Things to do in Sarajevo
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To Be or Not to Be
Somewhat similar in style to the Dveri, To Be or Not to Be offers grills, generous salads and tangy seafood dishes in its cosy dining room. We ended up with a whale of a fish and more veggies on one plate than we've ever seen in a Balkan restaurant. If you look at the signboard outside you'll notice that the words 'or not' have been crossed out; this alteration was made during the siege when the owners wanted to present a far more positive message.
reviewed
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Sarajevo Brewery
Above the river on the south bank stands a large red-and-cream edifice with fat copper drainpipes, this is Sarajevo's famous brewery. Part of it has been converted into a cavernous bar, all dark stained wood and brass railings, serving the brewery's draft draught plus a very pleasant dark beer that slips down easily. Meals are also available.
reviewed
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Dveri
A tiny restaurant-in-hiding, which could just pass as someone's kitchen laid out to receive family guests. Try one of their home-made brandies (quince, walnut?) while you watch the cook prepare your meal in surroundings hung with strings of garlic, chillies and corncobs.
reviewed
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Sarajevo Roses
Look for the infamous Sarajevo roses on the pavements in central Sarajevo. These are flower shape indentations where a shell has exploded and some have been symbolically filled in with red cement.
reviewed
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Restaurant Jež
A mood of intimacy is felt from the moment you walk into the warmly lit antiques arcade leading into this basement restaurant. Bring the love of your life for that 'heads together, rest of the world doesn't exist' meal. If solo, then fill those noneating moments checking the grandmother clocks on the wall - how many tell the correct time?
The cuisine is typical Bosnian tinged with international extras. Our waiter offered a surprise meal, which revealed itself as steak à la chef, served on a wooden platter surrounded by a dam of mash potato to retain the Camembert sauce.
reviewed
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Tavola
A simple, elegant, old-fashioned restaurant where frequent customers are greeted like old friends. Voices here will tend to be non-Bosnian as it's popular with expats, who have the time and networks to discover the best a town has to offer. Parting guests have left messages written on muslin pieces, which have been framed, backlit and hung on the wall.
If you're on the lower level, you can see right into the kitchen and watch your meal as a work in progress. Superb pasta, especially the salmon, but memo to the chef: a little less salt please.
reviewed
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Latin Bridge
Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie paused at the National Library (then the town hall) on that fateful day in 1914. Despite an earlier unsuccessful assassination attempt that day, they rode west along the riverside in an open car to the Latin Bridge. It was here that Gavrilo Princip stepped forward to fire his pistol, killing them both and sparking off war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Thanks to a series of European alliances, this escalated into WWI.
reviewed
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Inat Kuća
The restaurant was once on the other side of the river, but when the authorities wanted to demolish this traditional Bosnian house to build the town hall the owner insisted it be reconstructed here - hence the name. Offerings range from snacks, a sticky baklava, a bowl of chips and beer to a full-blown grill. In warm weather the riverside terrace is the spot for a bit of afternoon relaxation and reading. The service is a bit casual, so keep them on their toes.
reviewed
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Club
This sassy basement joint grooves to DJ music or local bands on weekends. Different rooms cater for drinking, dancing or just chatting up others under the seductive lighting. Out the back a restaurant cooks up sizzling pizzas. It's a bit difficult to find. There's no sign, as the management prefers recommendations by word of mouth. Take the first door on the left after the entrance and then go down the stairs. Note, there's a smart-dress code.
reviewed
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Tunnel Museum
The tunnel that saved Sarajevo! Most of the 800m-stretch under the airport has collapsed, but the Tunnel Museum, on the southwestern side of the airport, gives visitors just a glimpse of its hopes and horrors: the hopes of people surviving with the food it brought in and of the injured it took out, and the horrors from the pounding overhead artillery and sniper fire during the long hours of waiting to go through.
reviewed
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Morića Han
Morića Han was a tavern when Sarajevo was a caravan stopover on the ancient trading route between East and West. Wicker chairs for coffee drinkers have now replaced plain benches for weary travellers and a carpet shop with waist-high stacks of rugs fills the former stables. The han (tavern) has been burnt down several times, with the latest reincarnation dating from the 1970s.
