Belgrade – quick travel guide

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Eastern European hub with war-torn buildings, and many hidden Slavic cultural charms.

Belgrade (and probably Serbia in general) is a totally underrated city. At first glance, it seems to be a small ugly-ish city without much going on. Not only are the buildings destroyed by war, they’re also covered in a layer of dark dirt from the coal pollution (burned during winter months). Sure, Belgrade is really cheap compared the rest of Western Europe. But it also isn’t as picturesque or grand as other European cities. None of the colorful charms.

Many people say Belgrade’s true beauty lies underneath its ugly surface aesthetic. That a subtle and hidden charm exists and when found, becomes a favorite charmy little city.

So did I find Belgrade’s hidden beauty?

At first, no. I saw only its surface aesthetic of being ugly and small. Buncha flat land spreading across a plain waterfront with boringish unfinished castle wall structures. Belgrade was only intended as a stopping point to Turkey and onwards I continued to Turkey with no desire to linger in Belgrade for any longer.

However when I came by the second time. I stayed in a different neighborhood and met locals who showed me around. Then I LOVED it. Super nice vibe, unpretentious, friendly personable people (especially if you know locals). Super clean nice Saint Sava church. Weird disco light building that shines every night. Nice food and bar scene. The city is super chill but also lots of party and nightlife for whatever mood you’re in. Now that I found its beauty, I’ll do my best to convince you that it DOES exist.

Main highlights can be done in 2 days, but you could also fall in love and live here without getting bored.

Where to stay:

  • “Bar street” – my absolute favorite area to stay. Walking distance to many cool things and also right next to great cafes, restaurants, bars, and some nightlife where you’ll likely spend more of your time. Use “Pantis Bistro” as your marker and walk in any direction from here. Further up the hill (probably best) or sideways. The most popular sexy bar is in this area. It’s called “bar street” since dozens of new bars opened up here recently.
  • Skadarlija “Bohemian street” – just a couple blocks down the street from “bar street” and leads right into the city center Republic Square. Nice big murals on the walls and many fancy restaurants with live traditional music. Also bars and clubs are here.
  • Republic Square – this is more of the proper city center where people actually pass through. If you don’t know what you’re doing and want to be near “tourist things”. I think anything between Republic Square and the Belgrade Fortress is ok.
  • Tourist Center – the area near the Belgrade Fortress. This is where most people try to stay on their first visit. And it’s the biggest mistake. Belgrade’s strength isn’t in its tourist center, which isn’t as pretty or comparable to the grander European cities. Speaking of which…Belgrade is more of a city for living than for visiting/touristing.
  • Saint Sava Church – the surrounding area (Vracar, pronounced [vra-cha]) of the Saint Sava Church. I think is also a nice place to stay, upscale and hip. It may not seem on the surface as cool or as near the main areas above. But nonetheless, it’s desirable for locals and has lots of shops and stuff.
  • Tasmajdan – another great local area, centered around a park with nice big Saint Mark church. Bars, restaurants, shops.
  • Belgrade Waterfront (“Savamala”) – I definitely would not stay here unless you know for sure you want to party here every night.
  • New Belgrade – lacking Belgrade’s charms. I personally wouldn’t stay here because it’s far from the “cool stuff”. But people do like the modern buildings, green spaces. Depending on who you talk to, some people say it’s clean and bright compared to depressing Old Belgrade. Others say the opposite that Old Belgrade is lively and New Belgrade is depressing/communist.

Old Belgrade is the main tourist and city center. New Belgrade is that suburb area you pass from the airport to the Old Belgrade. There’s water and several bridges connecting the 2.

