London to Sarajevo & Bosnia-Herzegovina . . .

	Above:  The Ploče-Mostar-Sarajevo-Zagreb train has just arrived in Zagreb, only 10 minutes late after it's long scenic journey from Bosnia...
	Above:  The Zagreb-Sarajevo-Ploce train has just 3 fairly basic carriages, one ZFBH (Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia), one ZRS (Republic of Srpska), and one HZ (Croatian).  This is a compartment in the ZFBH car.
	The famous bridge at Mostar... Photo courtesy of Simon Russell
	Scenery from the Sarajevo-Mostar-Ploče train... Photo courtesy of Simon Russell
	Passengers stand in the corridor to gaze at all that great scenery on the Zagreb to Sarajevo train... Photo courtesy of Simon Hodge
	Inside Sarajevo station... Photo courtesy of Ivor Morgan

Ride the train to the Balkans...

A train journey across Europe from the UK to Sarajevo is a real adventure, yet it's safe, comfortable and affordable.  You can leave London in the morning on day 1 and arrive in Sarajevo in the early evening of day 2, travelling via Paris, Munich and Zagreb as shown on the route map below.  This page will help you plan the journey and buy your tickets.  You can also travel to Budapest and use the direct Budapest to Sarajevo train, see here.

London ► Sarajevo, Mostar, Ploče  (via Zagreb)

• Travel from London to Zagreb as shown in option 2 on the London to Croatia page.  You leave London on a mid morning Eurostar to Paris, take an afternoon high-speed train from Paris to Munich then the 'Lisinski' sleeper train from Munich to Zagreb, arriving in Zagreb at 08:40. Alternatively, you could take option 1 from London to Zagreb and spend the night in Zagreb.  If you choose option 1, the journey across the Austrian Alps and along the Sava river in Slovenia & Croatia is very scenic.

• A train leaves Zagreb daily at 08:53 arriving Sarajevo at 18:05, Mostar at 20:48, Ploče at 22:09.  The train has 1st & 2nd class seats, but no buffet or restaurant car, so take your own supplies of food, water and wine or beer.  It's a very scenic journey!  This might seem a tight connection with the 08:40 arrival from Munich, but it's an easy transfer and the Sarajevo train (I am reliably informed) will be held up to 20 minutes if the 'Lisinski' arrives late.  You may find engineering work affecting the line between Sarajevo, Mostar & Ploče, possibly involving a replacement bus for part of this section, please check locally at the station.

• Improvements in Spring 2012?  From a date to be announced in Spring 2012 (it's been postponed again!), this Zagreb-Sarajevo-Ploce train is due to become a modern, air-conditioned Talgo service, using brand-new superb Spanish articulated Talgo trains bought by ZFBH & ZRS.  The engineering work mentioned above is to improve the line for higher speeds for these new trains.

• Alternatively, there is a Zagreb-Sarajevo overnight train.  It leaves Zagreb at 21:24 and arrives Sarajevo at 06:39 next morning.  There are no couchettes or sleeper on this train, only seats.  There are reports that it may be replaced by a brand-new Talgo sleeper train in Spring 2012, but no firm news yet.  Feedback would be appreciated!

Ploče, Mostar, Sarajevo ► London  (via Zagreb)

• A train leaves Ploče daily at 06:28, Mostar at 07:54 & Sarajevo at 10:42 arriving Zagreb at 20:09.  The train has 1st & 2nd class seats, but no buffet or restaurant car, so take your own supplies of food, water and wine or beer...  You may find engineering work affecting the line between Ploče , Mostar and Sarajevo, possibly involving a replacement bus for part of this section, please check locally at the station.

• Improvements in Spring 2012?  From a date to be announced in Spring 2012 (it's been postponed again!), this train is due to become a modern, air-conditioned Talgo service, using brand-new Spanish articulated Talgo trains bought by ZFBH & ZRS.  The engineering work mentioned above is to improve the line for higher speeds for these new trains.

• Travel from Zagreb to London as shown in option 2 on the London to Croatia page.  You leave Zagreb at 21:15 by sleeper train to Munich, then take onward trains to Paris and London arriving the following evening. Alternatively, spend the night in Zagreb and travel back to London next day using option 1.  If you choose option 1, the journey along the Sava river in Slovenia & Croatia and through the Austrian Alps  is very scenic.

