Tips on how to Plan a Journey to Belgrade, Serbia

A crowd spills alongside the sidewalk exterior Proces, Belgrade’s boisterously intimate pure wine bar in historic Stari Grad. On this nook of the Outdated City, the vitality is decidedly new: a tender neon glow rings the room, the place a DJ bumps bass-heavy electro whereas 20- and 30-somethings sip Serbian orange wine and light-weight up cigarettes round high-tops. (Smoking indoors remains to be authorized in bars and eating places right here.) Outdoors, I catch strands of Serbian, Russian, English, and French as I thread by way of the group searching for Katja, a brand new buddy I’d been launched to earlier within the week.

“It’s our little wine circus, the place something can occur on any given night time,” says Ekaterina Sumenkova, or Katja, who co-owns the bar together with her companion, Griša. This appears an apt description of Belgrade on the whole: The town thrums with a dynamic vitality that appears poised to shape-shift, to hold you from kitschy speakeasy to rowdy road occasion, or homey kafana to hip wine bar, at a second’s discover.

It’s a capital with an extended historical past of being in flux, of attempting to control its personal rhythm amidst centuries of bombardments, ever-shifting borders, and its newer previous: many years of communism, the Yugoslav Wars, years of hyperinflation, and the 1999 NATO bombing have all left scars on town. But again and again, Belgrade has managed to rebuild, and through my current go to, it felt on the verge of a reimagining, which is probably why I discovered myself forming such a swift bond with town — an surprising kinship borne out of mutual reinvention.

The key to benefiting from a visit to Belgrade — to anyplace, actually — is to seek out the locations the place you need to root your self. If touring practically full-time has taught me something, it’s that you simply’ll by no means have the ability to do all of it. So, reasonably than cramming a number of venues right into a day, I try to change into a little bit of a guest-star common at those who converse to me probably the most. It’s a lesson I continue learning: I don’t need to look again at my travels and see a roundup of the perfect locations to eat, drink, and keep. I’d reasonably return to the embrace, nonetheless fleeting, of the locations that make me really feel at residence. I solely go to Proces twice, however already it’s the nucleus of my Belgrade.

“I feel our bar displays who we’re, and the group round it’s forming in the identical means: In the perfect sense, it’s filled with passionate and energetic individuals,” Katja tells me over one other glass of tamjanika, a local white grape selection. She and Griša are a part of a wave of younger Russian immigrants who’re making their mark on the hospitality scene, introducing pure wine to a wider viewers and creating area for a brand new kind of group that folk are hungry for.

On the middle of my tentative new group right here is the radiant, no-nonsense Draga Tontić, my unofficial tour information and the keeper of all issues cool within the Serbian capital. We’d been launched by way of the vineyard the place I’d been working, Intestine Oggau, which she imports by way of her firm Bare Wines. A Belgrade native, Draga rapidly turned a week-long go to to an unfamiliar metropolis into what felt like an overdue journey with an outdated buddy.

Between her suggestions for espresso outlets (D59B was my favourite), buzzy cultural centers-turned-bars (Silosi), and nightlife locations (Ruke), there was a lot to pack my time with — however my favourite place she introduced me was to a mutual buddy’s house.

There’s no higher thrill whereas touring than making new buddies and being invited into their properties — to see what images they’ve framed, which books they go away subsequent to their mattress, the spices of their pantry. On this explicit event, we’d been invited by Aleks Zecevic, a Serbian-American journalist. He was house-sitting at a buddy’s place, which was sprawling. The three of us spent a number of hours ingesting wine and listening to Yugoslav music on vinyl, the voice of Croatian singer Josipa Lisac floating by way of the background as we mentioned Serbia’s cultural previous and current.

Each of them converse warmly about their hometown. “In Belgrade, you’ve all the chances as a metropolis does, however then again, we’re nonetheless a small metropolis,” Draga tells me. “You continue to have that village vibe the place you understand if you’re going to drink espresso who might be there. You’ve got these stunning strolling distances, and you understand your neighbors — it’s nonetheless locals who’re really dwelling within the metropolis middle,” she provides. “Alternatively, you’ve wild nightlife. Our cultural life is on a sure degree, so there’s a mixture of every part, but it surely’s at all times concerning the individuals.”

The locals share a powerful sense of identification and satisfaction, she says. “After being ruined and rebuilt so many instances, and being affected by so many various cultures and languages and other people, I like that we nonetheless can see how Belgrade individuals are, who they’re,” she explains.

For the time being, they’re serving to shift their metropolis from an under-the-radar European nightlife vacation spot to a fully-fledged worldwide capital for meals, cocktails, and tradition — and doing so alongside a roster of hospitality heavy-hitters who’ve largely come to Belgrade from elsewhere, like Katja and Griša, or Vanja Puskar, the Bosnia-Herzegovina-born founding father of New Balkan Delicacies.

