+387 62 519 843
info@bosnianvoyager.com
If you are planning to stay in Sarajevo, this is one of our most famous tours that you can experience. Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was the victim of a long siege after the Second World War, and our hardworking team of people made an ideal tour to get to know each other in the best possible way. with Sarajevo, its shining history, and sad destruction.
In this tour, we will do our best to present you the most significant locations during the siege of Sarajevo, places as a symbol of the resistance of our brave fellow citizens, and places where the statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina was defended, in this tour you will have the opportunity to have a local guide who will personally tell the history of the siege of Sarajevo.
The complete tour is based on the proven judgments of the Hague Tribunal and irrefutable facts about the terrible crimes committed by the Bosnian Serbs and the aggressor Yugoslav People’s Army, here you will hear about the fall of Yugoslavia and the main reasons for the secession of all former republics.
In this tour, which lasts about 4 hours on average, we will visit locations such as the “War Tunnel” or the “Salvation Tunnel” which was of crucial importance for the citizens of Sarajevo and especially for the defense against the aggressor hordes whose idea was to completely destroy the city and to kill all the citizens, when visiting the war tunnel, there is a museum of the war tunnel in the complex.
In addition to the war tunnel, we will visit the Olympic Trebević Mountain one of the symbols of the siege of Sarajevo, but also the iconic bobsleigh track, which today bears witness to the terrible destruction of Sarajevo, and after visiting the Olympic Trebević Mountain, we will go down to the city center and visit the Jewish cemetery, the second largest in Europe, and another from the symbol of Sarajevo, and you will hear an interesting story about our Jewish community, which gave a lot to Sarajevo.
Immediately not far from the Jewish cemetery, we visit the bridge of Suada Dilberovic and Olga Sučić or the willow bridge, the official place of the first victims of the siege of Sarajevo, the place where two brave female students raised their voices in the protests against the war in Sarajevo, and next to the bridge you will have the opportunity to visit the Sniper Alley the most dangerous place during the siege of Sarajevo.
And finally, as part of the tour, we head towards the yellow tabia of the Ottoman fortress with a beautiful view of Sarajevo that will leave you speechless and which will be deeply etched in your memory, there you will hear a lot about Sarajevo, its glorious and brave history, about the period of the foundation of Sarajevo, the Ottoman rule, the Austro-Hungarian annexation, and also the period of communism and pre-war events, this is an opportunity to hear the story of Sarajevo’s Romeo and Juliet, the war crime at the Markale market, but also the Gavril principle, the Sarajevo assassination and the beginning of the WWI and its causes, and you will personally experience the beauty of the Latin bridge.
Do you want to visit all of these? Do you want to hear all these interesting stories? Do you like history and culture? This is definitely the best choice for you! Welcome to the eternal city of Sarajevo!
In just four hours, visit and experience the Siege of Sarajevo tour with a local expert guide.
Visit the war tunnel, and the war tunnel museum, and find out why this is also a tunnel of hope.
Get acquainted with the entire history of Sarajevo with a special emphasis on communist rule and the causes of the fall of Yugoslavia.
Enjoy the beautiful Olympic mountain Trebević and visit the popular BOB sleigh track as a symbol of the destruction of Sarajevo during the siege that lasted a total of 1425 days.
Visit one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe, and find out why the Jewish community is very important to the city of Sarajevo.
Listen to the story of the siege of Sarajevo firsthand, which will be told by one of the survivors who will act as our guide.
Visit the Suada Dilberović and Olga Sučić bridge or Vrbanja bridge, the place of suffering of the first victims of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the first victims of the siege of Sarajevo.
Visit Sniper Alley and find out why it was one of the most dangerous locations in Sarajevo during the siege.
Get to know Sarajevo through the story of Bosnian coffee, Sarajevo kebabs, the Sarajevo assassination, as well as serious war crimes during the siege of Sarajevo.
Get acquainted with the chronology of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the main causes, and consequences, but also the most painful topic for the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the genocide in Srebrenica.
Combine this Tour with your departure or arrival flight to Sarajevo Airport.
If you are in the Old Town, you can come to our office or we can send our driver and guide to pick you up at your address completely free of charge.
Every day twice, the first departure at 8 am, the second departure at 2 pm, all tours are done throughout the year except for the winter period when we only do morning tours.
Before the very beginning of our tour, the siege of the city of Sarajevo, we gather at the agreed location, it can be our office or your address where our guide will pick you up. This is a great opportunity to get to know each other well, to introduce ourselves, our guide is a local expert and a man who survived the siege of the city of Sarajevo, all information is firsthand, and all is confirmed by historical facts and international courts.
Our guide will slowly introduce you to the topic of the tour, while we drive through the center of Sarajevo and where many locations will be presented to you. During the tour, feel free to ask any question, even those of a personal nature, our valuable and interesting guide will try to never leave you without an adequate answer.
