Sarajevo by bus · Sarajevo by bus
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Sarajevo by bus
Sarajevo by bus
There are two bus stations in Sarajevo. The main bus station ('autobusna stanica', by the train station) serves Croatia and most other international destinations, as well as destinations within the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is in the end of number 1 tram line that takes you to the old town (1.60 KM).
There is also another bus station in Eastern (Serb-dominated) Sarajevo on the outskirts of the city serving the Republika Srpska and destinations in both Serbia and Montenegro. To get to this bus station (called 'Lukavica' or 'Istočno (Источно) Sarajevo') it is probably easiest to book/order a taxi (cost from the Turkish Quarter was around 15KM in September 2005). If you prefer public transport, use 103 and 107 bus/trolleybus, or the 31E, exit at the last station, and ask people how to get to Lukavica bus station (buses and trolleybuses to the city centre depart from a terminal around 200m from where the international buses arrive). Be warned that Lukavica is the name of suburb/district, not just the bus station! In this bus station, Cyrillic script is prevalent so you should probably check the spelling of your destination. If you need Bosnian currency there is a Visa/Mastercard cash machine (bankomat) in the nearby Tom shopping centre.
At the main street in central Sarajevo there is an Eurolines office near the cathedral between the old bazaar and the city centre where is possible to get bus tickets to any other country, also it is possible to get ticket to any other major cities in Bosnia like Mostar although they do not run the services, they only provide the tickets. A ticket to Zagreb costs €30, May 2008 prices and it runs three times a day. Lines tend to be much shorter, and the staff have a much stronger command of English. This can be helpful as if you do not speak Bosnian well, it can be rather hard to get good advice from the bus station. Double-check with the tourist office as they can often confirm the existence of a route or timetable that the staff at the bus station have denied!
From the main bus station, there are several buses a day to/from Mostar which also stop at Konjic and Jablanica along the way. These leave at 06:00, 07:00, 07:35, 08:00, 08:15, 09:00, 09:30, 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 14:30, 15:30 and up to 18:00, and journey time is approximately two and a half hours. Single tickets cost 13.50KM, return tickets are 19KM. There are also buses to Split (5-6 hours) and a daily bus to Dubrovnik which leaves at 07:00 and costs 40-160KN.
There are several buses a day from the main bus station to Banja Luka. These leave at 05:00, 07:55, 09:15, 14:30, 15:30 and 16:30. Journey time is approximately 5 hours.
The bus ride from Lukavica bus station to Podgorica in Montenegro takes 7 hours but is an absolutely amazing ride through some wonderful countryside on the route Lukavica-Trnovo-Rataj-Foca-Brod-Hum-Goransko-Niksic-Danilovgrad-Podgorica. As of September 2009, buses leave at 08:15, 09:00, 14:00 and 22:30. Cost is 35 KM (July 2008), which is about €18. Cost is about 40KM (Sept 2009) to Budva. Payment in Euro is accepted.
Buses to Tuzla leave from the main bus station approximately every hour every day. The journey takes approximately 3 hours, and costs around 11 KM (June 2006).
There is a daily bus to Graz and Vienna (Centrotrans/Eurolines), leaving from the main bus station at 08:00, reaching Graz at 19:45 and Vienna around 2 hours later. A one-way ticket is €44 (note that when I asked for a cheaper student ticket, the seller told me that this includes only Bosnian students). You will have to pay the driver 2 KM to transport luggage. There are frequent stops on the way, including for food and toilets. Do not rely on this "food stops" very much as the drivers stop at the places like local coffee etc. The problem is that it is not any petrol station and you have to have the currency of the country where you are. The longest 30 min. stop is at one village local coffee in Croatia, and if you don't have any Croatian money, you'll be waiting in front of the bus for 30 min. unable to buy anything but coffee or non-alcoholic drinks.
Do not waste your time in Sarajevo if you want to travel with Eurolines and buy your ticket ASAP because the buses to European Union use to be very crowded.
There is a bus every day to Pristina in Kosovo at 22:00 from the main bus station. The bus is listed on the station schedule as traveling to Novi Pazar, Serbia. From there it travels on to Pristina. You can buy the ticket to Novi Pazar at the bus station, or from the Eurolines office mentioned above, where you can pay with credit card. It should also be noted that the second ticket does not seem to include a seat, so even if asked don't leave your seat if a new passenger asks you to. There were quite a few people standing the whole second part of the trip, so don't end up in that situation. There was no fee for luggage for the whole journey. Once on the bus when your ticket is collected you can tell the controller that you are going to Pristina. The price from Novi Pazar to Pristina is 10 KM or €5, and payment is possible in Marks, Euros, or Serbian dinars. The bus arrives in Novi Pazar around 05:00, and Pristina around 10:00, with a stop in Mitrovica along the way.
Another possibility is to book a bus to Podgorica in Montenegro, and then travel from there to Pristina. From Pristina to Sarajevo, the bus leaves daily at 18:30.
The journey to Belgrade goes through amazing scenery, takes about 7-9 hours and was 28 KM (bought from the bus driver) in September 2005. The bus departs from Lukavica bus station in Eastern Sarajevo. There are several buses a day. There is also a daily service from the main bus station which departs at 06:00, costs 43 KM.
There are many bus lines linking most towns and cities in Bosnia and Hercegovina. See Centrotrans for details (in Bosnian only). Check the transport sections of other destinations for more information. From Germany you can go by Euroliner (Centrotrans is part of it), have a look on Touring.de .
On all intercity buses you pay a fee for luggage. This fee of €1 per piece of luggage is paid to the driver upon boarding. Some drivers are rather picky about being paid in exact change in the correct currency (sometimes a local currency, at other instances requesting to be paid in Euros) and sometimes also refuse to be paid in too small coins. So keep some change ready.
A compilation of departure times from the main station can be found here:
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Sarajevo
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Sarajevo Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.