Sarajevo's Tunnel of Hope Museum: Getting There, On Foot or Not

The Tunnel of Hope museum sits in the Butmir neighbourhood near the edge of Sarajevo Airport, well outside the tram network, so “getting there” genuinely means tram plus taxi, an organised transfer, or a taxi the whole way — not a straightforward walk from the old town. Visitors who assume it sits near the centre, the way most of Sarajevo’s sights do, often plan far too little time for the trip out and back.

Why this site is not where first-timers expect it

Most of what a visitor sees in central Sarajevo is walkable from Baščaršija. The Tunnel of Hope breaks that pattern entirely, because its location was never chosen for visitors — it was chosen in 1993, during the siege, for the opposite of visibility. The tunnel connected a house in Butmir, on the besieged city’s edge, to a house on the other side of the airport runway, in territory the surrounding army did not fully control. That the site now sits in a quiet residential street, a genuine trip from the centre rather than a short stroll, is a direct consequence of what it was actually built to do.

The route: tram, then the last stretch by road

The practical way in is a tram to one of the western terminus stops — Ilidža or a stop near it — followed by a short taxi ride the rest of the way, since the museum itself is not directly on the tram line. A taxi booked from the old town for the whole round trip is the simpler option if your group would rather not manage a transfer partway, and it is common enough that drivers know the site by name. Several operators also run it as a half-day organised tour bundled with a guide, which removes the routing question entirely at the cost of flexibility. Whichever way you choose, budget real travel time each direction — this is not a quick add-on between two old-town stops.

What you can actually walk through

The tunnel originally ran underground for a considerable stretch between the two houses, dug largely by hand under constant risk, and used to move people, food, weapons and humanitarian supplies in and out of the besieged city. Today only a short preserved section near the Butmir entrance is open to walk through — narrow, low-ceilinged, and deliberately left close to its original condition rather than restored into something more comfortable. The house above it, which belonged to the Kolar family during the siege, now holds the museum proper: photographs, salvaged equipment, and a short film that explains how the tunnel functioned day to day. The walk-through section is brief by design; the exhibition around it is where most of the visit’s time actually goes.

What the visit is like once you’re inside

Expect a small, quiet museum rather than a large-scale attraction — a handful of rooms, a looping video presentation, and the tunnel entrance itself as the clear centrepiece. Groups move through in sequence rather than browsing freely, since the tunnel section only fits a few people at a time. Outside, the house and its small garden give a sense of how ordinary and exposed the location actually was, sitting this close to what was then a heavily contested runway perimeter. It rewards unhurried attention more than a packed itinerary; this is not a site to rush through between two other stops on the same afternoon.

Practical notes for the trip out

• Confirm your return transport before you leave the centre. Taxis are easy to find near the old town but less predictable to hail from Butmir itself, so arrange a pickup time or keep a number to call.
• Pair it with Ilidža if you’re already heading that direction. The tram terminus near the tunnel route is the same one used for trips out to Vrelo Bosne, so a single afternoon can cover both without doubling back to the centre.
• Set aside more time than the museum itself needs, to account for the transfer each way — the round trip is the larger share of the outing, not the visit.

Option	How it works	Best for
Tram + taxi	Tram to Ilidža/Stup, short taxi onward	Travellers comfortable managing their own transfer
Taxi the whole way	Booked from the old town, round trip	Groups wanting simplicity over cost
Organised half-day tour	Guide included, transport bundled	First-time visitors who want context without planning

Before you head out to Butmir

Since the route runs through quieter residential streets with patchier signage than the centre, having a working map on your phone for the taxi leg and the walk up to the museum door is genuinely useful here. It’s worth knowing that Bosnia and Herzegovina sits outside this site’s current regional coverage, so a trip built around Sarajevo needs a locally valid data plan rather than a regional one — the practical difference from neighbouring Croatia is laid out in EU roaming: Croatia vs Bosnia and Serbia. If you’re combining the tunnel with the spring park near the same tram terminus, that route is covered in Vrelo Bosne: getting there, and a first-timer’s layout of the old town you’ll likely start the day from is in Baščaršija: a first-time layout.