An acquaintance of mine, from TravellersPoint, was in Sarajevo around New Year. I gave him a few advices about accomodation and places to see. Here’s what he wrote when he came back from the trip:
Sarajevo was wonderful! Except the WC on the bus station, I can’t think of anything wrong with your city.
Let’s start from the accomodation – hostel Marko Polo is in fact an appartment modified to serve for renting (one double room, two rooms with more beds, shared kitchen and bathroom). Location is great, it’s practically on Baščaršija (which doesn’t include the noise, on the contrary, Logavina is a quiet street - the fact that the Police is few meters away probably has something to do with it
). Double room (french bed) is decent, with a few silly things like porcelain giraffe and elephant, which adds to its charm. The owner (Emina, very dear and kind person) is especially proud of big TV with DVD player and Stereo system. The bathroom is ok, and there’s even a washing machine for those who are staying longer. The only little minus is that Emina (or her son) sleeps in the kitchen, so the kitchen is mostly unavailable in the early morning hours. All in all, considering the location, cleaniness and comfortable room, huge range of TV programs and DVD’s to chose from, I think 15 € per person was a good price. An advice: we heard many horror stories about Ljubičica agency, so try to warn any future travellers!
Red, Yellow and Paja taxis are all very cheap as you said.
The most wonderful thing about Sarajevo, except Baščaršija and view from Vratnik, were the people - they’re so kind, good hosts and open for conversations!
I was especially impressed by the lady working in Bosnian cafe Behar. She cooks a great coffee and pours the stories from her sleeves along with it. The ladies at antique bookstore Tarih were also kind and warm, as well as old gentleman in Preporod bookstore. There were many more such people.
I hope I gave you some information you can use to help future travellers.
So, in the spirit of helping fellow travellers and forwarding information from insiders, I would appreciate any comments or reviews like this one.
I lived in Sarajevo for two months a few years back. I loved everything about the city. Its so easy to navigate and the trams take you everywhere. The river (and river cafe scene) is great. The glavna (walking street) is great. The food is great. The jazz club is great.
The old Olympic sites are great. The FK Sarajevo and Zeljo futbol rivalry are great and make for an interesting weekend when they play. The Bosna River and springs.
The city is a great place for travelers.
However, as the traveler mentioned about, the people are the reason to visit the city.
I think about my days in Sarajevo almost every day. There are sad aspects to the city (I used to buy chocolate and sandwiches for a young orphan that lived down the street), but there are sad aspects to every city.