Sarajevo to Belgrade with 3 stops tour

Visegrad and its UNESCO Old Bridge

First, stop on our Sarajevo to Belgrade transfer, after a 2-hour ride from Sarajevo, is Visegrad – a small town in the eastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the valley of Drina River, in the hilly slopes gently rising high into the mountains, over 1000 meters in height.

This town is full of pretty streets but we will dedicate our visit to The Old Stone Bridge, the endowment of Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasha Sokolovic. He is one of the great Ottoman military leaders of Bosnian origin.

At the peak of his power, he becomes Grand Vizier or the Prime Minister by today’s standards. In the ascendant of his powers, he ordered that the most beautiful bridge must be built in Visegrad on the Drina river. The main architect of the bridge was Mimar Sinan, the greatest architect of the Ottoman empire. Mimar Sinan built the bridge in 1577.

Perks of Sarajevo to Belgrade transfer is The Old Stone Bridge which connects two sides of River Drina 

Interestingly, the bridge has 11 stone arches, a big stone portal and a sofa in the middle. It is a masterpiece of architecture of that era. The Bridge is one of the most important national monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2007 it has entered the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

Ivo Andric described this bridge and its amazing history in the book “The Bridge on the Drina”. In 1961 Ivo Andric won the Nobel Prize for Literature. This famous bridge symbolizes strength, permanence, and stability in spite of all disasters that happened in this region.

Leaders come and go, war rages, natural catastrophes, happen, but the bridge still stands and watches over the lives of the people who cross the river – that is something Andric describes in his novel in a majestic way.

Andricgrad

Secondly, just nearby this famous bridge is another tourist attraction – Andricgrad (Andrictown) also known as Kamengrad (Stonetown). Andricgrad is a project of a famous film director Emir Kusturica. He was inspired by the events and characters of mentioned famous writer, Nobel prize winner, Ivo Andric. It is a tourist, cultural, administrative and educational complex, situated on a peninsula between the rivers Drina and Rzav in Visegrad.

In architectural terms, the city itself is a mix of different eras and styles that have changed through the history of this area. For instance, you can see the Byzantine style, the Ottoman period, the Renaissance and Classicism. Some of the main objects of Andricgrad are Ivo Andric Institute, Memorial House, Centre for Slavic languages, Fine arts Academy, Townhall, Renaissance theatre, multiplex cinema, souvenir shops, coffee bars and much more. Finally, Andrictown was officially opened for visits in June 2014. 

For sure one more reason for you to choose our Sarajevo to Belgrade transfer.

Dobrun Monastery

Then, before we cross the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia we will visit Dobrun monastery. Dobrun Monastery is located in the picturesque mountainous region. Rocky hills and the gorge of the mountain stream surround this monastery.

Duke Pribil and his sons Stefan and Petar have built it in 1343 and dedicated it to the Annunciation. Frescoes decorate the entirety of its interior. The most important frescoes preserved up to today are scenes of Tsar Dusan and his wife Jelena and their son Uros. Also the composition of Duke Pribil and his sons and son in law Stano.

Unfortunately, there are no reliable records concerning the building and the early history of the Dobrun Monastery. We only know that Dobrun Monastery was the Metropolitan seat. Despot Stefan Lazarević and Princess Milica have restored the Dobrun monastery.

At the turn of the 18th and the 19th-century, the locals have deserted the Monastery. During its history, Dobrun Monastery was several times destroyed and rebuilt. Surely, Dobrun Monastery experienced its worst destruction during the Second World War. The Germans used it as ammunition storage and blew up in 1945 on their withdrawal. The local authorities restored the Dobrun Monastery in 1946.

Ethno Village Drvengrad

The next stop will be Ethno Village Drvengrad. Drvengrad means wooden town and that’s exactly what you’ll find here. Everything is made of timber from conifer trees. Interestingly, the village is also known by the name Kustendorf, which means “a coastal village”.

It is located in the Zlatibor region in the nature park Mokra Gora, in Serbia. It’s a traditional village, built by the mentioned film director Emir Kusturica.

Interestingly, Kusturica started this project started with a few houses built as scenery for shooting his movie “Life is a Miracle”. Soon afterwards, a concept of making something “unordinary” gained traction and the few initial wooden huts mushroomed into a sophisticated ethno-village complex.

Also, Drvengrad is a traditional village by its shape and structure. It is of rectangular shape, completely surrounded by a wooden fence, with the entrance gate placed at one end of its long axis and the main street extending to the other end.

Moreover, Drvengrad was inaugurated in 2004. After receiving the Philippe Rotthier European Architecture award in 2005 Drvengrad has pronounced the best architectural achievement in Europe in the previous 3 years. The village gained a status of a 4-star town hotel complex.

Since 2008, every year the village hosts Kustendorf Film and Music Festival. With so many attractions in this small village, it is difficult to leave disappointed. Certainly, Kusturica has built a cosy little piece of heaven where everyone can find some relaxing distractions from their everyday life.

Drvengrad himself is worth taking Sarajevo to Belgrade transfer otherwise you would miss this amazing location.

Sargan Eight Train ride – Last stop on Sarajevo to Belgrade transfer 

Nearby Drvengrad, you can enjoy the train Nostalgia. Sargan Eight is an old-fashioned narrow-gauge railway. Its construction was finished in 1925. Unfortunately, the narrow-gauge railways are no longer used from the ’70s in Yugoslavia.

Accordingly, this part on the railways in Mokra Gora and Nostalgia Train that we have preserved today represent a major tourist attraction. Certainly, you are going to enjoy the beautiful scenery on this ride that you will remember.

Finally, after the Sargan Train ride, we proceed to Belgrade and we are finalising our amazing transfer from Sarajevo to Belgrade, we will take you to your hotel/apartment in Belgrade.