Include Serbia in your Balkan Tour

In the main Serbian cities you will find plenty of thing to do. Museums, shops, attractions, activities for kids, different accommodation and many more. They will impress you with  with breathtaking architecture and historical monuments. You can spend days wondering around Belgrade or hear out to explore more of the Serbian landmarks.

Visit Belgrade

Belgrade is the greatest city you’d never thought to visit.

• Belgrade lies at the spot where the Sava and the Danube rivers converge.
• Kalemegdan is a fortress on the right banks of these rivers.
• The National Museum has 400,000 exhibits, among which paintings by Rubens, Titian, Cezanne, Renoir, and other famed masters.

Rarely one day is enough to explore all interesting places in Belgrade. That s why we recommend to spend there at least two. Especially when you are interesting in History and would like to visit some of the Belgrade’s museums.

Things to do in Belgrade:

• Visit some of the biggest museums in SerbiaThe museum of Aviation; of Yugoslav History, of Science and Technology, Nikola Tesla museum, The house of flowers (Josip Tito’s mausoleum ) where you will know more about the ex president of Yugoslavia.
• Take a walk in Kalemegran park
  The Belgrade city park is a nice place for walk. There you will find many view spots to Denube and Sava rivers as well as the military museum, few beautiful churches and the famous Pobednik monument.
• Walk the Belgrade Water front
  The Belgrade waterfront is a great place to walk along Sava river. There you will find variety of restaurants and cafes, children’s playgrounds and shops.
• Go to the beach or ride a bike on Ada Ciganlija
  Ada Ciganlija is a great place for activities during the summer. You can relax on the river beach, have a drink in the bars around, do a zip line ride or burn some calories riding a bike around the fresh park.
• Explore the Belgrade’s nightlife
  Belgrade is also known as “the Balkan Ibisa”, so if you like clubbing this will be the best place during your Balkan tour where you can do Pub and club crawling. So save your energy for the Serbian capital and spend the night out.
• Eat, drink, walk, repeat
  Serbia is famous with its delicious food, so do not hesitate to try everything new you see in the menu or even on the streets. Pastry, sweets, meat, fresh salads and of course the famous rakia. During your trip in Belgrade you can find not only traditional restaurants but international food from all over the world.
• Go Shopping
  Belgrade is one of the biggest cities around the Balkans which means than here you can really find all you need. There are plenty of shopping malls around the city but can also go for a walk in the center and combine the shopping with a wonderful walk on Knez Mihailova Str. and the surroundings
• Take a guided city tour of Belgrade
  We know that you are experienced enough and can explore the whole city on your own. However we highly recommend to book a guided tour of the Belgrade because for 2-3 hours you will become familiar with the history not only of Belgrade, but entire Serbia and Yugoslavia. It’s also not necessary to be a regular Belgrade city tour if you find history boring. In this case you can take the Belgrade street art tour , Communism tour, A kayak tour to the Belgrade’s war island, Belgrade after dark tour and many more.

Visit Niš

• The fortress fortification in the city center, built by the Turks, is dated from the start of the 18th century.
• For sightseeing, visit Tinkers Alley, an 18th century formed street, now bustling with eateries and cafes.

The Skull Tower, or Ćele Kula, is made of Serbian uprisers’ skulls; the uprising was against the Ottomans. The Memorial Chapel and monument, near the fortress, honor the victims of the 1999 NATO bombing. The Roman period villa Mediana is near the city. If you are a jazz lover, come in mid August for the International Jazz Festival.

Things to do in Nis

Nis is the third biggest town in Serbia

• Visit the Red Cross concentration camp
• Walk the Nis fortress
• Know more about Alexander the Great, because Nis is his birth place.
• Go for a walk in Bubanj Memorial Park

Visit Novi Sad

Danube city Novi Sad is the jewel in Serbia’s crown.

• Novi Sad is located on the Danube banks and offers river cruises.
• Petrovaradin Fortress, dating from 1692, is in the city, on the Danube’s right bank, and has a host of underground tunnels.
• Stari Grad is the old town near the fortress, where museums and monuments are concentrated.

The City of Novi Sad is located on the Danube river coast and has many things to offer. You can spend a day there but also a day tour from Belgrade will be enough to explore most of the city landmarks.

Things to do in Novi Sad

• Visit the Petrovadian fortress
• Walk the Danube park
• Explore the Novi Sad old town

Make sure your guided tour of Serbia is complete – include these attractions in your route!

Topola church of St. George and Oplenac

• Topola is a historical town, with a raft of object from King Peter I’s times: his house, villa, the queen’s villa, etc.
• Here, in St. George church is the burial place for the Serbian and Yugoslav royal family.

When the St. George church was built, it was decided to bring together precious mosaics from holy places in the country. The compositions total 725, 513 of which are inside the church, with a total area of 3,500 square meters.
The royals buried in Topola lie in the yard of the St. George church. There is also buried Dorde Petrović, called Karadorde, the founder of modern Serbia who led the uprising for separation from the Ottoman empire.

Zlatibor

Zlatibor is a mountain region situated in the western part of Serbia. It is the most visited mountain in Serbia for many years.