Hostels:

  • I haven’t tried any. AirBnB is so cheap and I already had local friends.
  • Good People Design Hostel – I didn’t stay here but my friend did and he liked it.
  • and the one on booking

Hotels:

Neighborhoods, walking areas, public squares:

  • Belgrade Fortress (Kalemegdan Park)** – it’s basically a giant park inside old fortress walls overlooking the water. You should walk the fortress area, check out water views, then go down the big commercial street “Kneza Mihaila” or “Knez Mihailova” with tiled floor and restaurants/shops. Try not to spend more than 2 hours here in the afternoon if it’s your first time. There are more charmy things to see. At night, you can come back and sit with a water view.
  • Republic Square (Republica Square) – the square with the horse statue and official government buildings, and busy downtown area around it. Tourists come here for historical significance and tourist photos. Locals come here at day for running downtown errands, and at night for late night food. I recommend you come here only for late night food and nothing else. Regardless, you’ll probably pass by this on your tourist walks.
  • Skadarlija** – cute little tourist street (Skadarska St) known mainly for its traditional tourist restaurants (with live music & singing), bars, strip club, and giant mural on the wall. Use Restaurant Tri Sesira as your marker. Definitely worth passing by here during the day for the mural, and at night for the nightlife.
  • Belgrade Waterfront* – tons of restaurants, bars, and clubs all along the water. Best for evening hours. On nights when you want to dress up and go out and see other party people. Can walk along the water during sunset, then pick a restaurant. Or come later for party hour. Easy to find big restaurants with lots of seating for big groups (without reservation).
  • Bohemia street – fun to walk around at day or night but night is when it really lights up. The crowd is both a mix of younger hip party people and older people dressed up for nice evening dinner.
  • Bar street – also close to the Bohemia St, so you can walk both areas together in the same walk.
  • Silosi

Tourists tend to stay in the old town near the fortress and the busy commercial street. But that really isn’t where the life of Belgrade here. Belgrade is more like an everyday nice-to-live kind of place. In terms of epic tourist things to see and visit, Belgrade has very little. You don’t appreciate Belgrade until you live here and find that it’s vibrant and day-to-day life is full of many options… restaurants, bars, shops, etc. Many places to just pop in and out of. Places to just sit down and chill. Always easy to meet up with friends. Many cool spots to disappear into.

Activities to do:

Activities to do:

  • Viewpoints, landmarks, sunsets, hikes:
  • Buildings & architecture:
    • Saint Sava Temple** – the most beautiful church in Belgrade. Highly recommended to visit and you must go inside. So much cleaner and “newer” looking than many other churches in Europe. The church can be easily seen within 30 minutes. Then you can hangout outside during the day or even at night. There’s a park and benches to sit and relax. If you’re staying in Vracar, it’s common to always walk past this church at night. Maybe stop here for a chat, smoke break, drink with friends, phone call, or eat late night food.
    • St. Mark Orthodox Church – this is the “other nice church” in Belgrade. Also known as “Tasmajdan Church” since it’s in the Tasmajdan Park.
    • Belgrade Old Railway Station – old station that got abandoned right before it finished construction. Today has a cool statue in front, and some steps to relax. Makes for some nice photos at night. Worth a stop if you happen to walk by the area at night and it costs you no less than a 10-min detour.
  • Parks, gardens, green spaces:
    • Park Kalemegdan –
    • Tasmajdan Park – nice park with a nice church (interesting design). The area around it has many shops and restaurants as well. There’s also nice outdoor cafes around the park. This is a good neighborhood to stay that is close to both downtown as well as Vracar.
    • Jevremovac Botanical Garden – not the most amazing thing in terms of unique tourist value (especially compared to other botanical gardens around the world), but a nice little nature getaway for the locals.
    • Ada Ciganlija – a big park with a lake and many restaurants/bars around that lake. You can come relax in the grassy park, or a more festive outing with friends at the commercial establishments. Most people come here to be around the water. It’s pretty chill/quiet at night.
    • Silosi
  • Beaches, bridges, water-points:
    • Ada Ciganlija – nearby lake that is treated like the “beach of Belgrade”.
    • Silosi
  • Arts, museums, culture:
    • Nikola Tesla Museum – I’m definitely curious and consider myself a big Tesla fan, but have never been. I hear it’s a small but nice museum to learn about Tesla. Unfortunately, there are lots of complaints about how it’s run…that you can’t book anything ahead of time or online, you have to come in person and wait in line to see if there will be space. Which could mean waiting for an hour in the hot sun only to find out there’s no space. And finally, they only accept cash RSD (no cards or other currency).
    • Museum of Contemporary Art – I heard nice things but never been.
  • Markets, shopping:
    • I like shopping in Serbia because it’s cheap.
    • Delta City is considered the best shopping mall probably because it’s in New Belgrade, great selection, modern, lots of space and not crowded. Go on weekdays and you’ll easily be in and out in no time at all.
    • USCE Shopping Center is the other “best mall” depending on who you talk to. And then there’s also Rajiceva Shopping Center right in tourist center.
    • Kalenic Green Market – classic outdoor marketplace with lots of little booths, fresh food, and household things for sale. Not exactly the most impressive tourist thing to see but perhaps useful or fun if you like that sort of thing. Weekends are better as they have live music and more things going on.
  • Tours:

