VacationSelector
The Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower, Johannesburg
JohannesburgThe Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower
The Latin Bridge over the Miljacka, Sarajevo
SarajevoThe Latin Bridge over the Miljacka

Photos: Johannesburg by K, Pexels License; Sarajevo by Tumi-1983, CC0.

Johannesburg or Sarajevo?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Johannesburg for

  • nightlife
  • shopping
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Johannesburg’s own page.

Choose Sarajevo for

  • getting around
  • nature and the outdoors
  • wellness

What lies behind each score is written up on Sarajevo’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Johannesburg 5, Sarajevo 6: Sarajevo leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Johannesburg 58, Sarajevo 60: Sarajevo leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Johannesburg 56, Sarajevo 64: Sarajevo leads by 8 points.
Nightlife. Johannesburg 62, Sarajevo 44: Johannesburg leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Johannesburg 55, Sarajevo 78: Sarajevo leads by 23 points.
Day trips. Johannesburg 52, Sarajevo 62: Sarajevo leads by 10 points.
Good for families. Johannesburg 42, Sarajevo 38: Johannesburg leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Johannesburg 18, Sarajevo 60: Sarajevo leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Johannesburg 58, Sarajevo 40: Johannesburg leads by 18 points.
Affordability. Johannesburg 72, Sarajevo 80: Sarajevo leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Johannesburg 55, Sarajevo 40: Johannesburg leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Johannesburg 28, Sarajevo 42: Sarajevo leads by 14 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Johannesburg and Sarajevo.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Johannesburg
47match

Wins on nightlife and shopping with your weighting.

Sarajevo
Best match
51match

Wins on getting around and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Johannesburg in July

19 °Cdaytime high
4 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Sarajevo in July

28 °Cdaytime high
14 °Cnight-time low
75 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
JohannesburgSarajevo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Johannesburg: 2005-2019 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Johannesburg B / Roosevelt Park (7.3 km from centre). Sarajevo: 1991-2020 normals, Sarajevo-Bejelave (2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureJohannesburgSarajevo
Official languageEnglish, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Venda, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Sesotho, Southern Ndebele, South African Sign LanguageCroatian, Serbian, Bosnian
CurrencyRand (ZAR)Convertible Mark (BAM)
SocketsCMN230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+2UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation1,753 m518 m
Main airportO.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB)22 km from centre84 non-stop destinationsSarajevo International Airport (SJJ)7 km from centre38 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days8 days

By the numbers

MeasureJohannesburgSarajevo
City population4,803,262275,524
People per km²2,9221,947
Museums within 10 km1425
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km21

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Johannesburg or Sarajevo somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.