At the very beginning of our tour, the first point we pass by and briefly visit is the infamous sniper alley, one of the most dangerous places in Sarajevo during the siege. Due to its geographical configuration and proximity to the slopes of Sarajevo, the positions of the Serbian troops were very close, and in addition, it was the main road that connected the city of Sarajevo. Many citizens of Sarajevo during the siege were forced to cross that section, but unfortunately, many of them died. In addition to the artillery fire from the surrounding hills, the biggest danger for the citizens of Sarajevo was snipers from the nearby hills or from the direction of the settlement of Grbavica, which was immediately occupied by Serbian troops at the beginning of the siege.
At the same location, in sniper alley, there is also one of the symbols of Sarajevo and the siege of this city, which is the famous Holiday Inn Hotel. In 1984, Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympic Games, and the city had to prepare for the world’s largest event a few years before. The city of Sarajevo needed a new and modern 5-star hotel, with the bright yellow color it really stood out, and it simply could not remain unnoticed.
At the beginning of 1992, during large anti-war protests, from the roof of this hotel, Serbian soldiers and paramilitary troops led by leader Radovan Karadzic started shooting from the roof of the hotel. Unfortunately, a large number of people were killed or wounded, and the terrorists were arrested by quick police action, but soon that Hotel will be the target of the bombing, which lasted until the entry of the first international troops into Sarajevo, and especially journalists from television crews, and during the war and the siege of the city of Sarajevo the Holiday Inn hotel became the headquarters of the largest television stations, and a place where well-known journalists and reporters for the area of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the former Yugoslavia gathered.
During the visit to this location, we will pass by a number of locations that have important cultural and historical significance for the siege of the city of Sarajevo, such as Markale Market, one of the biggest scaffolds of the citizens of Sarajevo, where dozens of citizens were killed by the artillery of Serbian troops.
And in addition, there is the Eternal Fire, one of the symbols of Sarajevo, dedicated to the victims of WWII, we will also pass by the monument to the children killed during the siege of Sarajevo, officially 1601 children were killed during the siege of Sarajevo, also there is the Presidency, the Parliament, as well as the Largest Barracks Marshal of the Yugoslav People’s Army.
We have a lot to see and hear as we move towards our new location, which is the War Tunnel or, among the Sarajevans, the Tunnel of Hope.
After a short drive through the city of Sarajevo, we head towards our new location, which was actually the lifeblood of Sarajevo during the siege, and it is the Sarajevo War Tunnel, popularly called the Tunnel of Hope. During the almost four-year siege of Sarajevo, this tunnel actually saved the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sarajevo from dying of hunger, and because of it, there was a supply line to defend the city from the aggressor hordes.
After arriving at the parking lot in front of the tunnel and the museum, our guide will give you a short briefing and familiarize you with the most important information and facts. When entering the complex, our first task is to go to a small hall and watch a short documentary film about the siege of Sarajevo, that way you will get answers, about how this tunnel was used and how everything worked.
After a short film, we head towards the entrance to the tunnel, where we go through the tunnel together so that you can personally experience the feeling of passing through, and feel what the everyday life of the citizens of Sarajevo looked like during the siege because the most important thing was how to get food, groceries, and heating during the cold Sarajevo winters.
After passing through the Sarajevo war tunnel, we enter the war tunnel museum, where you will see for yourself why the war tunnel was dug, what it was for, and in addition, how the tunnel that saved Sarajevo was dug and created, in the museum you will see exhibits, digging equipment, military equipment, and ammunition.
After leaving the museum, we will take the opportunity to stand in front of a large map of the siege of the city of Sarajevo, where our guide will explain in detail the reasons for the fall of Yugoslavia, the reason for the rebellion of local Serbs and Serbia’s support for the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, the guide will try his best to explain to you how bare-handed Bosnian people managed to defend themselves without military aid and with an embargo on the purchase of military equipment, but with great sacrifice and courage.
During the visit to the war tunnel in Sarajevo, while driving we will pass a large number of very important city settlements and locations, such as the National Museum, the American Embassy, the former Marshal Tito barracks (headquarters of the JNA troops), and the Sarajevo settlements: Grbavica, Pofalići, Neždarići, Alipašino polje, Stup, Ilidža and Butmir (location of the war tunnel).
After the Sarajevo War Tunnel, we head towards the new location, through the Butmir settlement next to the Airport, we enter the Dobrinja settlement, and head towards the iconic Olympic mountain Trebević.
As soon as we get to the location itself, we will enter the part of the city that belongs to the Republika Srpska and Lukavica entity because it is the best and safest way to Trebević, our guide will show you the exact demarcation line, so you will be able to easily know which side you are on.
After a 20-minute drive, we arrive at the Olympic mountain Trebević and begin a leisurely walk where our guide will introduce you to the story of this beauty. Before the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mount Trebević was a place where the local population came to spend time with their families, where they enjoyed and rested in the clean mountain air just above Sarajevo.
