BELGRADE TRAVEL GUIDE

Sometimes we find ourselves making excuses just to travel to different places. This time, Tugce found a respectful academic conference in Belgrade and submitted a paper about her master's degree. Voila! She got invited! Since we don't need a visa and Pegasus airlines flies to Serbia really cheap, it was a double deal.

God save Pegasus Airlines, they took us smoothly with a direct flight from Istanbul to Belgrade Airport in just 1,5 hour. We landed to the cutest Nikola Tesla Airport, and exchanged a little money just enough to pay the transportation to the downtown (we never use airport exchange offices since they mostly rip you off). While we were looking around to understand how to go to Belgrade city center, we noticed the buses. Public Bus 72 is the best way to go to the Belgrade city center. It took around 40 minutes from Nikola Tesla Airport to Zeleni Venac Square.

We walked from the last stop to our hotel. While we were walking there were posters of a very famous Turkish TV serial "The Magnificent Century". It was exciting to see Turkish productions in other countries. It felt like we saw a friend or a relative :D After a nice, 15 minutes stroll we've already reached to our hotel.

I don't know what would I say if we went to Serbia in winter but spring in Belgrade was amazing! It's definitely a green city with all it's green places and parks. There are different recreation facilities along the Sava and Danube rivers from cafes and restaurants to floating hotels, restaurants and even clubs.

TOP THINGS TO do IN BELGRADE

Is Belgrade, Serbia worth visiting? Definitely! The city itself, with it's large boulevards, historic buildings, parks and palaces is already a place to see. But still there are "must go" places like everywhere else.

There are graffitis all over Belgrade

KALEMEGDAN

Kalemegdan is one the most known and visited historic places in Belgrade and it is under protection since 1979. Actually Kalemegdan literally is Turkish and means "Fortress Square". It is in the heart of Belgrade and commonly used both by the locals and the tourists. There are different yards separated by high walls. When we were there, there was a war exhibition in one of these yards, I believe dated to the II. World War and a tennis court in another. As an architect (Tuğçe) I love such adaptive reuses in historic cities.
When you continue to climb up, there is a huge passage to the fortress' own yard which is designated as a park. I believe this place has one of the best sceneries in whole Belgrade with the view of Sava and Danube rivers joining each other. The panoramic view of the city was such romantic that you can see many kissing couples in the park.

KNEZ MıHELıOVA STREET

Knez Mihailova street is the main walking street in the heart of the central Belgrade. It is a pedestrian zone and therefore serves as a  shopping district both for the locals and the tourists. The street and it’s surroundings (with Kalemegdan) are under protection since 1979 as important cultural heritage. You can find chic restaurants, easygoing cafés and concept boutiques here. We suggest you to spend a whole day here and Kalemegdan. 

HOTEL MOSKVA

Hotel Moskva is another well known landmark in the central Belgrad and it is also under protection. It hosted many global talents such as Albert Einstein, Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt and Milla Jovovich throughout the years. 
It's historic importance is inevitable but it provides more uses for travelers like us. First of all, it's wifi is free for all and because of that you can see many people strolling around the hotel just to use the wifi. (At least it was the picture in 2011:) The inside of the hotel, the high ceilings, huge windows, paintings on the walls, the chandelier made you feel like you're still in 19th century. And drinking your coffee with the live piano is priceless.

Graffiti in Belgrad

Hotel Moskva

NIKOLA TESLA MUSEUM

As many not know, Nikola Tesla was a Serbian scientist emigrated to USA. Because of this, Serbia (actually former Yugoslavia) collected some of his personal and professional items to this building and opened this museum in 1955. Here we took a guided tour for 500 dinars each. Our guide was quite proud since Tesla was a Serbian scientist. It was a great tour with a little conspiracy and gossip but still it was worthy. If you don't be scared, you can even light a bulb by the energy coming from the Tesla Tower without connecting it to any other source. If you try this, be ready to electrified hair at least for a day :D 

SAINT SAVA CATHEDRAL

St. Sava Cathedral is the largest Orthodox Church in the Balkans and one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world. They started the construction in 1935 and it was still unfinished when we were there. (I wish they would be faster than Sagra de Familia :D ) It was so huge that you could see the church almost every part of Belgrade. There was gift shop inside and around the church.

