Sarajevo (Bos. Sarajevo, Turkish Saraybosna) is the capital and seat of government of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and is located in southern Europe.
Sarajevo has some sights, e.g. old mosques or churches. Sarajevo has the oldest preserved (renovated) mosque in the country (Serbia, BiH, Croatia etc.) It is worth a visit! Also for non-Muslims!
Churches
There are several churches worth seeing in the old
town.
After Prague, Sarajevo has the largest Jewish cemetery
in Europe. The oldest tombstone is from the 17th century. The site
is on a steep slope and can hardly be visited by disabled people.
Castles, chateaux and palaces
"Yellow Fortress" In the
vicinity of the old town there is the small castle "Yellow
Fortress". From here you have a wonderful view in all directions of
Sarajevo. There are two old city gates with a connecting wall
nearby. In one of the gates is the Museum for Ilije Izetbegovic.
Buildings
The 30 meter high clock tower is located in the old
town. The building can only be viewed from the outside. Within
walking distance, on a square, is Sebilj, a popular postcard motif,
a fountain from the Ottoman era.
The buildings of the
university and especially the main post office on the riverside are
worth seeing. The main post office is not very impressive from the
outside, but has a large, glass-covered and elegantly furnished
counter hall.
The old market hall, called Markale, is still
in operation today. During the Bosnian War in the 1990s, numerous
people were violently killed here. A memorial plaque nearby reminds
of this.
Monuments
The former National Gallery has been
converted into a memorial. A visit is definitely worthwhile.
Museums
Tunnel Museum ("Tunnel of Hope"). The tunnel museum is
worth a visit. It is a little hidden near the airport in the
district of Butmir. You can see and walk a (very) short piece of the
tunnel, which was the only (secret) land connection to the outside
world during the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War. In a former
home there is a small, well-equipped museum with numerous objects
and photos. Visitors are shown a short film which, without extensive
explanations, shows very impressively and oppressively the events of
the war in the city and the tunnel construction and its use. Note
for physically disabled people: the museum and tunnel are not
barrier-free
Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Zmaja od Bosne 5. Tel .: +387 (0) 33 226 098. The Historical Museum
is also well worth a visit. It is located opposite the American
embassy and the Holiday Inn hotel, which was very famous from the
war days. In a dilapidated building, different periods of the
country's history are presented in two sections. One section
contains numerous objects, documents and photos from Sarajevo at the
time of the Bosnian War in the 1990s. The exhibition wants to
largely dispense with a historical classification, but presents
everyday life and war events very tangible and impressive from the
point of view of ordinary people. The second section deals with the
older history of the country up to World War II. There is also a
photo exhibition with images of war, which in turn clearly focuses
on individual people.
Museum of contemporary Art Sarajevo (Ars
Aevi), Terezija bb. Tel .: +387 (0) 33 216 927. This museum shows
exhibits by well-known international artists with its exhibition Ars
Aevi. It is located in a building that belongs to the Olympic sports
complex "Skenderija". The idea for the collection was born during
the siege in the Bosnian War and can rely on broad support, among
others refer to UNESCO. The exhibition is still under construction,
but can already present works by over 100 well-known artists,
including Beuys, Tony Cragg and others. A new museum building
elsewhere was designed by Renzo Piano, but not yet started.
Jewish Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This museum is located in
the old synagogue. The relatively small but impressive exhibition is
worth seeing. It is dedicated to religious objects, the Jewish
history of Sarajevo and the persecution during the Second World War.
Museum of Ilije Izetbegovic. This small museum for Ilije Izetbegovic
is located in an old city gate near the Yellow Fortress, whose tomb
is located in a cemetery a little downhill.
Museum of War Childhood (Muzej ratnog djetinjstva), 30-32,
Logavina, Sarajevo, 71000. Tel .: +387 (0) 33 535 558.
Streets and squares
Latin bridge (Latinska ćuprija) (Latinska
ćuprija). The Latin Bridge is widely known for the fact that the
Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand and his wife
Sophie were killed on June 28, 1914. The attack is considered to be
one of the triggers of the First World War. The architecture of the
bridge is worth a look, and there is a museum next door that
commemorates the attack.
Parks
As far as travel planning
allows, you should go to a viewing platform above the city at
sunset.
1 Tourist information, Trgovke (at the south end of the main
square with the Sebilj Fountain). The only "official" tourist info.
All the other shops with information signs, which are frequent in
the old Town, are private agencies that, first of all, want to sell
their tours. Open: sporadically.
By plane
Sarajevo Airport
(International airport Sarajevo, IATA: SJJ; in the suburb of Butmir,
a good 6 km to the city center) . renovated in 2001 and extended in
2021. From the German-speaking countries there are (as of autumn
2021) several times a week direct flights with Austrian Airlines
from Vienna, with Lufthansa from Frankfurt, with Eurowings from
Cologne / Bonn and Stuttgart and with Swiss from Zurich. In the
winter months, flights to and from Sarajevo are occasionally
cancelled due to dense ground fog.
