Sarajevo War Tour: A Veteran's Story of the Siege (fees included)
Description
PEACE OF MIND: Our products always include admissions/entrance fees to museums and attractions essential for unrivalled tour experiences. During this tour, Sarajevo War Tunnel entrance fee (5 EUR Adults / 2.5 EUR children / students) is included in the tour price. You don't have to bother carrying local cash money at all. As an added bonus, we provide a licensed English-speaking guide who is a local war veteran, ensuring a deeply immersive experience with captivating firsthand storytelling. With a visit to the War Tunnel Museum, Jewish Cemetery, Olympic mountain of Trebević (with its most famous symbol – Olympic Bobsled track), and other locations crucial for better understanding of modern World longest siege – Siege of Sarajevo, this tour is by far the most interesting half day experience you can do when visiting Sarajevo. This 4 hour experience will ensure easy understanding, reasons and facts behind the breakup and death of Yugoslavia.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meet our team at the office or your preferred pickup location. Your guide is Sarajevo Siege survivor, who will introduce your to the story of Breakup of Yugoslavia and Siege of Sarajevo, and will make sure no questions remain unanswered, even of personal nature, so don’t refrain from sharing your thoughts and opinions at any moment of time.
We will pass by Markale Markets (largest massacre site in Sarajevo during the 1992-1995)
We will pass by memorial dedicated to 1601 children murdered in Sarajevo during the 1992-1995.
Regions of Marijin Dvor and ex hotel Holiday Inn (now hotel Holiday) are famous under the name of Sniper Alley, which was the most dangerous part of Sarajevo. First stop of the day is Hotel Holiday. Built for the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics, during the Siege it used to be a home to various foreign journalists and reporters who were reporting on Bosnian war and Siege of Sarajevo.
Next stop of the day will be War Tunnel Museum – Tunnel of Hope, which was the major “blood vessel” for heavily sieged and destroyed city. At the Tunnel we shall see a short movie about the War in Sarajevo and Tunnel, followed by going through the Tunnel itself. At the exhibition part of the museum we will have the opportunity to see many interesting exhibits directly connected with the Siege of Sarajevo. The trip to the tunnel and all the way in the tunnel is covered with a true first person experience of classy guide, survivor of the Siege of Sarajevo, who is always willing to answer question (no matter what they are). We will learn about the origins of the War on Balkans and Death of Yugoslavia, the dreams Serbian leaders have had, and how they succeeded to seduce large number of Serbian nationalists throughout the whole Balkans, and made them go to war.
After the Tunnel we head towards the mountain Trebević which, by vast majority of its length, was a first line during the Siege and place of many battles on many battlefields. At the site we will have the opportunity to see where the real destruction appeared, such as Zlatište, Osmice, Trebević Vidikovac and many other destroyed facilities and sites. Moreover, we will see the remains of bunkers, minefields, military tank caterpillar traces, tranches, bullets and grenade shrapnels and many many other interesting sites of destruction, which today, at the present time, haven’t yet being repaired or restored. They just stand there like two decades later, the war haven’t even ended yet.
One of the most beautiful viewpoints above Sarajevo. During the Siege of Sarajevo, position of Army of Republic of Srpska. Here you will get the real feeling what the great mice and cats game had been played, and how the Republic of Srpska forces (VRS) with such a great advantage never got the real chance to take over Sarajevo city.
Sarajevo Bobsleigh, originally built for the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics, is one of the main highlights of the tour. Once there, we can admire Yugoslavian brutalist architecture, and learn more about the unfortunate events which took place at this location during the Siege of Sarajevo, since it used to stand on one of the main front lines. However, Bobsled is today featured at the top of the Worlds most beautiful abandoned places lists. It holds amazing amount of various graffiti by artists from all around the World, and you have a chance to see them all.
Upon return to the city last stop of the day will be Jewish Cemetery, known for its historical importance as it is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe, but during the Siege of Sarajevo was the main front line and sniper nest of the Republic of Srpska army.
After the tour, we will drop you off at your desired location in Sarajevo.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Enjoy the convenience of complimentary pick-up and drop-off services if needed.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- A low amount of walking is involved
Reviews(344)
My family of 5 (husband and 3 kids ages 19, 18 and 16) went on the tour (we are from the US). Adnan, our guide, was great. His personal experiences really made it come to life for us. My kids especially did not really know much about the war and he told his story and the facts of the siege in a thorough and entertaining way while respecting all that happened and the seriousness of it all. It was such a unique way to see the city. I would highly recommend this tour!
The tour guide (war veteran) was very passionate to tell his story and really helped explain the background to the war. Out of the two tours I did whilst in Sarajevo, I found this one to be the best tour guide. There were people at the Tunnel Museum asking our guide where they could book a guide, but of course it was too late as you need to prebook the tour before going to the museum. I wouldn't do the Tunnel museum independently, as it is much better for the guide to show you round and benefit from the personal stories from the guide. We also visited the bobsleigh track. You do need to allow enough time to walk back, so don't get a lot of time, but don't really need it. It's a very informative half day tour. I went to the Siege Museum after doing this tour and I think that was good, as I had learnt a lot from the guide so it was probably the better way to do it.
A very informative tour led by a knowledgeable guide who used to be in the military. The tour seamlessly combined nature and history. The group was small, and we had plenty of time at each stop, including time to take photos.
Absolutely brilliant tour led by Adnan who had served in the Bosnian army during the conflict. He provided very clear explanations and was very educational. Wonderful tour, would recommend if you are ever in Sarajevo.
Thank you, Edo. An exciting experience. The guide was a veteran and described everything objectively.
We took this tour of about 4 hours, starting at 2:00 PM. We left late because the van was delayed. The first part of the route, towards the Tunnel through the "sharpshooters' avenue," is very interesting. The visit to the tunnel was exciting. The second part of the tour, with passages through the hills around Sarajevo with views of cemeteries, a visit to the Jewish cemetery, and the yellow fortress, is not worth it.
A really brilliant half-day tour with Mustafa. It was just me and another person, which felt like a real privilege. Mustafa shared with us his experiences of the siege as we drove out and around the city, and explained the events leading up to and during this difficult (and overlooked!) period of history of the region really. I had done some research before travelling to Bosnia, but not loads, and this felt the right thing to have done to contextualise my trip properly.
This is an excellent tour agency. They were very quick to reply to all enquiries and were quite helpful. I definitely recommend the Sarajevo war tour. The war tunnel and the bobsled trail are hard to get to on your own and the guide, Adnan, who is a war veteran was very good I also used them for a trip from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik, with stops in Mostar and the Kravica waterfalls. The driver Ermin was great and even stopped to buy me burek. The Bosnian countryside is beautiful, with pretty towns, snow capped mountains and a very blue river running through. I strongly recommend Bosnia, Sarajevo and Funky Tours.
Fantastic tour on the Siege of Sarajevo. We learned a ton! Our guide lived through the siege and provided our small group fantastic insight to these troubling times. Highly recommend this tour.
All well organized. Good communication. The tour guide was a real veteran and gave us personal details : very interesting and inspiring. 5 stars.
We are very happy to hear that our organization and communication made the tour such a positive experience, and thank you so much for sharing your kind words about our guide as well! Until next time, FT Team
