Sights in Sarajevo - Croatia and Slovenia - page 763

Cost and Hours: 10KM,daily April-Oct 9:00-17:00, Nov-March 9:30-16:00, last entry
30 minutes before closing, Tuneli 1, mobile [phone], tel. [phone], info line tel.
033/778-672, www.tunelspasa.ba , [e-mail] . Yourticketincludesafreetour(usu-
ally lasting about 30 minutes), but only if you call a few days ahead to arrange a time.
Getting There: The tunnel is a long detour from anyplace else in town. Therefore, the
most convenient option is to take a guided tour that includes transportation from downtown
and a clear explanation of what happened here. Various companies offer these tours, in-
cluding Insider Tours (see “Tours in Sarajevo,” earlier). By taxi, the fair metered rate from
downtown is 15-20 KM one-way—just tell them “ tunel .” Alternatively, you can take tram
#3 or bus #32 from the Old Town to the end of the line (Ilidža stop, about 40 minutes one-
way), then walk 2.5 miles or pay 5-10 KM one-way for a taxi from there. If you're flying
into or out of the city, this combines well with your trip to the airport.
Background: With the city almost entirely surrounded by the Bosnian Serb Army, the
Sarajevans' lone connection to the outside world was a mountain pass. But between them
and that pass was the city's airport—which couldn't be crossed by either side because it
was controlled by the impartial UN. Sarajevans could only gaze across the runway at the
mountains that could be their lifeline. So, rather than go through the airport, they went be-
neath it—digging ahalf-mile-long tunnel undertherunway.Coal-mine engineers spentfour