Maybe your very first day, check out the fortress and then walk past Republic Square and eat by Skadarlija. Second day, you get breakfast at the bar street and then go to the Saint Sava Church, then eat at Frans or return to bar street. Third day you can spend your day wherever and then check out Belgrade Waterfront at night.

Restaurants & Cafes:

  • Frans Restoran – really nice high-end dining spot, delicious high-quality food, but cheap price for foreigners. Look at photos and dress accordingly. I just let the waiter handle my order and I loved everything he brought out for me. It’s also nearby the St Sava Temple in case you wanted to do these 2 together.
  • Lorenzo & Kakalamba – super nice Instagram decor restaurant. For you travelers wanting unique destination photos to show off. Touristy spot. Food is just ok.
  • Bohemia street & Bar street – tons of great stuff on here. Just open up Google Maps and read reviews.
  • Smokvica – nice local cafe with outdoor courtyard, nice decor and great food/coffee and friendly service. Also popular chill co-working spot. They have several so pay attention to the one I marked specifically (in bar street area). All of them are pretty solid though.
  • Zavicaj – delicious local spot with local food. Great for any time of day. I like this particular location best.
  • Botako – really great pasta and pizza. I ate the one in Vracar.
  • Restoran Potpis – amazing traditional food. Right next to the park.
  • Kafe Bre – cool spot that looks like a museum and and an antique shop (depending which room you’re in). It’s a working cafe during the day and cool bar at night. Food and service generally suck but it’s a nice place to be.
  • saint mark restaurant
  • Villa Maska – great place fancy food and drinks. Has outdoors bohemian-African theme Alice in Wonderland sort of vibe with vines and greenery. The bar seating is more cozy than the eating tables. Reservation recommended.
  • Ferdinand Kneedle – delicious pastry balls with stuffing inside. They have both savory and sweet flavors. Really good stuff and you should try it. I linked the more central location. This is a must try for many people who know it.
  • Kolibri Ice Cream – good local ice cream shop if you’re looking for one. There’s an even better one than this but I forgot. This one is still super solid!
  • Roll Bar Cafe – cheap no-frills cafe restaurant near the tourist center with nice view of the local life passing by. My friend used to play here as a kid.
  • The Food Story – a friend said she liked the pastries here.
  • Street Pasta Bar – good pasta, fast and cheap. For when you’re hungry and don’t have much time but still want something good. Also has nice mixed juices. This is a chain, but I usually go to the one on Kralja Milana.
  • Buddha Bar –
  • Tamper Coffee – good place for food, coffee, and laptop working. Belgrade has lots of these anyway.
  • Crna Ovca – amazing ice cream chain. And trust me, cuz I’m an ice cream snob!!!
  • Late night food:
    • Republica Square is the area for late night food
    • Gurmanska Pleskavica
    • Green awnings thing
    • mcdonalds area from republica square

Local fancy foods are the grilled meat and steak, cheese and potato stuff. Local cheap foods are cevapi meat/burger. Serbian food is generally all about meat. They have some fish stuff too but the meat ones are usually better. The cheaper the place looks, the more you should only try the meat stuff and not mess around with pasta or whatever other random stuff they have.

I absolutely love the meat and steak in Serbia. Much better IMO than like Argentinean steak. Seriously…the way they do it is always perfect!!! (Never over or undercooked.)

For whatever reason, Serbians do American fast food type stuff really well…burgers, hot dogs, pizzas. All are delicious!

Bars & Clubs:

The Belgrade nightlife is truly awesome. I just haven’t tried much of it yet cuz the local hangout spots were cool already. But you can also see party people running around all over the place. Checkout these areas and see which vibes you like best. Also helps to ask locals. Or stay at a hostel and see what they recommend.

