Sarajevo - Post Report Question and Answers
What is your housing like? What are typical housing sizes, locations, and commute times for expatriates?
We life in an independent house about a 20 minute commute from the Embassy, or about 30 minutes to downtown (cut those times in half outside of rush hour). Our house is a typical "generational" house, designed for three generations to share - elderly parents on the ground level, working age on the middle floor, and children on the top. We have a few fruit trees and a lawn just big enough for an active dog to enjoy. - Mar 2024
Housing is a mixed bag: it's mostly apartments downtown, a few townhouses/single family houses near downtown, and stand- alone houses with yards about 15 minutes from the Embassy. Sarajevo is a small town so nothing is that far away and there's not really much traffic. If a yard is important to you, make sure you say that in your housing questionnaire. Yards are limited. A lot of the housing inventory is older homes/apartments that need a good facelift. A few modern apartments are being added to the housing pool. Parking is hit or miss; you might get a garage but there's no guarantee your car will fit in it. The garage might end up being used for storage. - Apr 2021
We have a large house with a good sized yard about 15-30 minutes from the city (depending on traffic). Apartments in the city, houses in the burbs. There's a neighborhood nicknamed "Little America" that has quite a few embassy families. - Dec 2017
Housing in made up of town homes and single family homes mostly outside of the downtown core of the city. There are also apartments in the downtown area, along with a few homes. Typical commute time from one of the town homes or houses is thirty minutes or more depending on traffic. Unless you have an apartment, expect lots of stairs in your embassy housing. You will likely receive a house with two or more floors. If you live in an apartment downtown, you can walk or drive to work. The commute is about 15 minutes, maybe less depending on traffic. The water cuts off ever day between midnight and six in the morning. It also cuts off at random times during the day, throughout the year. Plan accordingly. - Sep 2017
Apartments downtown, townhouses, houses with yards on the outskirts of Sarajevo. Sarajevo is a small town, the longest commute to the Embassy during rush hour isn't more than 30-45 min, 10 minutes without traffic. - Feb 2017
This is a VERY small city. Long commutes are rare. We lived in the Skenderija area and I could be at the embassy inten minutes, walking or driving. We had a duplex, however there are many single family homes and really amazing apartments. - May 2016
Lots to choose from. Apartments and townhouses within the city. Single family homes with yards on the outskirts. Sometimes layouts are odd. - Aug 2014
Either nice apartments downtown, or more spacious houses on the edge of the city. No commutes are too long. Parking is very tight in most places. Even if you have a garage, it will probably be too narrow for the average American car. - Nov 2012
Nice apartments, townhome-style and single-family homes. Most are in the city, but often on a hill, narrow street, etc. -- but that's all of Sarajevo. Very good housing all around, but there are some weird spaces, and some people have big kitchens, some the tiny "Euro kitchen." - Aug 2011
I walked to work. Lived in an apartment. - May 2011
Mostly inside the city - some apartments but mostly stand alone houses with little green space due to their locations. Housing is pretty nice here, for the most part, though shapes tend to be odd since many are on steep roads leading up out of the city. - May 2010
I think the furthest-out houses might be a 20-minute drive at "rush" hour. This city is incredibly walkable, and many people walk to work. Homes are not located close to the school, and getting to them can take 15 - 25 minutes, depending on traffic and how close you live to that side of town. There are apartments downtown, as well as houses with varying sizes of yards further out. - Jun 2009
Housing is spread around town. Some residences are located in the center (close to the embassy) while others are a little further away in residential neighbourhoods, but distances are not great. It's a small city. - Mar 2009
Appartments and houses. Many families with children find a house with a (small) garden or balcony. - Dec 2008
