend it as an unforgettable travel destination.

Here’s what I personally believe to be the very most essential things to do in Sarajevo. Plus a few other tips you should find useful when you visit Sarajevo.

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Explore Baščaršija – The Historic Turkish Quarter

The most popular spot in Sarajevo for tourists is its historic Turkish bazaar – a section of town called Baščaršija. Sarajevo was founded by the Ottoman Empire in the 1400s, and grew to become the most important Ottoman city in the region. That Turkish influence is most obvious in this part of the city.

In addition to all the narrow alleys and shops that you’d expect to find in any Turkish bazaar, Baščaršija is also home to many of Sarajevo’s most historic buildings. These include several 16th century mosques.

One of Baščaršija’s centerpieces is the Sebilj – a historic Ottoman style water fountain. Originally, many of these fountains were placed throughout Baščaršija, providing drinking water to the residents. Sadly, all the original fountains were destroyed over time. The current Sebilj is a replica, built around 100 years ago. But it’s still considered one of Sarajevo’s most important symbols. And a popular gathering place for tourists…and pigeons.

Our perfectly-located Airbnb apartment was situated immediately across the river from Baščaršija, and I spent time every day walking around its maze of alleys. I’m not much of a shopper, so can’t speak to the various tourist-focused stores. But Baščaršija is packed with restaurants and this is where you will find some of Sarajevo’s best traditional food. Visiting Baščaršija is definitely one of the most essential things to do in Sarajevo.

Visit A Mosque

While you explore Baščaršija, you certainly will want to visit the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque. This is the most important mosque in Sarajevo. It was built in the early 1500s, and is considered one of the finest examples of Ottoman architecture in all of the Balkans.

The Mosque sits in the center of a large central section of Baščaršija. Within the confines of the property, you’ll also find a huge courtyard, two small cemeteries, a mausoleum, several administrative buildings, and a šadrvan. This ornate covered water fountain is strategically placed for worshipers to wash prior to prayers.

Our visit to Gazi Husrev-beg was the first time we’ve ever visited a functioning Mosque, and we very much enjoyed it. Anyone can walk into and around the courtyard at any time. And tourists are also allowed into the Mosque at various times throughout the day – just not during daily prayers. A visiting schedule is posted near the entrance (a small fee is required and so is modest dress).

And though visiting the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque is one of the most popular things to do in Sarajevo, you will also find a mosque on seemingly every corner of the city. I mentioned the skyline of minarets earlier in this post, and that’s not an exaggeration. I visited the courtyards of several other mosques during our time in the city.

And, we became very accustomed to hearing the five times daily Call to Prayer. In fact, there was a small historic mosque located directly across the street from our Airbnb. Hearing that sing-song Call is one of the things we immediately missed after leaving Sarajevo.

Stroll Along The Miljacka River

When you visit Sarajevo, you will discover that it’s situated in an incredible scenic location. A narrow central valley, green hills on either side, and a river running through the center of it all. The river is called the Miljacka. And one of my personal favorite things to do in Sarajevo was to stroll the Miljacka. Especially at Golden Hour….

As you stroll along the Miljacka, you will discover many bridges crossing it. Some new. Some centuries-old. But none of them more famous than the Latin Bridge.

The Latin Bridge is one of the first bridges built by the Ottomans back in the 1500s. And it’s a beautiful little stone bridge with three arches. But that’s not why it’s famous. It was here, next to this bridge, that one of the World’s most famous assassinations occurred.

Learn About the Start of World War I

This assassination took place in 1914 when a Bosnian Serb student named Gavrilo Princip killed the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

He stood on a corner opposite the Latin bridge and shot the Archduke and his wife as they passed in an open car.

At this time in Sarajevo’s history, Bosnia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. And Princip was part of a revolutionary Serbian group seeking an end to the Empire’s rule throughout the area. Within a month of the assassination, Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Countries took sides. And WWI began.

On the corner, from where Princip fired those fateful shots, you’ll now find the Sarajevo Museum 1878-1918. This is where you can learn more details about these events. It’s a small museum that basically occupies a single large room. It doesn’t take much time to see everything, and given the uniqueness of this history, I think it’s one of the essential things to do in Sarajevo.

(During this same European trip, we also happened to visit the spot where WW2 began. It’s located at place called Westerplatte in Gdansk Poland)

Take A Sarajevo War Tour

And now on to another War. You cannot visit Sarajevo and ignore the sad history of the Bosnian War…and specifically the Siege of Sarajevo.

And you couldn’t even if you wanted to. Within our first minutes in the city, as we were driven from the airport to our apartment, we immediately noticed many many buildings still covered in mortar damage and bullet holes. The walls behind our apartment kitchen even had bullet holes. We saw them out our back window every day.

And as you walk the streets while you visit Sarajevo, you will inevitably come across the Roses of Sarajevo. These are ground level mortar shell scars, left behind as a memorial to the people who lost their lives at those very spots. They are now filled with red resin and resemble roses. 200 of these “roses” are scattered across the city.

