Sarajevo
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Where the Ottoman bazaar meets the Austro-Hungarian boulevard on one street, a city that hosted an Olympics and survived a siege, and the best coffee ritual in Europe
Photos by Natalya Letunova, Nancy Hann, Hongbin and Inera Isovic on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Bosnia and Herzegovina
April to June, and September to October (summer is warm and the city is lively; winter is cold, snowy and cheap)
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 95mm in Nov
Where it is
43.86°N, 18.41°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Eat ćevapi and drink Bosnian coffee in Baščaršija
- Go through the Tunnel of Hope
- Ride the cable car up Trebević and walk the bobsleigh track
- Watch the sunset from the yellow fortress
- Day-trip to Mostar
Sarajevo travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Bosnia and Herzegovina
Good valueThe convertible mark is pegged to the euro at 1.95583 and euros are often accepted at that rate in Sarajevo and Mostar, though change comes back in marks. Exchange at a bank or a post office; the rate is fixed so there is little to shop for.
ATMs & cards
UniCredit, Raiffeisen and Sparkasse machines are free with most cards; the standalone machines around Baščaršija charge. Cash is still king in the markets and the smaller restaurants.
Avoid these
- the standalone machines around the old towns, which charge
Use these instead
- UniCredit
- Raiffeisen
- Sparkasse
The mark is pegged to the euro and euros are often taken at the fixed rate, with change in marks. Cash is still king in the markets and small restaurants.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Bosnia and Herzegovina
SafeComfortable, and the old town is walked late. The 1990s are visible — shell scars, the cemeteries on the hills — and are not a hazard now. Landmines remain in the hills outside the city; stick to marked paths and never step into a taped-off area. Pickpockets on the tram at rush hour.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (7 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the hills outside the city off the marked paths — landmines remain from the 1990s; never cross tape or leave a path
- the tram at rush hour — pickpockets at the doors
- taxis at the airport and the station — rounded-up fares; insist on the meter
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Bosnia and Herzegovina visa rules
No visa neededup to 90 days
Ninety days in any 180, on a passport or — for EU citizens — an identity card. Holders of a valid multiple-entry Schengen visa are also admitted without one, for up to 30 days.
Other passports
Visa required in advance
Applied for at a Bosnian embassy in advance; there is no e-visa.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Good but costlyRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Tetanus up to date
- Tick-borne encephalitis for hiking in the forests in summer
Getting treated
Sarajevo has private clinics used to foreigners and a decent public hospital; Mostar is adequate; beyond them it thins. Insurance with evacuation cover is sensible, as anywhere the serious cases go abroad.
Tap water in Sarajevo and Mostar is drinkable. Landmines remain in the countryside from the 1990s: stay on marked paths, never cross tape, and take a guide in the hills. Ticks in the forests from spring.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodĆevapi in Baščaršija — ten small sausages in flatbread with onion and kajmak — is the meal, and the ćevabdžinicas argue about who does it best. Bosnian coffee is a ritual with a copper pot and a sugar cube. Burek is meat only; anything else is a pita. Everything is cheap.
Nightlife
Bars in the Austro-Hungarian streets, the old town cafés until late, and a small club scene.
- Ferhadija and the streets off it — the bars the city uses
- Baščaršija — coffee and shisha until late, few drinks
Closing: Around 01:00 on weekdays, later at weekends.
Getting around
Workable- UberNot here
- BoltNot here
- Against a taxi
- The taxis are metered, cheap and honest in the old towns; the ones at the airport and the stations round up. Insist on the meter or agree the fare.
No ride-hailing app operates in Bosnia. Taxis are plentiful and cheap; a ride across Sarajevo is a few marks.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Sarajevo — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Why these are Bosnia and Herzegovina's numbers and not Sarajevo's
Home broadband — Fair. Video calls and streaming for one or two people — fine for a holiday, thin for a household working. Broadband here runs at 29% of the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Basic. Maps, messaging and music; a video call away from wifi will struggle. Mobile runs at 23% of the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Sarajevo, so these are medians for all of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Bosnia and Herzegovina, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Bosnian
- HelloDobar danDO-bar dan
- PleaseMolimMO-leem
- Thank youHvalaHVA-la
- Yes / NoDa / Neda / neh
5 more phrases
- Excuse meIzviniteiz-VEE-nee-teh
- How much is it?Koliko košta?KO-li-ko KOSH-ta
- CheersŽivjeliZHEEV-ye-lee
- DeliciousVrlo ukusnoVR-lo OO-koos-no
- GoodbyeDoviđenjado-vee-JEN-ya
One language with three names — Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian — and everybody understands everybody. Latin script in Sarajevo and Mostar. English is good among the young and in the old towns; German is common among those who worked abroad.
Religion
Three faiths in one country: Muslim Bosniaks, Orthodox Serbs, Catholic Croats
Roughly half Muslim, a third Orthodox, a sixth Catholic, and the division is the map of the 1990s war, which is why it is not small talk. Sarajevo's mosques welcome visitors outside prayer times — shoes off, shoulders and knees covered, a scarf for women — and Ramadan is observed in the old town, with the cannon at sunset. Alcohol is sold everywhere regardless.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Take the coffee slowly; a Bosnian coffee is an hour, and drinking it in five minutes is the insult
- Shoes off, shoulders and knees covered, and a scarf for women in a mosque
- Ask before photographing the cemeteries, which are recent
- Let people tell you about the war if they choose to, and do not press if they do not
Don't
- Do not raise the war, the politics or which entity is which as small talk
- Do not step off a marked path in the hills; the mines are real
- Do not order a "Turkish coffee" in Sarajevo; it is Bosnian
- Do not dive from the bridge in Mostar because the locals do; they trained for years
Where to stay in Sarajevo
No Holistay rentals in Sarajevo yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Sarajevo on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Sarajevo SJJ
20 minfrom the airport· 12 km as the crow flies
20 min by taxi.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