ZEMUN

We believe that the best way to explore a new city is walking. Because of that,  if it is possible we mostly walk when we got to a new place. In Belgrad, we found it very easy to walk and cycle since the city is mostly flat and there was a long line of a bicycle lane. We rented bikes from a shop in the beginning of the riverside and cycled the whole river bank. Almost 7-8 km to the city center we found a cute place called Zemun. According to the locals, Zemun is another city neighbouring Belgrade but it feels like here is a cute neighbourhood close to the city center. We felt like we found a gem, parked our bikes and grabbed a cup of coffee, walked through the lovely buildings like we were walking in a city close to the Adriatic sea. There was a little islet across to the city and the kids were swimming between the islet and Zemun.

SAVAMALA

Belgrade is a historical city but also a student city. There are 8 different universities and hundreds of students in Belgrade and this makes the Belgrad nightlife quite colorful. Sava Mala is one of the most popular neighbourhoods in the city. Actually in the past Savamala was also a popular neighbourhood for the Serbian nobility too but nowadays the demographic has changed a little bit. Now, there are chic restaurants, underground cafes and expensive boutiques along the street. One of our favorite location in Sava Mala was the Mikser House. There were different uses of the location such as a workshop, a boutique and a venue for entertainment events and concerts. We attend a bohemian bazaar on a Sunday morning and it was really nice.

Mikser House - Belgrade

Me having a coffee at Mikser House :)

Another cool place was the Supermarket Deli. This place offers a designer's boutique, a nice restaurant and a bar. The music had a party vibe and there were people strolling around the tables with their drinks at hand.  We were there at the night to grab some bites but they're open all day including breakfast time. 

Supermarket Deli - Belgrad

For other top attractions and activities check these Belgrade tours.
​

WHERE TO EAT IN BELGRADE

One of the most famous foods of Belgrad is the cevapi / cevapcici or sometimes referred as Serbian sausages. It can be also considered as the cheap food of Belgrade. We tried it in different restaurants and every time it was cooked in different shapes and stiles but every single time it was delicious as hell. Actually it is very similar to Turkish meatballs. You can eat them as a fast food in Taze Pljeska or as a proper food in any restaurant. We recommend you to try cevapi with buffalo cream. It's yummy!
Pljeskavica is another type of meatballs that you can find almost in every corner of Belgrade. You should also try that too.

A branch of Taze Pljeska

Cevapi with buffalo cream on it

After a good meal there comes the dessert. Tuğçe found a nice gelato place called Bacio on foursquare (It was really a popular service then :D ) The place was really popular and I think they deserve it. You can choose amongst many different flavors of ice cream, different types of cones and toppings and create your own gelato. We tried lemon basil flavor and It was like a summer breeze in Amalfi.

WHERE TO STAY IN BELGRADE

You can find any type of accomodation amongst Belgrad hotels. If you want to stay in a 5 star hotel in belgrade to have some luxury you should try Hotel Moskva but if you're on a budget and looking for cheap hotels in belgrade, you can stay in Villa Forever like us. It was quiet, central and very clean. The breakfast were included to our room and there was a little courtyard for smokers.

These are all hotels to stay in Belgrade.

IS IT SAFE TO TRAVEL TO BELGRADE, SERBIA?

After our visit to Belgrade, we had some emails asking if Belgrade is safe? We really couldn't understand what makes people think
that way but we can assure you that Belgrad is safe to travel.

HOW MANY DAYS should ı spend IN BELGRADE

We stayed in Belgrade for 4 nights and it was enough to see the city. We believe 3-4 nights stay is enough to see the most of Belgrade. However Belgrade weather is so harsh in the winter, it may take longer to do all the sightseeing.

ENTERING SERBIA DURING COVID 19 - ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

There are no mandatory quarantine in Serbia unless you test positive for Covid-19. Travelers are responsible for their medical treatment costs while in Serbia. ​In March 2021, Serbia does not require a PCR test for entering the country. However, Serbia travel restrictions apply to people traveling from Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria or Northern Macedonia and they have to take a Covid-19 test within 48 hours of arrival. Face masks are mandatory in Belgrade in public places.
According to recent news, Serbia offers free Coronavirus vaccine to foreigners if they show up this weekend (27-28 March 2021)
If you're looking for travel insurance that covers Covid-19, World Nomads insurance is a trustworthy option.
(Please be aware that all this information may change at anytime please check again before travelling.) 

Click here to edit.