A first-time guide to Sarajevo

23.09.2024 - 19:31 / lonelyplanet.com / Winter Olympics

Sep 23, 2024 • 6 min read

Sarajevo is renowned for its intriguing architectural medley, vibrant street life and the irrepressible spirit of its people.

Long renowned for its religious diversity, the capital of Bosnia & Hercegovina entered the world’s consciousness only in the 20th century – thanks to the 1914 assassination that precipitated WWI, the 1984 Winter Olympics and the brutal four-year siege that was a low point of the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s.

Yet both despite and really because of this potent history, Sarajevo is place few visitors will forget. If you’re heading there for the first time, here’s what you should know. 

There’s no bad time to visit Sarajevo; even winter – when the shortest days regularly see below-zero temperatures – has its charm, especially if you enjoy snowy sports. Host of the 1984 Winter Olympics, Sarajevo boasts two Olympic-caliber skiing resorts: Jahorina and Bjelašnica, both about 25km (15.5 miles) from the city center. The skiing season runs from November to March, with February being generally the best time to visit for reliable piste conditions. Both resorts offer hotels near the slopes. If you’re not a fan of the cold, early November has more-manageable temperatures and is also when the three-day Jazz Fest Sarajevo takes place.

Spring and autumn offer ideal conditions for hiking in the mountains surrounding the city. Bjelašnica is a fantastic base for hiking to traditional mountain villages like Umoljani, a remote spot where customs have not changed for hundreds of years. You can also take Sarajevo’s cable car, which climbs some 500m (1640ft) up to a viewpoint 1164m (3820ft) on Mt Trebević, or go to the popular large park Vrelo Bosne. Locals love to go to this collection of lush mini-islands at the Bosna River springs for picnics or restaurant lunches on weekends 

While summer draws tourists to the wider region, including to Mostar and the Croatian coast, Sarajevo stays cooler and is less thronged with tourists. Summer is also packed with cultural events, such as the Sarajevo Film Festival in mid-August. Every July, the wide-ranging arts festival Baščaršijske Noći sees music, theater and all kinds of performances take place in the city center.

A weekend in Sarajevo will give you enough time to stroll the streets, eat out at restaurants and party with the locals. But we recommend adding a day or two on to your trip so you can venture out into the mountains and enjoy a hike or two with dramatic scenery. 

Sarajevo is a very walkable city. And it’s easy to get between farther-flung destinations quickly thanks to an extensive network of trams and buses (including both so-called trolley buses and minibuses). You can pre-purchase tickets from kiosks, which are located on the