“Belgrade is getting ready to turning into a world gastronomic vacation spot, and its time within the highlight is simply across the nook,” Vanja says. It’s my final night time within the metropolis and Draga has organized an impromptu dinner for the three of us at New Balkan Delicacies, the place he’s reimagining conventional regional meals with a contemporary spin. “The eating scene is present process a dynamic transformation, the place the main focus is on creating a definite Balkan gastronomic identification,” he explains, including that distinctive hospitality ideas (like Desk 57, which hosts dinner events and wine tastings in an house) are thriving in the meanwhile, whereas gastronomic road meals ideas are injecting recent vitality to town.

Because the three of us tuck right into a mouthwatering combination of oxtail, gnocchi, and caramelized onions, somebody waves from the street — one of many bartenders from Proces, who stops to say hello to the 2 of them, and acknowledges me as effectively. It sends a small, nice shock by way of me to have an surprising encounter in a metropolis I’m simply attending to know — to really feel seen on a overseas sidewalk, someway nearer to residence than I’ve felt in a second.

Getting There

Air Serbia operates a number of direct flights per week from New York and Chicago to Belgrade; a brand new direct route from Miami to Belgrade launched on the finish of 2024. The airline additionally lately introduced that they may function out of the brand new Terminal One at John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport in NYC beginning in 2026.

The place to Keep

Saint Ten

Saint Ten, an upscale boutique property positioned simply down the street from the well-known Saint Sava Temple, is surrounded by charming cafes and kafanas. The lodge’s glassy facade is perched above two intricately carved balconies, relics of its practically 100-year historical past. Inside, anticipate spacious suites with plush bedding, a sauna, a health middle, and wonderful 24-hour room service. The in-the-know concierges helped me benefit from my keep, and may curate native meals excursions, gallery visits, or scent workshops.

Sq. 9

Smack within the metropolis’s oldest (and now, maybe trendiest) neighborhood, 45 design-focused rooms are housed behind a placing Bauhaus facade at this beloved Dorćol lodge. Like Belgrade itself, this boutique property reveals old-world glamour enhanced by trendy comforts: Rooms are ethereal and spacious, with darkish wooden paneling, Turkish rugs, mid-century furnishings, and luxe extras like Hermès toiletries and Loro Piana cashmere blankets.

The St. Regis Belgrade

For enterprise vacationers or these on the lookout for unparalleled luxurious within the Serbian capital, The St. Regis Belgrade — a glistening glass skyscraper that opened alongside the shiny new Belgrade Waterfront in November 2024 — is establishing itself as a vacation spot in its personal proper. It’s all curves, no corners, with a silhouette meant to emulate the fluidity of town’s two rivers, the Sava and the Danube. The property gives deluxe waterfront views from 119 rooms and suites, together with the model’s signature butler service. Locals and worldwide company alike are certain to be lured by the superbly appointed St. Regis Bar, waterfront brasserie, serene spa, and 360-degree rooftop statement deck.

The place to Eat

Notice that it’s nonetheless authorized to smoke inside at most bars, eating places, and cafes in Serbia, so you might want to request a seat in a non-smoking part, or attempt to dine forward of the crowds.

Znak Pitanja (a.okay.a. Query Mark)

You may’t come to Serbia with out consuming in a kafana, a sort of conventional Balkan tavern the place parts of homey meals are extravagant and soul-nourishing, and a roving band performs nostalgic Serbian tunes on request. This one, inbuilt 1823, is called the oldest within the metropolis, which has rendered it a beloved vacationer attraction, in addition to native spot. The tavern is an invite to time journey, with pink checkered tablecloths dotting the country inside and open gardens which can be piled excessive with platters of meat, salad, and recent cheese.

Koordinata Road

Followers of Paris’s Les Enfants du Marché will fall head over heels for this tiny, exhilarating operation tucked right into a farmers market within the village-like Zemun neighborhood. Nested beside stalls promoting espresso, flowers, and hen, a handful of tables are cozily crowded collectively to type the guts of Belgrade’s progressive farm-to-table eating scene. Actually, the house owners — Sara Biočanin and her companion, chef Stefan Živković — reside on a farm exterior town, driving their freshly picked produce 90 minutes to work every day. The menu adjustments seasonally, however their well-known hen liver — served on brioche bread with pickled prunes, impressed by Anthony Bourdain — is at all times in rotation. Reservations are required and beneficial.

