Sarajevo Travel Answers

We stayed two nights in Mostar. Mostar during the day was crowded with day trippers bussed up from Croatia when we visited. It's lovely when they are all gone. Make sure you take a public bus to Blagaj (see Blagaj pages on VT) to visit the derwish tekke, the landscape by the tekke is spectacular. One night in Sarajevo is definitely not enough. After seeing the city if you have time take the tram to the end of the line in Ildiza and walk to the source of Bosne river. From Mostar to Sarajevo I recommend taking the train as it runs through a gorge which is very beautiful whereas the road is in a different place.

You can try Michelin.com and Google for maps. http://www.viamichelin.com/ http://maps.google.com/

I do NOT suggest the bus trip because it's to long and potentially also costs more. Instead - since you are in Canada - you may discover that: - a flight to Budapest costs about the same or could even cost less, than to Cologne - a one-month train ticket from Budapest to Cologne and back costs 170 Euro (in case you want to visit Germany, regardless where and unlimited stopovers are possible) - a one-month train ticket from Budapest to Mostar via Sarajevo and back costs under 60 Euro If you insist to see Germany first - you may try to reserve a Cologne-Budapest-Cologne in advance on German rail web site. The Budapest-Sarajevo train travels during the day and you can see how it crosses into Croatia and Bosnia. The round-trip by train costs about 10% LESS than the one-way.

Thanks for the info. Yes Cologne will be my first stop becuase im going for a food show then I just want to take some time out as I never get to Travel rural Europe too often. DO you happen to know what train route would be passig via Cologne to Budapest? Would I still get to see a lot of country side via train instead of bus? Appreciate your feedback

Thanks for the feedback. I was in Sarajevo last November for 3 days and I enjoyed it. But didnt get to go to Mostar. I am going on a business trip to Cologne and trying to sneak a few personal days in. Will try to get to Blagaj. Thanks

Thanks for your feedback

There are essentially two ways. #1: Cologne->Frankfurt->Munich/Passau->Vienna->Budapest #2: Cologna->Hannover->Berlin->Prague->Bratislava->Budapest What is cheaper is difficult to predict. The first one goes along the Rhine river for few hours, that is very scenic. You will probably pass Alps by night. The second is not very scenic in Western part of Germany, between Dresden and Decin you will pass the "Saxonian Switzerland" - that is pretty scenic. There are more variations to these routes, one may for instance travel via Frankfurt-Nuremberg-Pilsen (Plzen)-Prague. If you do not need to return to Cologne and can fly out of Budapest than things also get simplified. You may look at cheap flights from Cologne area to Hungary by using skyscanner.com and than go to the airline web page - that would make you have more time for Bosnia obviously.

Please note about the Colgne - Frankfurt bit that if you take the train via Siegburg/Bonn and Frankfurt airport you travel along a boring fast track, so for the scenic Rhine route you need to take Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz - Mannheim etc. and sit to your left of the travelling direction, so that you can fully enjoy the view of the Rhine river.

Well I made it. Took the night train via Frankfurt to Budapest only to find out the tracks to Sarajevo are under repairs. I ended up train it back to Vienna and Bus it to Sarajevo. Enjoyed the bus route

Thanks for the feedback!

Thanks for the info. I have a wonderful time each time I go to Bosnia. See your country Next Year again, this time to Tulza and Banja Luka

Just be sure, if such thing happens again - do not back-track to Vienna. I would rather enter any post-YU country instead. For instance, going to Zagreb or Novi Sad or Belgrade first rather than Vienna. Will result in (much) shorter ride and much cheaper price. If you have internet access it's also a good idea to post an urgent question here. Sorry to be a smartpants afterwards but good, it worked somehow out for you.

Thanks for the answer, WOnder if VT has a mobile app?

No, mobile app yet but should be in the planning if I remember correctly.