• There is also an overnight Sarajevo-Zagreb train.  It leaves Sarajevo at 21:27 and arrives Zagreb at 06:44.  However, I wouldn't risk the connection with the 07:00 train from Zagreb to Munich.  There are no couchettes or sleeper on this train, only seats.  It may be replaced by a brand-new Talgo sleeper train from Spring 2012, but no firm news yet.  Feedback would be appreciated!

Fares & how to buy tickets...

• See the London to Croatia page for details of fares and how to buy tickets for the London to Zagreb part of the journey.

• Zagreb to Sarajevo costs 226 Kn (30 euros) each way in 2nd class, if bought at the station in Zagreb.  Bought in Bosnia, Sarajevo to Zagreb costs 59 BAM (30 euros).  Note that the Zagreb-Sarajevo trains may not show up in the online journey planner at bahn.de (but they do definitely run!), and you may not be able to buy a ticket for these trains outside Croatia.  However, there's no need to pre-book, as the price is fixed so it's the same price whether bought in advance or on the day, and there's always places available. Indeed, for a 15Kn surcharge (about 2 euros) you can buy your ticket on board the train, which may be a good option given the short connection in Zagreb.

Sarajevo station...

There is no bureau de change, ATM or left luggage facility at the station.  However, there's a left luggage office inside the nearby bus station and an ATM outside the bus station.  Left luggage costs 2 BAM per item for the first hour, 1 BAM per item for each following hour.  To reach the bus station, walk out of the station and turn right, walk in front of the Post Office and turn right again, and there's the bus station in front of you.  There is tram stop right outside the station, and tram number 1 runs in a loop to the centre of the old town and back, passing the Latin Bridge, site of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914. Tickets are available from kiosks at the tram stop, and must be stamped when you board the tram.  With thanks to traveller Ivor Morgan...

Travellers' reports...

Simon Hodge of Railbookers.com travelled by train from Zagreb to Sarajevo in 2011:  "The train was the morning InterCity service from Zagreb to Ploče, a small port on the Croatian coast.  When it rolled into the somewhat dated, Tito-era station at Banja Luka, the train consisted of two coaches from Republika Srpska railways and one from Croatian Railways.  Having noticed that the “No Smoking” signs were being largely ignored in the Bosnian carriages, I made my way into the Croatian carriage, where I found a seat in a ubiquitous 6-seat compartment.  Once we reached Doboj, the locomotive changed and the journey became faster (well it’s all relative, we perhaps reached a speed of 50mph) and a steward plied up and down the carriages with a shopping trolley containing a range of soft drinks and some moderately chilled Sarajevsko Pivo, the top-selling beer in these parts.  Given that it was after 6pm and I had been a good boy, I treated myself to a Sarajevsko for around 80 pence, then leant almost rebelliously out of the window and enjoyed the views as the scenery became more mountainous.  The light of the evening sun played stunningly on the mountain villages, which are all focused on the minaret of the village mosque.  We twisted and turned in time with the Bosna river, as does the main road and the new motorway running north out of the capital.  Eventually we swept round to the left, bringing into focus the bullet hole-ridden tower blocks of western Sarajevo."

...and from Sarajevo to Mostar:  "After 2 days of breathing in this most refreshingly diverse of European Capitals, I left on an early morning train to Mostar.  Although there was a mixture between open coaches and compartments, all of which are designated as 2nd class non-smoking, I found myself in a “First Class” compartment.  Alongside me on one side there were two symbols – one of which was “No Smoking” and the other was “No Dogs”.  To my amusement, across the aisle, an elderly Bosnian man sparked up a Camel Light and had a large Golden Labrador taking up all the aisle space!  The train itself was a relic of 1950s Sweden.  Signs in Swedish were still prominently displayed, much to the delight of a Swedish couple a few rows away! Although decrepit, the seats were comfortable and extremely spacious – I could just about touch the seat in front with my outstretched foot.  As we settled in, a lady from the buffet car made her way through the carriage offering a dose of typically strong Bosnian coffee, the sort that makes sleep a challenge for the next two days, for a reasonable 1 KM (about 45p).  The train quickly climbs through the mountainous hills once occupied by Bosnian Serb aggressors – that hostility is barely conceivable now, as the line cuts through valleys, alongside rivers and through long tunnels.  Approaching the small town of Konjic, the scenery is so spectacular that even the locals are glued to the window admiring the beauty.  Nobody worries that the train is going so slowly – this is one of the most scenic and memorable journeys I have made anywhere in the world, right up there alongside the train to Machu Picchu in Peru, the Rhine Valley in Germany or any of the scenic trains in Switzerland.  Just when you think you’ve been through the best of it once you pass the town of Jablanica, the train snakes along the upper valley of the Neretva River, which is the same watercourse that is bridged so famously at Mostar."

