Bosnia Travel

Direct Sarajevo to Belgrade rail link is restored and after some 17 years, the first train was running last Sunday. Several news sites noticed this with variety of articles and some videos. Here are some of them:

BBC: Belgrade-Sarajevo railway reopens after 17 years - A rail link has re-opened between the capitals of Serbia and Bosnia, almost 17 years after it was cut during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. The line between Belgrade and Sarajevo was damaged in the fighting between Serbs, Croats and Bosnian Muslims. The journey time is now two hours longer than it was before the war, as the track is in such poor condition…read whole article here

Times Online: Belgrade to Sarajevo express resumes service after 18 years - Eighteen years after its disruption by the ethnic fighting that ripped federal Yugoslavia apart, a symbolic link between the lost country’s two main cities was quietly revived yesterday. In its heyday the Belgrade to Sarajevo express was the gleaming pride of Josip Tito’s patchwork socialist republic. The two-carriage train that slipped out of Platform 3 at dawn yesterday … read the whole article here

Euronews: Rail link reunites Serbia and Bosnia – Nearly 18 years after war stopped it in its tracks, the train service between Belgrade and Sarajevo has resumed. It was one of the victims of the wars that erupted as Yugoslavia fell apart. The authorities concede the railway line has been re-established for political rather than for commercial reasons, to try to restore ties between Serbia and Bosnia… read the whole article here

SETimes: Direct Belgrade-Sarajevo rail link restored - The direct railway line linking Belgrade and Sarajevo began operating Sunday (December 13th), nearly 18 years after it ended, as the former Yugoslavia was plunged into wars in the early 1990s that eventually led to its disintegration. The train between the Serbian and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) capitals will run once daily, for 31 euros round-trip. The journey in one direction, which lasted about six hours in the past, takes more than eight today, due to the new borders along the 500km rail route via Croatia and the poor condition of the track… read the whole article here

Reuters video “Historic train rides again” @ Youtube is here

In last edition of Guardian Travel, in collection of articles and notes titled “50 ultimate travel experiences” where various travel writers and tour operators remember their favourite travel moments, Sarajevo was chosen by Benji Lanyado, travel writer for the Guardian, as his favorite travel experience. This is an excerpt: Read the rest of this entry »

The Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge has been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Located in Visegrad, Eastern Bosnia, stretching over Drina River, this 11 arches bridge considered a masterpiece of Ottoman architecture,  was  built in 16th century and was a subject of Ivo Andric’s Nobel Prize-winning book The Bridge on the Drina (Na Drini Cuprija) , which described the building of the bridge and life in Bosnia in times of Ottoman Empire.

The UNESCO’s World Heritage List includes 851 sites that are conisdered worth preserving for their cultural or natural value. Another UNESCO’s site in Bosnia and Herzegovina  is Mostar’s Old Bridge (Mostarski Stari Most)

Fly Nordic, the low-cost airline is introducing new route from their Stockholm (Arlanda) base to Sarajevo in June this year.

Cheap flights to Sarajevo from Stockholm  are to start on 21st of June 2008 . Read the rest of this entry »

CondeNast Traveler has published good article about contemporary Sarajevo – ‘the Bosnian capital that is being transformed into one of the most dynamic small cities on the Continent’

In article, titled ‘ Landscape After Battle’ Joshua Hammer, writes about his travels to Bosnia: Read the rest of this entry »