  • Bar street (area) – absolutely my check this out, especially for the young hip crowd.
  • Bohemia street (area) – must see especially for couples.
  • Republic Square (area) – super young high-school and college kids noisy area around city center. Probably not my first choice.
  • Belgrade Waterfront (area) – young sexy hip crowd and accommodates large groups. Not recommended for first time tourists. More for like upscale groups of locals. Kinda more commercially and status-ey rather than vibey. But indeed nice for big groups that wouldn’t fit into the little street bars.
  • Kafe Bar Blaznavac…awesome hip spot (and good hip area), much bigger than it looks from the outside. Probably #1 most popular bar in Belgrade and for good reason. Lots of sexy people and loud music. Kind of a party vibe. They usually have tables right away upstairs and in the back, or you can wait for a downstairs table. I recommend waiting as the wait is never very long.
  • Sprat – awesome bar but more importantly, awesome area. Tons of cool bars and restaurants around here. Good local vibe!
  • Bluz I Pivo – live jazz music. same area as Sprat, has live music.
  • Red Bar – a good bar for any night of the week if you don’t know what you’re doing. Always open, decent crowd so you’re not alone. Has indoor and outdoor, also upstairs seating.
  • Kaldrma – right across from Red Bar a couple meter downs the road. More of a dive-spot. Has indoor with loud music and outdoor more “chill-ish” if you don’t want loud music. Another good option if you don’t know where else to go.
  • Telma (Nixon Cafe) – popular classy upscale local bar and restaurant, nice vibe and music. Talkable. During the day is a nice cafe.
  • Cafe Terra – good outdoor bar with several other bars nearby. Popular for afternoon sitting outdoors drinking with your friends.
  • Monk’s Bar – nice latin-vibe chill bar (good cocktails) with outdoor seating and vines hanging across the walls. Not to be confused with Monkey Bar (which also looks nice but I haven’t been).
  • Kvaka 22 – listed here for memories. Really cool event space. That I hope gets used more often for cool stuff again like it was before.
  • Dogma Brewery & Tap Room –

Nice places for big groups without reservation

  • Mama Shelter – (on top floor of Rajiceva Mall) is huge with many seats and terrace. Nice social atmosphere with music. Good food and attentive service too. Good choice if you don’t know where to go and/or have a big group that doesn’t fit easily into the small hip neighborhood bars.
  • Terminal – typical big classy restaurant bar (also shows big sporting events) across the street from Saint Sava Church. Great food and service here. In terms of trend, I think a local would say it sucks now or is no longer the place to be…but I had a nice experience.
  • Belgrade Waterfront – walk along and see which place has seating for your big group. Beware, many will not split the bill. If you need a location marker, I suggest “Buddha Bar”. People are usually dressed up super nice here.

Miscellaneous tips:

  • Transportation:
    • Getting from airport to city center – do not take a taxi if you’re don’t know what you’re doing. Many will rip you off charging 50 euros when it can be done for 15-25 euros (depending on time of arrival). Don’t take taxi from lower level (Departures), go upstairs to upper level (Arrivals) and it’s cheaper. Also make sure your taxi license plate ends in “TX”. Cheapest option is walk out towards the street to the bus stop area just outside the building. Take either the A1 bus (400rsd) or #72 bus (150rsd) to the city center. These are super cheap and you only have to wait max of 20mins for the next one.
    • Rideshare Apps – I like YandexGo (Russian). For me it’s the best rideshare app, works like Uber, can choose to pay cash (to driver) or card (through app). You can also use CarGO (Serbian) or Uber. I think YandexGo is cheaper than all 3.
    • Best taxi companies – Pink (00381654889977), Naxis (call 0038163581111, Viber msg 00381642229804, Tweet @NAXIStaxi), Gold (00381604040677), Lux (00381653033123). Careful not to delay your airport dropoff, taxis are usually CASH ONLY. In some instances they might take euros. There’s also an app to call a taxi.
    • Shuttle – GEA Tours has shuttles running between all nearby cities. Mainly, I use it for going between Belgrade, Novi Sad, and Timisoara. Msg them on WhatsApp +381 64 9722449 with your desired travel origin, destination, and date…and they’ll give you available days and pricing. (Choosing earlier departures has less chance of border customs delay!)
  • Activating hot water – sometimes the bathroom hot water is usually turned on by a switch at the door. Remember to press it at least 30-60 minutes before you want to shower or do laundry so it heats up in time.
  • SIM cards – you should buy from the actual carrier store (especially if you need ESIM). Prices are usually 600rsd for 15GB (15 days) or 1000rsd for 50GB (30 days). Pretty cheap IMO.
  • Food delivery app – they use Glovo and Wolt here. I’m sure there’s other ones but I haven’t tried. If you have problems registering, just buy a Serbian SIM and use the pay-with-cash option.
  • Smoke-friendly – do note that many restaurants and bars in Belgrade allow smoking inside.

