Sarajevo

A preserved Ottoman bazaar, a thriving coffee culture, an abandoned bobsled track that’s become a dark tourist attraction and a winery that relies on the lunar cycle for production; Sarajevo is embracing its quirk with confidence.

- Farida Zeynalova

Clink clink clink. Clank clank clank. Dozens of coppersmiths handcraft plates, coffee sets and jewellery on a narrow lane in Bašaršija, Sarajevo’s 15thcentury old town. Around the corner, rows of bazaar-like shops are full of traditional kilim rugs, while a sprawl of slow-paced cafes spill with languid locals sipping strong Bosnian coffee. Towering above it all is a heady cocktail of architecture: Turkish-era minarets, grand Austro-Hungarian mansions and Soviet-style blocks. Yet Sarajevo is cradled within a valley, in the shadow of the Dinaric Alps, so expect green spaces too, with Trebevi mountain stealing the show: hop on a recently reopened cable-car, or if you’re actively inclined, hike to its summit via hillside villages and cool pine forests. And while the charms of the old town below might hark back to a bygone era, Sarajevo also has a youthful spirit, evident in a thriving craft beer scene, coffee culture and art galleries — the best of both worlds.

EYE WITNESS

TO THE HILLS