From 1992-1996, an army of Bosnian Serbs surrounded Sarajevo from those aforementioned beautiful green hills, and laid siege to the city. I can’t really go into all the details of The Siege in this post, but I do encourage you to read more about it online. And if you are planning to visit Sarajevo yourself, then I strongly recommend that you delve deeper into this history by going on a Sarajevo War Tour.

We did, and our tour sits at the top of our own favorite things to do in Sarajevo.

While you can find several tour companies offering you a Sarajevo War Tour, I chose to go with a company called Arts & Tours. I can strongly recommend touring with them, and taking their Roses of Sarajevo 1992/1995 Tour. The owner named Mak was a child during the War. We were lucky enough to have him as our guide. And his own personal insight was an invaluable part of our 4 hour tour.

During our time with Mak, we not only learned lots about the Siege, but we also learned lots about Sarajevo too. We learned about Bosnia’s current (and very confusing) political system, we learned about the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics, and we visited several of Sarajevo’s popular attractions like the Bobsled Track and Yellow Fortress (more on those later.)

But certainly the highlight our Sarajevo War Tour was visiting the Tunnel of Hope. I’ve read about the Tunnel over the years. So actually walking through part of it was a somewhat surreal experience.

The 800 meter Tunnel of Hope was constructed by lots of heroic people, braving sniper fire, in an effort to provide a conduit for bringing supplies into the besieged city, and helping Sarajevo residents escape. It was built underneath the Sarajevo airport.

At the Tunnel’s exit, on the other side of the airport, now stands a museum where you can learn all about it. This is certainly one of the very most essential things to do in Sarajevo. And while it’s possible to visit the Tunnel on your own, I recommend doing it as part of a Sarajevo War Tour like we did. Getting the full story from a guide adds immeasurably to the experience.

Visit Sobering But Important Museums

You will also find a handful of other museums dedicated to telling the story of the Bosnia War. And I think that two of them especially deserve a spot on the list of essential things to do in Sarajevo.

The first is called Galerija 11/07/95. This museum uses a series of powerful photographs and videos to tell the story of the Srebrenica Genocide. This was a horrific event at the end of the Bosnian War when over 8000 Bosnian Muslims were systematically murdered in the Eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica.

The second museum is called the War Childhood Museum. This is a very unique museum where you will see a collection of items donated by children who lived through the War.

Each item is accompanied by a brief story written by the original owner. The stories explain the personal meaning behind each item, in the context of the horrific events these children were trying to make sense of.

Both of these museums are a sobering and powerful reminder of the horrors and human costs of War. Sometimes travel isn’t always about seeing only happy things. Travel has a lot to teach us too. And there is plenty to learn when you visit Sarajevo

(We also visited Auschwitz in Poland about a week prior to our time in Sarajevo. So I will admit, we were a bit emotionally worn out by the time we returned home from this trip. But we wouldn’t have traded those experiences for anything.)

Walk An Olympic Bobsled Track

Remember how I mentioned that Mak taught us about the Sarajevo Olympics during our War Tour. Part of that education was visiting the remnants of the Olympic Bobsled Track. And Sarajevo War Tour or not, visiting here is one of the more popular things to do in Sarajevo.

The track sits on Mt. Trebević, above the city. It was abandoned and damaged during the War. And is now covered from top to bottom in graffiti. You can actually walk along parts of the track. And it really is quite a visually stunning site. Lots of color surrounded by lots of greenery.

It was very easy for us to visit the Track, since it was included in our Roses of Sarajevo Tour. But if you want to visit the Bobsled track on your own, you can get there by taking the Trebević Cable Car (more on that below) and hiking down to the track.

Check Out Sarajevo’s Best Views

Riding the Trebević Cable Car is one of the more popular things to do in Sarajevo, but we didn’t do it. I concluded that a ride on the cable car is great for accessing the bobsled track and mountaintop hiking trails, but that I could find better views elsewhere around the city.

(Unlike the time we rode an amazing cable car in nearby Montenegro for some fantastic views of the Bay of Kotor)

One of the most popular places to seek out a city view when you visit Sarajevo is from the Yellow Fortress. Mak ended our Sarajevo War Tour here, though it is also a walkable distance (a steep walk) from Baščaršija.

This is a small 18th-century Ottoman fortress that helped provide defense of Sarajevo’s eastern edge. Now the yellow stone walls are topped by a park with tables and views out across all of Sarajevo to the west.

Another great place to get a great view of Sarajevo is from atop the Twist Tower. This beautiful building is the tallest in the city with 40 floors.

And on top it features an observation deck that gives you an almost 360 degree view of Sarajevo. Plus, since the building sits in the middle of the city, you really can see Sarajevo in its entirety. You will pay a small fee for the privilege, but it’s significantly less expensive than riding the cable car (buy your ticket at the front lobby reception desk).