• 1,496 meters high, the Tornik peak, is an attractive place for hikers.
• The Tornik resort is a popular skiing location, with four tracks and a chair lift
• Visit the Ribnica lake located in the park.

Zlatibor, at 1,000 meters of altitude, is an area for plenty of hiking, skiing, and other outdoor activities. When you reach the town of Užice, at the mountain foot, or the town of Zlatibor, plan your activities and destinations. The air is clean, the summer is replete with sunshine, and in winter the snow cover is guaranteed.

Zlatibor became a nature park in 2017. You will find the Park Forest an attractive place for a walk. Don’t miss the black pines, as well as numerous bird species.

Novi Sad

Matica Srpska, which was moved from Budapest in 1864, is the second in size library in Serbia, with over 3.5 million volumes.

• The National Theater, founded in 1861, is the oldest theater in the country.
• The Vojvodina museum’s impressive collection tells the story of Serbian culture.

This large Serbian city lies in the Pannonian Plain, and sits on the banks of the Danube. Nearby rises the Fruška Gora mountain. In the 19th century, Novi Sad, being already the  culture hub of Serbia, was rightly called the Serbian Athens.
The EXIT festival is among the most outstanding summer events. The major museums are the Vojvodina Museum and the museum in the Petrovaradin Fortress where the fortress history can be learned.

Stara Mountain – Babin Zub & Midzor

• Babin Zub is a mountain resort in Stara Planina.
• The vertical descent at Babin Zub is 611 metres.
• Midžor, the peak near Babin Zub, is 2,169 meters high; it is Serbia’s highest peak.

Near Niš, at 70 km distance, and 330 km away from Belgrade, is Babin Zub, a mountain resort in the Balkan, or Stara Planina. In its vicinity rises Midžor, Serbia’s highest peak. It snows in the area for 5 months per year, and it perfect for skiing. Besides chairlifts, there is a gondola lift. The altitude of the resort is 1,758 meters. It almost borders on Midzor, which is a target for hikers, being the highest point in Serbia. The entire area is protected as a nature reserve.

Sremski Karlovci

• Visit the nearby Fruška Gora national park.
• Zivanovic is a museum dedicated to beekeeping and has also a wine cellar.
• The Lady of Peace is a chapel commemorating the agreement signed with Turkey in 1699.

Just 8 km away from Novi Sad, Sremski Karlovci is a town with around 9,000 inhabitants. It boasts history spanning centuries, starting from Roman times when only a small fortress rose in the area.  In the area there are several monasteries, the Fruska Gora national park, and in the town, churches and cathedrals lend it a unique appearance. The Four Lions is a beautiful baroque fountain, dating from 1799, which was built to mark the finishing of the town waterworks.

Drvengrad

In Drvengrad, visit the Ivo Andrić Library.

Watching Kusturica’s film “Life is a Miracle”, you will see Drvengrad as the setting. The Serbian director built it specially for the film. Kusturica received the Philippe Rotthier architecture award in 2005 for it.

Visiting Drvengrad is a memorable experience. The streets there have names of celebrities esteemed by Kusturica. You will even find Diego Maradona street, and a street named after Novak Djokovic. The main street commemorates a great Serbian writer Ivo Andrić.

Nis and Red Cross concentration camp

Niš is steeped in history, spanning almost two millennia. It is the birthplace of Constantine the Great, Constantinople’s founder.

Crvenu Krst, or Red Cross, is a former concentration camp; where Serbs, Jews, and other nationalities were kept in WWII. Thousands were killed before the camp was liberated in 1944.

The local fortification, built by the Turks, dates from the 18th century, and is near the welcoming cafés and the main gate.

What to do in Serbia?

• Explore Bealgrade’s nightlife
• The try BBQ meat and Pleskavica
• Go shopping in Belgrade
• Visit the Concentration camp in Nis
• Visit the Novi Sad old town
• Go to the local “beach” Ada Ciganlija in Belgrade

Dark Tourism

• To see the testimony to dark periods in Serbia’s history, head to Belgrade and Niš.
• In Belgrade, several sites will merit visiting, like the Tito mausoleum with the museum.
• In Niš, the Skull tower will remind of a much earlier period, in Ottoman times.

In Belgrade, the Memorial and monument marking the NATO bombings, and the concentration camps in Banjica and Sajmište are the sites to visit together with Tito’s mausoleum.

In Niš make sure to visit the Skull Tower, built using skulls of Serbians who rose against the Ottomans, and a memorial chapel in honor of victims killed in NATO bombing in May 1999. One more site to visit in Niš is the Crveni Krst concentration camp.

Sightseeing

In Serbia, there are lots of spots for sightseeing, starting with the capital, Belgrade.

• In Belgrade, learn about the country via the Museum of Yugoslav History, and visit the Tesla Museum.
• Novi Sad boasts the Petrovaradin Fortress, and Niš has a fortress, a bohemian quarter, the Skull Tower made of skulls indeed, and many more.

For skiing and hiking, the choice is Zlatibor, with modern hotels and cottages, and mountain beauty in summer and autumn alike. Zlatar is another destination for hiking and village tourism, attractive with artificial lakes: Zlatarsko, Sjenica, and Radoinjsko. Nearby, guests of Zlatar can enjoy the nature reserve, the Uvac river canyon.