At the beginning of the war, most of the Olympic mountain Trebević falls into the hands of Serbian troops, and its entire length becomes the main front line. During the war, a large number of battles took place on Mount Trebević, and for many years after the war, the place was dangerous due to a large number of mines, and today when you visit Trebević, you can see a large number of traces of the war, such as traces of military bunkers, minefield marks, traces tracks made of tanks, trenches and various pieces of military ammunition, and as the biggest witness that still stands destroyed today is the bobsleigh track, which still stands as it did when the siege ended.
During the visit to Trebević, we will have the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful viewpoint of Sarajevo, and in addition the Zlatište hill, and the iconic Sarajevo restaurant Osmice.
After arriving at the Olympic mountain Trebević, we head to the location of the bobsled track, which is one of the highlights of the tour, built for the organization of the 1984 Winter Olympic Games. The bobsled track was one of the examples of brutalist architecture in Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During the siege of Sarajevo, the bobsled track was in the center of the front line, and during the aggression and siege, it was completely destroyed.
During your visit to the Bob track, you will have the opportunity to walk through the remains of the bobsled track and enjoy the beautiful graffiti that completely covered it. Even today, the bobsled track is a witness of a dark time for Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a place that you simply must visit.
After visiting the bobsled track, we slowly move back to the city and descend from the Olympic mountain Trebević.
Our next point is the Jewish cemetery, this is an opportunity to visit the second largest Jewish cemetery in Europe, to hear the story of the famous Sarajevo Jews who are very important for the history of Sarajevo, also our guide will introduce you to the war history of this cemetery, which is in during the war, it was among the first to be occupied by Serbian troops and became a well-known sniper’s nest from which the aggressor troops killed a large number of Sarajevo citizens.
Also, from the Jewish cemetery, you can see the sniper alley and the Sarajevo settlement of Grbavica, which were occupied right at the beginning of the siege of Sarajevo.
After visiting the Jewish cemetery, we will head towards the last location on this tour, which is the Suada and Olga Bridge. On April 5, 1992, during the large anti-war protests, Serbian troops killed two brave female students from Sarajevo with a sniper rifle from the Jewish cemetery, who proudly went out on anti-war protests.
Officially, two female students are the first victims of the siege of the city of Sarajevo, which will be besieged for a total of 1,425 days, with over 11,000 citizens killed, of which 1,601 are children.
After the visit to the Bridge, we officially end our tour of the siege of the city of Sarajevo, and we are heading to our starting point or wherever you wish us to drop you off.
During this tour, our guide will try to present to you chronologically the causes, reason, and consequences of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so you will learn about the birth of Yugoslavia, understand Yugoslav communism, understand who Josip Broz Tito was and the importance of the period 1945 to 1991 for the citizens Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sarajevo, and also after the death of the Yugoslav leader and the period 1990 to 1992 and the birth of the idea of a Great Serbia, who was Slobodan Milošević and his wars in Slovenia and Croatia.
Special emphasis will be placed on the siege of the city of Sarajevo itself, how it started, and to hear firsthand testimonies.
Finally, we will pay special attention to the genocide in Srebrenica, the Dayton peace agreement.
1: Does this tour include a visit to the war tunnel museum?
Yes, this tour includes a visit to the war tunnel and museum and is an integral part of the siege of Sarajevo tour.
2: Does this tour include admission to the war tunnel museum?
Yes, this tour includes the entrance fee.
3: What are the working hours of the war tunnel museum?
From April 1 to October 31, working hours are from 09:00 to 17:00, from November 1 to March 31, working hours are from 09:00 to 16:00.
4: How can I get to the war tunnel museum on my own?
5: How far is the war tunnel museum from the city center?
The war tunnel and museum are located on the outskirts of the city, next to the Sarajevo Airport, and along the very line between the entities of the Federation and Republika Srpska, depending on which route they use, the distance from the city center and the Old Town is from 11 to 13.5 Kilometers, from the Old Town and Bascarsija to war tunnel, the journey takes an average of 25 minutes.
6: Can children visit the War Tunnel Museum?
Yes, children can visit the war tunnel and museum because the content is adapted for all ages, certainly, if children are in our group, avoid showing images and video clips of disturbing content.
7: Can I visit the war tunnel museum in a wheelchair?
Yes, most of the complexes are adapted for wheelchairs, so we advise you to have an assistant during your visit, unfortunately, you cannot enter the tunnel in a wheelchair.
8: How can I pay for this tour?
It is possible to pay by card and cash, if you pay in cash the official currency in BiH is BAM (Bosnian mark), but we also accept all other currencies EUR, USD, and GBP.
9: Do I have to book a visit to the war tunnel museum in advance?
We definitely advise all our guests to book the tour in advance, we also accept reservations up to the departure for any date, but during the summer period, most of our tours are already booked in advance considering that we work with small groups of up to 8 people and two departures during the day.
10: Can I combine the Siege of Sarajevo tour with arrivals or departures from Sarajevo Airport?
Yes, you can, all you need to do is book your tour in advance and let us know the details of when your plane arrives or departs.