Also, there is a Bar just below the observation deck with most of the same views – just in case you want to linger over the views with a coffee or adult beverage. We visited in the mid afternoon and pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Experience Bosnian Coffee

And speaking of coffee, one of the essential things to do in Sarajevo is to experience Bosnian coffee. And I say “experience” because there is lots of tradition involved when it comes to coffee in Bosnia.

I would recommend that you give Bosnian coffee a try for the first time at a place called Andar in Baščaršija. They really make it a point to educate clueless tourists about the tradition. Every table has an instruction guide, written in several languages, explaining the traditional equipment and method.

If you’ve ever had Turkish coffee, then unsurprisingly (given the city’s history) Bosnian coffee is similar. Basically, you are served a mixture of hot water and very finely ground coffee. You then carefully pour it into your cup, leaving the resultant sludge behind. The full process is a little more involved than that, but you can learn all about it at Andar when you visit Sarajevo.

Eat Bosnian Cuisine

And so what about eating in Sarajevo? Certainly one of the essential things to do in Sarajevo is eating classic Bosnian cuisine. And your exploration of Bosnian food absolutely needs to include Ćevapi and Burek. You will have no problem finding either when you visit Sarajevo. You will see plenty of eateries serving both as you wander through Baščaršija.

Bosnian Ćevapi are chargrilled “fingers” of minced beef served inside a soft chewy flatbread called Lepinja. They are usually served with chopped onions, and you can also order a side of yogurt or mild cream cheese to go with them. I ate Ćevapi at several establishments in Baščaršija, and my favorite was a place called Ćevabdžinica Petica Ferhatović. I later had a Bosnian waiter tell me this was his favorite place too.

Burek is a classic Ottoman dish found throughout Turkey and the Balkans. I’ve eaten Burek in several other Balkan countries, but the Burek in Sarajevo was the best I’ve had so far.

Burek is a spiral of phyllo dough tubes stuffed with various fillings – including minced beef, potatoes, spinach, and cheese. In Bosnia, the burek are cooked in a Sač – a large cooking pan, covered by an equally large lid, which is then covered in hot coals.

My favorite place to get Burek in Sarajevo was at a place fittingly called Sač in Baščaršija. And the fast-moving line of locals that always extended out the door told me that I was spot-on in my judgment.

Now, A Few Key Sarajevo Travel Tips

Getting Around Sarajevo

For the most part, the touristic part of Sarajevo is a very walkable. On occasion we did need to travel a more medium distance, and the city does have a tram system. In fact, Sarajevo boasts the first public system of trams in Europe, dating back to the late 1800s.

On the surface, riding this tram system seems more complicated than it really is. There are two different tram companies that both operate on the same lines and routes (all info accurately available on Google maps).

One company uses sleeker newer trams…

And another that use older tank-like trams….

Prior to visiting Sarajevo, I’d read that different tickets needed to be used for the different companies, that the tickets could be purchased from various kiosks around town, and that you needed to be sure to validate once on board.

In practice, I discovered that it was easiest to buy single ride tickets directly from the driver (cash only), and validation didn’t seem necessary. There are indeed validation boxes on the trams but no one seemed to use them. And when I tried, a local stopped me. My ticket wouldn’t have fit anyway.

Uber or Bolt are not available in Sarajevo, and I arranged for our airport transportation ahead of time using Booking.com’s great airport taxi service. You can alternatively arrange for airport transportation on Viator.

I did read that Sarajevo taxi drivers are known to take advantage of tourists and so I generally avoided using them. I did try one of the local taxi company’s own iPhone app on three occasions (Žuti Taxi). It worked great twice. The other time though, we were left stranded at the train station when it didn’t work at all. So I didn’t use it again after that.

Money in Sarajevo

I found that cash seems to still be the most common form of accepted payment in Sarajevo. Many establishments didn’t accept credit or debit cards. ATMS can be found throughout Baščaršija, and I used them safely and without surprises. (Just always avoid the expensive Euronet machines and stick to those actually affiliated with a bank)

Language in Sarajevo

We did not experience any significant difficulty communicating in Sarajevo. Some English was spoken in pretty much every shop, restaurant, and museum we visited. As always though, I recommend that you learn and use a few common phrases in Bosnian as a gesture of respect.

Final Thoughts

I encourage you to visit Sarajevo. It’s a wonderful city brimming with unique culture, fascinating history, great food, and friendly people. You will not be disappointed and I definitely know that you will not run out of things to do in Sarajevo.

If you would like to read more about our time in Bosnia & Herzegovina, then I have a couple more posts coming next. One specifically about Mostar, and another about Transportation between Mostar and Sarajevo. So stay tuned.

And if you would like to read about other places we have visited in the Balkans, then be sure to check out these posts:

11 Useful Dubrovnik Travel Tips For a Very Over-Touristed City

The Best Things To Do in Ljubljana Slovenia