Nearby towns:

  • Novi Sad* – many people say it’s a must-see. It’s only 1 hr away by train and you can even come back the same day. Prettier, cuter, cleaner, nicer and with nicer people and nicer vibes.
  • Timisoara –

Belgrade Food Guide by Misha (cut-paste)

Misha Petrovic, created a fantastic food guide for the marathon

“A short guide to local Belgrade food by a global tango foodie There is a lot of good food in Belgrade, prices ranging from really cheap to moderate, you’d really have to work hard to find something pricey by Western European or US standards.

This is a short guide (in several parts) to some of my favorite local places that are also close to Dorcol Platz. Don’t hesitate to ask me for more recommendations or any type of local advice.

Bon Appetit!

Part 1/3: Padarias, Pizza, Grill

Bakeries

The absolutely most common type of eatery in Belgrade is a bakery or “Pekara”. You’ll find these on almost every corner in Belgrade. They sell bread, of course, but also all kinds of sweet and savory pastries, and sometimes also cakes, pizza, etc.

There are two big chains, Skroz Dobra Pekara, and Hleb i Kifle, and they are surprisingly cheap and good. Then there are smaller, family run bakeries. I will list a few close to Dorcol Platz, and what they are famous for. (1) Sarlo ŠARLO HlebDobračina 59b, Beograd 11000