Pretop

Only a few stalls down from Koordinata sits what is perhaps my platonic excellent of a eating expertise. As somebody simply exasperated with making choices whereas touring, I used to be enamored with Pretop‘s simple menu: bread, pork, and Champagne, served on silver platters and in plastic flutes. Nineties West Coast hip-hop blasted within the background as I dug into juicy roast pork with crispy pores and skin earlier than dipping the do-it-yourself sourdough bread right into a salty, heavenly bowl of pretop, or heat roast drippings. Name forward or come early, as they have a tendency to promote out.

Homa

For one of the memorable tasting menus in Belgrade, e book in at this Michelin Information restaurant, set again from a leafy terrace in Dorćol. With the choice for a vegetarian or meat-focused menu, I selected the eight-course heritage (meat) possibility with wine pairings. Dishes play off of one another in pleasant methods, just like the translucent half-moon of shrimp carpaccio, topped with shavings of sea bream bottarga and dancing in a bergamot and almond oil dressing. It is served alongside their “cuttlefish serviette,” a samosa of types with foie gras and bitter cherry gel wrapped in delicate, crispy dough. Midway by way of, a palate cleanser arrived within the type of an ideal dollop of cherry sorbet and rose petal foam. Reservations are required.

Iva New Balkan Delicacies

No matter your expectations are for Balkan delicacies, the elevated riffs on conventional dishes at this restaurant will shock you. Founder Vanja Puskar tells me the idea behind his sustainably minded restaurant group is “a inventive exploration of native components and their potential to be remodeled into progressive dishes whereas staying true to their roots.” His goal is to introduce a brand new technology to traditional Balkan dishes, all with interesting up to date spin. My mouth waters at any time when I recall my favorites: recent, fluffy pita filled with lamb and basil dressing, and a decadent hen liver pâté smeared on do-it-yourself bread with wild strawberry jam and pickled veggies. To prime it off, they’ve banned smoking indoors.

The place to Drink

Rakia Bar

Open since 2006, this convivial bar is devoted to Serbia’s beloved brandy, referred to as rakia. It’s now a part of Belgrade City Distillery, which produces greater than 20 of its personal small-batch rakias in-house. A flight is one of the simplest ways to get a correct sense of the potent drink, which clocks in at round 40 % alcohol. Ours included rakia distilled from quince, apricot, and plum, in addition to a barrel-aged possibility.

Proces

Pure wine lovers ought to beeline for Proces, the place you’ll be able to uncover Serbian wines alongside acquainted bottlings from throughout Spain, France, and past. The bar boasts unique collaborations with native winemakers, together with a pores and skin contact tamjanika from Kostić vineyard that was so good, I ordered it twice. Small plates function regionally sourced merchandise, like seasonal Serbian tomatoes pooled in olive oil and paprika, and Katja’s grandmother’s secret pickle recipe. On weekends, DJs flip the entire thing right into a jam-packed occasion, taking part in every part from Balkan psych to Afrobeats to disco.

Druid Bar

Of the handful of speakeasies I visited, Druid Bar felt probably the most acquainted — maybe as a result of it’s modeled after New York Metropolis’s Staff Solely, one of many metropolis’s earliest and most iconic Prohibition-style bars, which was co-founded by Belgrade-born cocktail impresario Dushan Zaric. Down a quiet facet road, a telephone quantity is posted on an unassuming door, which says to name the bar if you’ve arrived; inside, the bar is intimate, with suspenders-clad bartenders asking pleasant questions on your taste preferences earlier than freestyling exactly the factor you’d been craving. Service right here is considerate and conspiratorial — not one of the too-cool vitality that appears to pervade speakeasies in different European cities. No images are allowed inside, and reservations are beneficial.

Riddle Bar

Hidden within the coronary heart of the bohemian Skadarlija neighborhood, Riddle Bar is an artwork nouveau-style speakeasy that’s all about showmanship. The fashion right here is exuberant and playful reasonably than stuffy or severe. On my go to, two bartenders tossed shakers forwards and backwards, frothy pink liquid arcing overhead. I’d requested Serbian gin with a recent, citrusy profile; the ultimate concoction was topped with zesty lemon juice, chamomile tea, and beer. I doubted my ears on the final one, certain he’d mentioned some obscure Serbian herb I hadn’t heard of. Bee-ear? What’s that? I requested. He set a small bottle of Heineken in entrance of me. “Makes it breezy,” he laughed. Reservations are required.

What to Do

Non Canonico

Set in a surprising ground-floor house with parquet flooring, placing columns, and crown molding, this gallery is a murals in itself. Visits can be found by appointment solely, and also you’ll be proven across the intimate rotating exhibitions by the artist, curator, or artwork director.

The Royal Palace

Don’t miss a guided tour of the Royal Compound — presently residence to Crown Prince Alexander and his spouse, Crown Princess Katherine. The basement billiards room and cinema are design highlights, with ornately patterned wallpaper modeled after the Terem Palace on the Kremlin in Moscow. There’s additionally a small, stunning chapel on the grounds. Notice, it is bookable solely through guided tour by way of the Vacationer Group of Belgrade, from April by way of November.

