Sarajevo Bobsled Track and Mount Trebević: Visitor Guide
The Sarajevo bobsled track is the abandoned concrete run built for the 1984 Winter Olympics on Mount Trebević, just above the city. Today it is covered in graffiti, free to visit and one of the most unusual sights in the Balkans. You can reach it by the Trebević cable car or by road, and an hour is enough to walk a good part of it.
Our guides bring visitors here on the Sarajevo Grand Tour, so this guide covers what we tell them on the track: its Olympic story, what happened to it during the war, how to get there on your own and what else to see on the way down.
The track was built in 1981–1982 for the 1984 Winter Olympics: 1,300 metres long with 13 curves.
During the siege of Sarajevo it lay on the front line and was used as an artillery position.
Today it is abandoned, covered in graffiti and free to visit, with no ticket or opening hours.
Get there by the Trebević cable car from the Old Town, by car or taxi, or on a guided tour.
On the way down, stop at the Old Jewish Cemetery and the Yellow Fortress viewpoint.
What is the Sarajevo bobsled track?
The Sarajevo Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track is a concrete ice channel that winds down the forested slope of Trebević. Work started in June 1981 and finished in September 1982, so the track could host test events before the 1984 Winter Olympics, when Sarajevo became the first city in a socialist country to host the Winter Games. Bobsleigh and luge races were held here in February 1984.
Less than ten years after the Olympics, Trebević became part of the front line of the siege of Sarajevo. Bosnian Serb forces used the bobsled track as an artillery position, and you can still see holes drilled into the concrete of one of the last curves as firing positions. From up here you understand how exposed the city below was, which is why we always pair this stop with the Tunnel of Hope on the same tour.
After the war the track was left to the forest. Local and visiting artists turned it into an open-air graffiti gallery, and in 2025 an educational trail with 13 information panels was added along the run. Plans to rebuild it for racing have been discussed several times but have not gone ahead.
Mount Trebević, Sarajevo’s Olympic mountain
Trebević rises directly above the Old Town. Before the war it was where Sarajevo families went for picnics, walks and fresh air, and since the cable car came back it has become that again. The mountain is forested, a few degrees cooler than the city in summer, and has some of the best views over Sarajevo and the surrounding hills.
The Trebević cable car first opened in 1959 and was destroyed in the war. It reopened in April 2018, after 26 years, with new cabins that leave from the Bistrik area, a short walk from Baščaršija. The ride up takes about seven minutes and gives you the classic view of the city spread across the valley.
How to get to the bobsled track
By cable car: take the cable car from Bistrik to the upper station on Trebević, then follow the path down to the track. The cable car closes for maintenance for a few weeks most years and its hours change with the season, so check the current timetable on sarajevo.travel before you go.
By car or taxi: a mountain road leads from the city to the area around the track. Ask the driver for “Olimpijska staza za bob” (the Olympic bobsled track).
On a guided tour: the Sarajevo Grand Tour includes hotel pickup and drives you to the track, so you do not need to plan around the cable car timetable.
What to see on the way down
The Old Jewish Cemetery
Sephardic Jews founded this cemetery on the slope of Trebević around 1630. With more than 3,850 graves it is the largest Jewish cemetery in Southeast Europe and, as a burial complex, one of the largest in Europe. During the siege it lay directly on the front line and was used as a firing position, and many gravestones still carry bullet marks. Today it is a protected national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Yellow Fortress (Žuta tabija)
The Yellow Fortress is an Ottoman bastion on the hill above the Old Town and the most popular viewpoint in Sarajevo, especially at sunset. From its walls you see Baščaršija, the minarets and the whole valley, and you can point out where the front lines ran during the siege. It is the last stop before the guided Old Town walk on our Grand Tour.
Tips for visiting
Time needed: 30 to 60 minutes on the track, or half a day if you combine the cable car, a walk and the viewpoints.
Shoes: wear trainers or walking shoes. The concrete is uneven and slippery after rain, and in winter the track is often under snow.
Stay on marked paths: walk on the track and the marked trails, not off into the forest.
Best light: morning or late afternoon, when the sun comes through the trees onto the graffiti.
Bring a jacket: it is usually a few degrees cooler on Trebević than in the city.
See it with a local guide
Walking the track on your own is easy, but it means much more when someone who grew up in Sarajevo tells you what happened on this mountain. On the Sarajevo Grand Tour we combine the bobsled track, the Old Jewish Cemetery and the Yellow Fortress with the Tunnel of Hope museum (ticket included) and a two-hour walk through the Old Town, all in about five hours with hotel pickup. It runs twice a day, at 9:00 and 14:30, and can also be booked as a private tour.
Yes. The track is in the open on Mount Trebević, with no ticket, gate or opening hours. You only pay for the cable car or transport to get there.
Can you walk on the bobsled track?
Yes, most visitors walk inside the concrete channel and through the curves. Take care on wet or icy sections.
How far is the bobsled track from the Old Town?
It is on the mountain directly above the Old Town. The cable car ride from Bistrik takes about seven minutes, and by car it is a short drive on the mountain road.
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