The airport is connected to
the city center by express buses to Baščaršija from Centrotrans
(tickets from the driver, at the kiosk in the airport or via their
app), which are somewhat irregular, depending on the day of the week
6-10 times/tgl., traffic. One piece of luggage is free of charge in
the standard price of 5 KM, each additional one also costs 5 KM. It
also runs the city bus line 103.
More comfortable but not
immune from possible fraud attempts are the numerous taxis, whose
stand is at Terminal B.
By train
Main Railway Station
(Glavna željeznička stanica u Sarajevu) . Large, impressive late
Socialist hall from a time when a functioning railway operation was
a matter of course. From Banja Luka or Mostar it is recommended to
arrive by modern Talgo trains. The connections are very inexpensive.
Especially the route from Mostar to Sarajevo through the Neretva
Valley is beautiful. One train per day should go from/to Bihać.
Unfortunately, the train traffic is severely restricted in 2022, you
have to make sure every time whether the selected connection is also
running.
From the central station you can easily get to the
city center with the regular trams.
By bus
Buses run daily
from many European cities to Sarajevo all year round, e.g. from
numerous German and Austrian cities. Furthermore, Sarajevo can of
course be easily reached from Croatia.
Bus station Sarajevo
(on the M18; next to the main railway station. Trams to the city
center on the forecourt). Central transfer point also for regional
buses of the company Centrotrans and intercity buses. It makes sense
that the booking offices of other long-distance bus companies
(including international routes) are located in the ticket hall of
the nearby main station. Without waiting room or luggage storage. No
timetable notices, but departure signs on the treadmills on the
respective bus platform. International departures on higher numbers.
Overall, a rotten affair. Cafés in the bus platform area, there are
also chargeable, not very appealing toilets.
Istočno Bus
Station (8 km outside, reachable by bus line 103 from Trg Austrije
in 30min.). Buses from Montenegro, Serbia and Republika Srpska. Even
more dilapidated than the other bus station. No ATM or currency
exchange for arrivals, dingy café, taxis are rare. A "station tax"
is required on departure. You should insist on a receipt that shows
"1KM" as an amount to prevent the money from seeping into corrupt
employees.
On the street
From the southwest you can reach
Sarajevo via the European Route E73, which branches off from the E65
along the coast at Ploče in Croatia and leads to Sarajevo via
Mostar. From the north you can also get to Sarajevo via the E73 via
Zenica or the E661 via Banja-Luka. The latter two roads also come
from Croatia. To the east, towards Serbia, the E761 stretches via
Višegrad.
In der Stadt gibt es ein gut ausgebautes Netz von Straßenbahnen,
Bussen und Elektrobussen, betrieben von JKP GRAS Sarajevo, wobei für
Touristen insbesondere die Straßenbahnlinie(n) von Bedeutung sein
dürften. Zwar gibt es verschiedene Liniennummern, im wesentlichen
verläuft die einzige Strecke zwischen der 1 Wendeschleife um das
Altstadtviertel an der Ost-West-Hauptstraße M18 bis zum Hauptbahnhof
bzw. dem 2 Endhalt Malta-Straße wenige hundert Meter weiter.
((Stand: Jun 2020) sind auf der 1 km langen Verlängerung bis zum
Gradski Saobraćaj-Depot die Schienen herausgerissen.)
Die
meisten Trambahnen sind weder behindertengerecht noch für
Kinderwagen geeignet und auch nicht klimatisiert, sollen aber in den
nächsten Jahren zumindest teilweise ersetzt werden. Die Busflotte
wurden in den letzten Jahren bereits deutlich modernisiert.
Weder Fahr - noch Linienpläne existieren, auch entsprechende
Landkartenapps am Smartphone versagen hier. Es gibt jedoch hierfür
eine App namens moovit. An den Bussen sind nur Anfangs - und
Endhalte der Linien angeschrieben. Abgesehen von der Trambahn sind
öffentliche Verkehrsmittel für Besucher nur benutzbar, wenn man
genau weiß wo es hingehen soll.
Es gibt in Sarajevo keine
Fahrkartenautomaten, die Tickets (Einzel-, Mehrfach - und
Tageskarten) müssen entweder an Kiosken oder direkt beim Fahrer
gekauft und soort beim Einstieg entwertet werden - es gibt
zahlreiche und rigorose Kontrollen. Für Einheimische wurde
zuletzsche ein digitales Ticket in Form einer Chipkarte eingeführt.
Die Innenstadt kann gut zu Fuß erkundet werden, die Außenbezirke
befinden sich jedoch auf einem steilen Berghang.
Taxis
Éberall in der Innenstadt trifft man auf Taxis, die auf Fahrgäste
warten. Die Preise sind von der Taxiinnung einheitlich festgesetzt.
Das Einschalten des Taxameters ist Pflicht. Price (Stand: Jul 2022):
Grundgebühr 1.90 KM, 1.20 KM/hr, 12.00 KM/hr. Wartezeit.
Taxiruf (free Anfahrt): +387 33 660 666; +387 33 660 970; +387 33
1515; +387 61 230 666; +387 61 230 970