Sarajevo War & Tunnel of Hope Tour

The Tunnel of Hope was the lifeline that kept Sarajevo alive during the longest siege in modern European history. This tour pairs a drive past the former front line with a visit to the tunnel museum.

At a glance

The route before the tunnel

The drive to the museum is as informative as the museum itself. Most tours leave central Sarajevo along the airport road, tracing part of what locals still call Sniper Alley — the exposed boulevard where snipers on the surrounding hills targeted civilians for four years. Guides point out buildings that were front-line positions and explain how residents crossed open ground under fire to reach water and food. The Sniper Alley guide covers this stretch in more depth if you want to walk sections of it yourself afterwards, and the Sarajevo Roses — mortar scars filled with red resin — mark where civilians died and are visible on the route.

Why the tunnel mattered

Sarajevo airport sat inside UN-controlled territory during the siege, but the runway itself was a no-man’s-land that civilians were shot crossing. In 1993, Bosnian forces dug an 800-metre tunnel underneath the runway, linking the besieged city to free territory at Butmir. It carried food, ammunition, medical supplies and a fuel pipeline, and it was how the wounded were evacuated and how officials — including, on at least one occasion, foreign dignitaries — moved in and out of the city.

Without it, the siege would likely have broken the city far sooner. The full siege and tunnel history goes deeper into how it was built and operated under fire, and the Yugoslav Wars explained guide gives the wider context of how the country fractured into this conflict.

Pairing it with the rest of Sarajevo’s war history

The tunnel tour works best as one piece of a broader half-day or full-day of war history rather than an isolated stop. The War Childhood Museum — built from objects donated by people who were children during the siege — is a natural, emotionally different follow-up in the city centre. Sarajevo’s other institutions covering this period, including the History Museum, are rounded up in the museums of Sarajevo guide.

If you are comparing tour formats and departure points, the Sarajevo war tour guide lays out the main options side by side. Travellers building a longer trip around this theme can follow the Sarajevo 4-day deep dive or the dedicated Bosnia war history itinerary, and the first-person account in Sarajevo, the siege remembered is worth reading before you go.

What you see

You will walk a preserved section of the tunnel, see siege-era footage and hear first-hand accounts. Guides typically lived through the siege themselves.

Who it suits

Anyone wanting to understand modern Sarajevo. The tone is sober and factual, never sensational.

Good to know before you go

The Tunnel of Hope Museum itself sits in a residential suburb near the airport, in what was the Kolar family home during the siege — the tunnel entrance was dug from their basement. Entry to the museum alone (without a guided tour) is inexpensive, but public transport does not reach it conveniently, which is the main reason most visitors join an organised tour rather than go independently.

The preserved section open to the public is only a few metres of the original 800, kept low and narrow exactly as it was dug — not a reconstruction. Photography is allowed throughout. Wear comfortable shoes; the short walk through the tunnel section involves stooping in places. Most tours combine the museum with a stop to view the airport runway from a safe distance and a look at the memorial plaques nearby, so allow the full window rather than trying to compress the visit.