reviewed
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Zlatna Ribica
A collision of aesthetics as baroque, fin-de-siècle Paris and Vienna, and Art Deco crash together in this warmly lit bar. Nature abhors a vacuum and so does the owner who has filled every nook and cranny with period knick-knacks; it's a visual feast. Drinks come with a side plate of complimentary nuts and dried figs, and the music is blues and early rock'n'roll.
reviewed
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Clou
A smoky underground den that revs up late at night and then cruises on regardless of the dawn arriving. It's a favourite with locals, expats and travellers in the know, who come for the atmosphere and the free flowing R'n'B and jazz. The club can be difficult to find: enter the fancy doorway, go through the passageway and turn left, then left again down some steps.
reviewed
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Green Visions
An active ecotourism organisation that promotes and lobbies for the preservation of the country's pristine upland environment. It runs hiking treks, (snowshoes in winter), mountain biking and rafting events as well as visits to traditional Bosnian villages. It takes zero risks with mines and operates in places that were never areas of conflict.
reviewed
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Orthodox Church
In the same road as the Jewish Museum and Catholic Church is the old Orthodox Church, which is medieval (last rebuilt in 1740) and predates the yellow-and-brown Orthodox cathedral in Zelenih Beretki. Inside the church don't miss the museum, which showcases Russian, Greek and local icons, as well as tapestries and old manuscripts.
reviewed
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National Library
The stylish Austro-Hungarian National Library, decorated with Moorish flourishes, was targeted by the Serbs as a repository of Bosnian books and manuscripts, and therefore an entire people's culture. An incendiary shell on 25 August 1992 wiped out a heritage; restoration work is slow and many books may be irreplaceable.
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Sebilj
This fountain, looking more like an enclosed Oriental gazebo, is not the original and only dates from 1891. From the square a series of parallel lanes, cross alleys and open courtyards strike off in all directions to a boundary of the National Library in the east and Gazi-Husrevbey Mosque in the west.
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Catholic Church
As a measure of their tolerant and multicultural history, Sarajevans are proud to point out that four religions and their places of worship share one city block. Close together are the neo-Gothic 1889 Catholic Church and the old synagogue (1581, last rebuilt in 1821), which is now the Jewish Museum.
reviewed
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National Museum
The best exhibition in the National Museum is the Ethnology section with its fine display on Bosnian music and instruments, well explained in English. The Natural History section has its share of stuffed birds and beasts but the Prehistory section is empty due to impending building repairs.
reviewed
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Termalna Rivijera
Sarajevo can get stinking hot in the height of summer. What better place to cool off than at the water park, Termalna Rivijera , with its indoor and outdoor pools (open May to September) and water slides? There's also a restaurant here.
reviewed
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Plava Prizm
Got two hours for lunch? That's how long it takes the world to turn around you on this 15th-floor revolving restaurant, atop the gleaming glass Avaz Business centre. We recommend the mushroom stew that comes with a baked pastry top.
reviewed
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Gazi-Husrevbey Mosque
The nearby Gazi-Husrevbey Mosque was built by masons from Dubrovnik in 1531. There are some superb internal decorations employing line, pattern and calligraphy in pastel colours to delineate every separate architectural feature.
reviewed
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Central Post Office
The Central Post Office should be visited for its splendid imperial interior and its big hanging brass clock. Almost opposite across the river is the stunningly graceful Academy of Fine Arts, which is now an art school.
reviewed
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Karabit Café
This is often the place to go when others are closed, you've had enough of them, or you're out of ideas. Buy a book, read a magazine, allow your thoughts to drift and let the coffee or booze edge you back into life.
reviewed
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Taj Mahal
For those missing their spices, the dishes here range from the innocuous to a throat-searing application of chillies. There are plenty of vegetarian dishes plus lots of Sarajevo beer to extinguish any fire.
reviewed
