Discover Serbia and Its Capital City Belgrade

Serbia is famous for tennis (Ana Ivanovic, Monica Seles, novak Djokovic and Jelena Jankovic) and once a repressed and isolated state is a country well-worth visiting for any traveler.

First we will look at Serbia as a whole and then take a closer look at its capital city Belgrade.

The census taken in 2002 showed that Serbia's 7.5million people are made up of Serbs (82.9%), Hungarians (3.0%), Bosniaks (1.8%), Roma (1.4%) and others (8.9%). Approx 85% of its people are Serbian Orthodox, 5% Roman catholic and 3% are Muslim.

Regardless of ethnicity or religion the people of Serbia welcome visitors warmly and are hospitable.

When traveling to Serbia and looking for accommodation you may be wise to check with the local tourist offices first. Private rooms and apartments in rural Serbia offer value for money at a rate that is unheard of in the rest of Europe.

You may also wish to check out www.hostelworld.com .

Business Hours

The business hours in Serbia that are shown below are to be taken with a grain of salt but can be used as a rough guide:

Shops - 8am-6pm Mon-Fri. Some shops do open to early afternoon on Saturdays

Restaurants - 8am-11pm or midnight

Bars - 9pm-3am

Banks - 8am -5pm Mon-Fri & 8am-2pm Sat.

Events and Festivals

Exit Festival (www.exitfest.org) - Held in July the people gather around Petrovardin Citadel in Novi Sad. The first Exit Festival was held in 2000. 2008 saw the likes of the Hives, and the Sex Pistols attending the festival along with 100,000 other people from around the world.

The International Festival of Street musicians (www.cekans.org.yu) - Held in June

Dragacevo Trumpet (www.guca.co.yu)- This is a full on festival held in August in Guca.

Food and Drink

Serbia is famous for grilled meats and if you desire a meal that is filling you cannot go wrong with cevapcici (grilled kebab). For a staple snack then try a burek a tasty pie made with cheese, meat, potato and occasionally mushrooms.

As for alcohol many Serbians distil their own brandy (rukija) using plums and other fruits.

Currency

Even though Serbia has kept the dinar some hotels do require payment in euros.

There are many ATM's and established businesses do accept plastic.

Tourist Info

There are tourist offices in the major towns, which are good starting points or check out the following:

National Tourist Office of Serbia - www.serbia.travel

Tourist Organisation of Belgrade - www.tob.co.yu

Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital city of Serbia and can only be described as bold, adventurous and edgy.

It is at Belgrade that the Sava River meets the Danube, old meets the new and east meets west. Belgraders young and old live to keep this electric city alive and kicking.

Tourist Info

Tourist Organisation of Belgrade (www.tob.co.yu)

Stuff to see

Fortified since Celtic times there have been approximately 115 battles fought over Kalemegdan Citadel. What you see today is from 18^th century Austro-Hungarian and Turkish reconstructions.

Walk through the Stambol gate, which was built in around 1750 by the Turks you will find yourself in the firing line of tanks and cannons. From here you can enter the MilitaryMuseum (10am-5pm Tue-Sat) and learn the complete history of the former Yugoslavia right up to the 1999 NATO bombings.

Should automobiles be your interest then you must stop at the Museum of Automobiles (11am-7pm). Here there is a wonderful collection of vehicles including a Tito's '57 Cadillac convertible.

The Church of Sveti Seva is supposed to be where the Turks burnt relics of St Sava, who was the founder of the independent Serbian Orthodox Church, and is the world's largest Orthodox Church.

Located behind the central post office you will find the Church of Sveti Marko. Modeled on the Gracanica Monastery in Kosovo this is where the Emperor Dusan is buried.

Another place of interest is Marsal Tito's grave(10am-5pm Tue-Sat & 10am-1pm Sun). Here you can see a display of gifts that were given to Tito including a Rolls Royce from Elizabeth II, a bowl from Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and a writing set from JFK. To get to the grave of Marsal Tito take a trolley-bus 40 or 41 at the south end of parliament on Kneza Milosa.

To see a collection of rare planes visit the Aviation Museum (8.30am7pm in the summer &9am -3.30pm in winter. Closed Mondays) in Suracin. The museum also has a WWII collection and bits of the American stealth fighter that was shot down in 1999.

Obviously there is much more to see and explore including the Skararskaand the Gallery of Frescoes.

Accommodation

Take a look at the Youth Hostel organization (www.hostels.org.yu) as they do deals with hotels for HI members and international student card holders.

UniTurs Hostel (www.uni-turs.com) - The building may look dingy on the outside but inside it sparkles.

Hostel City Center (www.hostelcitycenterbelgrade.com) - This hostel/hotel is located opposite the train station. There are rooms with private bathrooms and rooms with shared bathrooms.

Yellowbed Hostel (info@yellowbed.net) - The Yellowbed Hostel enjoys a central location right behind Studentski Trg. The staff are good humored and there is a terrace.

Arka Barka (www.arkabarka.net) - This is truly lovely floating on the Danube. There is a verandah and a couple of private rooms.

Restaurants

There are many restaurants to choose from in Belgrade and below I have listed a few noteworthy ones

Little Bay -Very inexpensive and definitely one of the best in town. In this restaurant you can sit in your private opera box, enjoy opera and eat a tasty roast.

Trattoria Kosava - Here you can choose between Serbian and Italian mains or failing that just indulge in a berry pancake. The ambience is just great with lamp-lit nostalgic surroundings.

Pekara Toma - This is the place to go for pre or post clubbing munchies.

Belgrade is easy to get around with bus tickets purchased from a street kiosk or the bus driver (cheaper from a kiosk).

There is also a tram that connects train and bus stations with the Kalemegdan Citadel.

And of course taxis but be sure to wave down taxis that are distinctly labeled.

Source: Europe on a Shoestring - The Lonely Planet