This one is on the same street as DP, just about 50m down the road. Sells mostly bread and is one of the rare bakeries in Belgrade that has real sourdough bread (their baguettes are not sourdough, though…). The whole sourdough craze hasn’t played out much in Belgrade, at least not yet, so only a few bakeries do the old-fashioned fermentation process. They also have croissants, muffins, home-made preserves, etc.Closes early (4pm) and often runs out of bread before that.(2) Pekarska RadionicaKralja Petra 91, Beograd 11000The other bakery that has sourdough bread, and is a kind of institution in Belgrade, is Pekarska Radionica. It’s still a family run shop, but now renovated, upgraded and benefitting from being in a heavily gentrified area. Large selection of sourdough and yeast breads (hint: only non-white flour breads are sourdough) . About 10 min walk from DP.BUREKAside from bread, one of the traditional pastries/pies local people buy in bakeries is burek. Burek is a quintessential Balkan food, recognized as such by Unesco, and has recently been rated by Lonely Planet as one of the best street foods in the world! Filo dough, in best traditional bakeries made by hand every morning, is filled with cheese, spinach, minced meat, and more recently even sweet fillings such as cherries or nutella (ok, the beloved local version of Nutella, called Eurokrem). It is baked crisp, and sold either by weight from large baking pans, or by piece, rolled into a spiral shape (the word burek derives from Turkish börek, which itself comes from burmak, i.e. to twist). Best eaten hot, straight from the oven, which usually means before 2pm or so, although recently some bakeries would have fresh burek even late in the day. Deemed by many as unhealthy, due to its high fat content, burek is often shunned today in favor of croissants and light pastries, so it’s increasingly more difficult to find a good traditional burek.Warning: all traditional burek in Serbia is made with lard, unlike burek in Bosnia which use vegetable oils. Here are a few options close to DP(3) Burek Shop NanaCara Dušana 33, Beograd 11000Traditional shop with several types of burek, as well as baklavas, tulumbe, etc. (4) Burek shop Nasa PricaDžordža Vašingtona 6A new family-run shop with many types of pies, savory and sweet(5) BobeDubrovačka 24, Beograd 11000An old-fashioned burek shop, a local institutionPizzaUnbeknownst to many foreign visitors, Belgrade is one of the European centers of pizza, rivaling many Italian towns. Lots of local pizza chefs worked for years in Italy, before taking their hard earned savings to open a shop here. Most good pizzas in Belgrade are thin-crust, Neapolitan style. There are a lot of fast food pizza shops, selling pizza by slice (you can often get a whole pie to go, too) as well as more fancy, sit-down options. The former are often open till late, sometimes until 1 or 2am. Here are some good options close to DP(6) Bucko Pizza (by slice)Francuska 18, BeogradOpen till 1am on Fri, Sat, often long queuesCheap and good, and always piping hot. Perhaps the most popular pizza by slice in Belgrade(7) Picerija Kli Kli (by slice, whole)Venizelosova 2, Beograd 11000Open till 1am every dayAnother popular and good option. ( Pizzeria Trg (by slice)Makedonska 5, Beograd 11103Open 24 hoursThis one is in the middle of the main city square, always crowdedand a few fancier, sit-down places, close to the main pedestrian street (Knez Mihajlova)(9) Majstor i MargaritaVuka Karadžića 12, BeogradNamed after the famed Bulgakov’s novel (and pizza margherita, the typical Neapolitan pizza), this shop ends up every year on the prestigious list of the Top 50 European Pizza Restaurants. Definitely worth a try, expect to pay $10-12 for a large (35cm/14in) pie. Bonus: a nice outside seating area on a pedestrian street(10) Giovanni’s PizzeriaNikole Spasića 3, Beograd 11000A smaller but excellent pizza shop, closes by 10pm, locally loved as much as no. 9. Traditional Grill – Cevapcici and PljeskaviceAnother pair of Balkan staple fast foods, both cevapcici (little kebabs) and pljeskavice (burger style patties) are grilled meats, made either from a mix of pork and beef (most common) or pure beef (“juneci”, when they are usually called Bosnian or Sarajevo/ Sarajevski cevap). They are chewier You can order them at pretty much any traditional restaurant in Serbia, and they are also sold at various fast food stands. Pljeskavica stands used to be almost as common as bakeries 15-20 years ago, but nowadays they are a rare sight in downtown Belgrade, being increasingly supplanted by kebab/gyros and burger places. Note that you always have to order grilled meats and then wait 10 min or so, they are never grilled until you order them. fast food options first:(11) BajlonkoSkadarska 47, Beograd 11000This stand, right by one of Belgrade’s traditional open markets, sells all kinds of cooked dishes and pies as well as grilled meats early in the day, and mostly grilled stuff at night. Popular local choice. No tables, but there are benches across the street around a large water fountain.(12) Sarajevski ćevap „To je to“Bulevar despota Stefana 21, Beograd 11000An unassuming, old-fashioned place with a few tables and quick service. Specializes in Sarajevo style, pure beef cevapcici. (13) Drama CevapiDositejeva 7, Beograd 11000Across the street from the back side of the National Theater (hence the drama name), this popular place has a few tables outside. Open until late, quick service. Pure beef. (14) Republika GrillBraće Jugovića 14, Beograd 11000Next door to No. 13, this place is my recent favorite for cevapi. Pure beef(15) WalterStrahinjića Bana 57, Beograd 11000Walter, sarajevo style cevapcici, is the original location of what became the most popular chain cevap shop in Belgrade. Still excellent, as witnessed by almost 5000 Google reviews I will cover a few full menu traditional restaurants in the second part of this guide, all of them also have grilled meats on offer.

I am not a big fan of burgers and greek/turkish style kebab places (gyros/doner/shawarma) in Belgrade, although there are some fine options in that category, too.

I will mention one excellent place, though, that gives a contemporary twist to traditional grilled meats:(16) Burgers Step in vajatBraće Jugovića 21, Beograd 11000

You can get pljeskavica/burger here with smoked cheese, plum sauce, truffles, kajmak, and many other interesting sides. Still $6-8 only for a large burger!

Stay tuned for Part TwoA short guide to local Belgrade food by a global tango foodie “

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