Belgrade, Serbia 5 Day Itinerary
Belgrade sits at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, and the city has been destroyed and rebuilt more than forty times throughout its history. That stubbornness shows. The nightlife rivals Berlin, the food is cheaper than almost anywhere in Europe, and the locals have a cheerful fatalism about life that makes conversation with strangers feel unusually honest.
Getting from the Airport
Nikola Tesla Airport (BEG) is about 18 km west of the city centre. The cheapest option is the A1 express bus to Slavija Square, which costs around 400 RSD (roughly 3.50 EUR) and takes 30 to 45 minutes depending on traffic. Taxis on the meter run 20 to 25 EUR and cover the same route in 20 to 30 minutes. Do not accept a “flat rate” offer from anyone who approaches you in arrivals - insist on the meter or collect a voucher from the official TAXI INFO desk before leaving the terminal. The Bolt and CarGo apps both operate in Belgrade and offer transparent fixed fares; CarGo is locally owned and tends to be the local first choice. Uber does not operate here.
Where to Stay
The two best neighbourhoods for a first visit are the city centre around Knez Mihailova Street, which puts you within walking distance of Kalemegdan Fortress and the main museums, and Savamala, the renovated riverfront district that is quieter to sleep in than its nightlife reputation suggests. Hotel Moskva (Terazije, mid-range) is a Viennese-era landmark with ornate tiles and a ground-floor patisserie worth stopping at even if you are not staying there. For a tighter budget, the cluster of guesthouses and small hotels on Dositejeva Street in the old Dorćol neighbourhood offers better value than the main tourist strip.
Day 1: Arrival and the Old City Core
Skip the afternoon nap and walk Knez Mihailova Street while the light is still good. The pedestrian zone runs from Terazije down to Kalemegdan Park and passes the National Theatre, several 19th-century palaces now used as government offices, and the kind of pavement cafes where Belgraders spend serious amounts of time doing very little in a practised, unhurried way.
From the end of the street, Kalemegdan Fortress opens onto one of the best free viewpoints in the Balkans: the exact point where the muddy Sava meets the wider Danube, with the flat plains of Vojvodina stretching out on the far bank. The fortress itself is always open and free. The military museum inside has an outdoor yard of tanks and artillery that children enjoy and adults find unexpectedly interesting.
For dinner, head to Skadarlija. The cobblestoned bohemian quarter runs for about 400 metres and fills up with kafanas (traditional tavern-restaurants) that have been serving grilled meat and live accordion music since the 19th century. Dva Jelena and Tri Šešira are the most famous; both are reliable and neither is cheap by Belgrade standards (expect 1,500 to 2,500 RSD per person for food, more with drinks). The atmosphere is the point, not culinary innovation.
Day 2: Museums and Fortress in Depth
The National Museum on Republic Square reopened in 2018 after a twenty-year closure and holds the country’s most important collection of medieval Serbian icons and artefacts from ancient Roman settlements in the region. It opens at 10:00 and the permanent collection ticket costs around 500 RSD.
The Nikola Tesla Museum, in the Vračar neighbourhood south of the centre, is the city’s most popular paid attraction and deserves the reputation. Tesla’s cremated ashes are kept in a golden orb on display; his actual personal belongings, patents, and demonstration equipment are held here too. The museum is small enough to do properly in 90 minutes. Tickets cost 500 RSD (about 4 EUR) and the price includes a guided demonstration of Tesla’s experiments. Crucially, the museum accepts cash only - bring Serbian dinars. It is closed on Mondays.
For dinner, the Beton Hala strip along the Sava riverfront has several mid-range restaurants with outdoor terraces over the water. The kitchens lean toward Serbian grills and fish from the Danube rather than international food.
Day 3: Ada Ciganlija and Zemun
Ada Ciganlija is a river island connected to the city by two causeways, forming a 4-kilometre lake popular with swimmers, cyclists, and people renting pedal boats. In summer it gets crowded by mid-morning; arrive before 09:00 if you want a quiet stretch of beach. Entry to the lake area is free. Bike rental stands operate along the paths.
In the afternoon, cross to Zemun, historically a separate town that was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire while Belgrade was under Ottoman control. The difference in architecture is still visible: ornate Habsburg-era facades line the main street, and the Gardos Tower on the hill above offers a 360-degree view. Zemun has a genuine neighbourhood feel that the more touristed parts of Belgrade have mostly lost. Riverfront fish restaurants line the Zemun Quay; Kod Žandara is well-regarded by locals for fresh Danube carp.
Day 4: New Belgrade and an Evening in Savamala
New Belgrade, across the Sava, was built as a showpiece of Yugoslav modernism starting in the 1950s and is worth a short visit if you have any interest in socialist-era architecture. The Palace of Serbia and the massive Genex Tower (two linked cylinders, one of which has a rotating restaurant near the top) are the standout buildings. The district is not conventionally attractive but it is genuinely strange and interesting.
Back in the city, Savamala is at its best between 19:00 and midnight. The neighbourhood is Belgrade’s equivalent of a creative quarter: converted warehouses, record shops, independent galleries, and bars that fill up without anything resembling a queue or a dress code. The club Drugstore (not to be confused with the American chain) hosts electronic music events in a former tram depot. The area quiets dramatically after 02:00 and the side streets become dark; take a CarGo home rather than walking toward a distant tram stop.
For a dinner step up from the grill-heavy norm, the wine bar Madera on Karađorđeva Street has a focused natural wine list and a short menu of seasonal food that is about as close to a genuinely modern restaurant as Belgrade currently offers.
Day 5: Last Hours and Departure
The Church of Saint Mark in Tašmajdan Park, modelled loosely on the medieval Visoki Dečani monastery in Kosovo, holds the sarcophagus of Emperor Stefan Dušan and is worth a quiet thirty minutes before the airport. The Belgrade Zoo next door is one of the oldest in the Balkans (founded 1936) and actually a reasonable institution, located oddly inside Kalemegdan Fortress.
For souvenirs, the Zeleni Venac covered market near the centre is far better value than the shops on Knez Mihailova. Look for rakija (Serbian fruit brandy) in 0.5-litre bottles to carry home; the quince (dunja) and plum (šljiva) varieties are the most local. Do not buy rakija from street vendors near the tourist sites - quality varies wildly.
Allow at least 90 minutes to reach the airport from the city centre to be safe; morning rush hour on the western arterial roads can double journey times.
Getting Around
Belgrade’s public buses and trams are cheap and cover most areas you will want to visit. A reloadable BusPlus card (picked up at kiosks, newsagents, or the bus station) gives a lower per-ride cost than cash. Trams 2 and 11 between Zeleni Venac and Zemun are useful. Walking between the city centre and Savamala takes under fifteen minutes.
Practical Notes
The Serbian dinar (RSD) is the only currency accepted in most places; some tourist restaurants and hotels will take euros but at poor rates. Exchange at a bank or an official exchange office - the ones on main streets with a posted rate board are legitimate. Do not change money on the street. English is widely spoken in restaurants, hotels, and shops in the central neighbourhoods.
The weather tip most guides skip: Belgrade in July and August gets genuinely hot, regularly above 35C, and the city has very little shade outside the fortress park. If you are visiting in summer, the Kalemegdan and Ada Ciganlija visits work best before 10:00 or after 17:00.