Ada Ciganlija Seashore

In hotter months, Lake Sava at Ada Ciganlija attracts locals to its banks, the place you’ll be able to swim, sunbathe, and picnic on the sand, or sip cocktails at one of many fashionable seaside golf equipment. You may as well hire bikes, waterski, or go zip lining.

Museum of Yugoslavia and Home of Flowers

Serbia’s most-visited museum is a captivating have a look at the historical past of former Yugoslavia, with rotating exhibitions which can be brimming with greater than 200,000 artifacts, together with clothes, pictures, movies, and extra. One of many museum’s three buildings can also be the resting place of Josip Broz Tito, the previous president of Yugoslavia.

Saint Sava Temple

Crowning Vračar Hill, this large marble construction is likely one of the metropolis’s unmissable landmarks, modeled after Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia. It’s an absolute masterclass in mosaics — and like most issues in Belgrade, in endurance. Plans for the temple have been first drafted within the late nineteenth century, and solely accomplished within the early 2000s.

Going Past Belgrade

Though town is thrumming with sufficient vitality to maintain you entertained for days on finish, Serbia is greater than Belgrade, and the remainder of the nation deserves consideration as effectively.

Zorica Jovanov, head of worldwide advertising for the Nationwide Tourism Organisation of Serbia, highlights the nation’s expansive pure parks (there are 5), wineries, and historic settlements as oft-overlooked highlights for guests who solely discover Belgrade.

“Positioned in a surrounding of the unbelievable pure magnificence, the place the collision of East and West left mixed-up traces of its tradition, historical past, temperament of individuals, gastronomy, music, and structure, Serbia gives a singular and unrepeatable expertise,” she says. “It’s about visiting the hidden and unexplored nature; the capital metropolis which vibrates with a contemporary spirit; cities hidden from the crowds filled with appeal and heat from the outdated days or rural households the place you’ll be able to expertise the total that means of what it means to be somebody’s visitor.”

Beneath, a number of locations so as to add to your itinerary exterior of the nation’s vibrant capital.

Novi Unhappy

For a style of smaller metropolis life, Novi Unhappy is well reachable from Belgrade by automobile, or by high-speed prepare in simply half-hour. It’s a vibrant, bike-friendly cultural hub with ample road artwork, historic structure, the Štrand seaside alongside the Danube, and scrumptious eating places, like Jasmin a Maslina for fantastic eating or Salaš 137, a family-run bed-and-breakfast exterior town that serves up an old-school environment. Famously, it additionally performs host to Exit Pageant, considered one of Europe’s largest musical occasions, which takes place on the 18th-century Petrovaradin Fortress overlooking town.

Wineries

Simply exterior Novi Unhappy, the picturesque city of Sremski Karlovci has a wealthy winemaking historical past alongside the Danube. It’s tucked beside the forest of Fruška Gora, which is the nation’s main winemaking area, says Aleks Zecevic, Wine Fanatic writer-at-large. Aleks, who grew up in Belgrade, suggests trying out a few of the prime pure winemakers within the area, together with Oszkár Maurer, Ernő Sagmeister, and Bojan Baša.

“Moreover Fruška Gora, you will discover nice vineyards in Župa, Prokuplje and Negotinska Krajina,” he provides, noting there are lots of of outdated underground cellars within the latter. “These three are attention-grabbing for varied causes, however in Župa, you can find one of many oldest vineyards in Serbia, planted in 1905 at Vinarija Vujić.”

Viminacium and Lepenski Vir

Roughly 90 minutes exterior of Belgrade, historical past buffs can stroll by way of Roman ruins at Viminacium, an historic Roman metropolis and army web site the place relics of Roman baths, a graveyard, and an amphitheater are on show. Viminacium can also be residence to Mamut Park, which options huge skeletons of prehistoric mammoths found within the space. To dive even deeper into the previous, drive a bit additional afield to Lepenski Vir, Europe’s oldest settlement alongside the banks of the Danube.

Nationwide Parks

Serbia is residence to 5 nationwide parks, which cater to all types of out of doors adventures. Hop on a river cruise by way of the Iron Gates, a sequence of scenic gorges separating Serbia and Romania alongside the Danube; In western Serbia, Tara Nationwide Park boasts a community of mountaineering and biking trails, in addition to waterfalls and rafting alternatives on the Drina River Canyon. Winter sports activities lovers will recognize the snow-capped peaks in Kopaonik Nationwide Park, which is fashionable for snowboarding and snowboarding in colder months. Nearer to the capital, the plush valleys of Fruška Gora are studded with dozens of wineries and centuries-old monasteries overlooking the hills.