Traveller Jasper Goldberg took the Zagreb-Sarajevo train in 2010:  "I think that most of the people who took it the full distance were tourists like myself. However, it does get pretty crowded at times. The reason that the train takes 9 hours (instead of the pre-war 6) is that the train crosses Croatia and there are four passport and ticket checks, as well as two crew and locomotive changes. The Bosnian part of the trip is the nicest because of the scenery and friendly locals, and it was one of my favourite train journeys in Europe."

Traveller Neil Edwards took the train from the UK to Sarajevo in 2008:  "The three of us who made the train journey from London to Sarajevo can confirm that it was certainly a great experience and worth the effort if you can spare the extra travelling time.  The Zagreb-Sarajevo daytime train isn't the most decadent, modern or rapid of trains, though in a way this adds to the charm. There's no buffet car although a chap with a small pull-a-long trolley tried to sell us small bottles of fizzy drink on a number of occasions.  It's a long journey and you will need supplies for the 9-10 hour journey.  Don't expect to pick up anything decent for the trip at Sarajevo station, there are a couple of kiosks nearby but you can only get fluids and chocolate.  Ah, and as for bathroom facilities, go early on as they quickly become flooded or soiled!

Traveller Phillip Mullen took the overnight train from Zagreb to Sarajevo in October 2008:  "There was no problem in buying the ticket from the International travel desk at Zagreb Glavni Kolod (main station), where a return cost me the equivalent of £40 including a couchette for the outward journey [Note:  There are no longer any couchettes on this train].  The train had only a few passengers on it, and being so empty I had the whole 6-person compartment to myself and was settled down and sleeping by 10pm.  I was woken twice during the night by border guards, the first time around 11pm when they hammered on my door , which locked from the inside for security, as the guard had told me. I waited just a little too long to open up because I'd been warned about beggars! Oh well, they were a bit irate!  The second time was around midnight and I'm not sure what that was for, but they seemed fairly content after glancing at my passport.  As I recall the train arrived on time in Sarajevo, around 6:30am.  It was not possible to book a couchette for my return journey at the ticket office in Sarajevo train station, and I was prepared to sleep in a seat on the way back to Zagreb.  But I boarded the the train 20mins before it was due to leave, found the guard and asked for a couchette.  He didn't speak much English, but he mentioned a fee of €10, which I thought was a bargain for a night's rest! Whether this was an official fee or a perk-of-the-job I don't know, as no receipt or alteration to my ticket was made, but it seemed a modest sum."

London ► Sarajevo  (via Budapest)

• Travel from London to Budapest via any of the options shown in the London to Hungary page.

• The InterCity train 'Drava' leaves Budapest Deli station (no longer Keleti) daily at 09:56 arriving Sarajevo at 21:16.  There are 1st & 2nd class seats.  A restaurant car is available until Pecs, reached at 13:00, but take your own provisions and even a bottle of wine or a few bottles of beer.  It's a very scenic journey!

Sarajevo ► London  (via Budapest)

• The InterCity train 'Drava' leaves Sarajevo daily at 06:55 arriving Budapest Deli at 18:05.  The train has 1st & 2nd class seats, and a restaurant car is attached at Pecs (around 15:00), but take your own supplies of food, water and wine or beer.  Enjoy the scenery!

• Travel from Budapest to London via any of the options shown on the London to Hungary page.

Fares & how to buy tickets

• See the London to Hungary page for details of fares and how to buy tickets for the London to Zagreb part of the journey.

• Budapest to Sarajevo costs 57.40 euros (2011 price), plus 3 euro for a seat reservation, if bought in Budapest.