As you might remember from previous posts, our 10-day Eurotrip was divided into two main countries: Romania and Serbia. We spent 7 days in Romania and we were going to spend 2 days in Belgrade. Before crossing the border from Romania to Serbia, we spent 3 days in Timișoara. Well, we could say we actually spent 2 +1 days in Timișoara. And why was that? Because, between the second and third day, there was a time gap of 2 days. We left Timișoara after our second day, went to Belgrade for 2 days and returned to Timișoara for one last day. After that, we flew from Timișoara to Bucharest, from there to Madrid and… our 10-day Eurotrip came to an end.
From Timișoara to Belgrade
So, the morning of Thursday the 7th, November 2019, we left the Houstel in Timișoara and walked to the Romanian National Opera. There was a parking lot on its right side and it was there that we met our driver. We agreed upon meeting him at 10:00 and he was super punctual. Nacho had hired his services through Taxi Travel. We would be paying 20 Euros per person and the trip would take 3 hours. The driver was Serbian and he seemed like a nice guy. The vehicle was something between a car and a van and it had 7 seats. It wasn’t very spacious but it was big enough for us and our luggage.
We could say his way of driving was kind of careless, at least, when compared to ours. He didn’t hesitate for a second before overtaking, regardless of the visibility. Nothing new at this point though since we had already experienced the way Romanian drive. The road was a national one but it was pretty straight. All along the way we saw vast crop fields, where, according to our driver, carrots were growing. I didn’t know Romania had so many carrot crops lol.
After an hour or so we made it to the Romanian Border. The driver asked us to gather the Identity Cards or Passports and hand them over to the border patrol. He also asked us to make ourselves visible from outside the vehicle. The border patrol checked our documents and faces and… let us go 🙂
It wasn’t long until we ran into yet another border. This time it was the Serbian one. The procedure was the same but we could already feel we were in a different country. The border post looked more deteriorated and the border patrol seemed more serious and aggressive. All in all, we didn’t have any problems and, just like that, we entered in our second country: Serbia.
The first impression of Serbia, as we were passing through different towns, was of a country poorer and more deteriorated than Romania. We saw plenty of houses tumbled down and some abandoned factories. After 30 minutes we stopped at a gas station to take a break, fill the tank and pay our driver. From there, we drove one more hour and we finally made it to Belgrade.
About Belgrade
Belgrade (aka the White City) is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. The metropolitan area of Belgrade has a population of nearly 1.7 million people, a quarter of the total population of Serbia. It was settled by the Slavs in the 520s and changed hands several times between the Byzantine Empire, the Frankish Empire, the Bulgarian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary.
In 1521, Belgrade was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and became the seat of the Sanjak of Smederevo. It passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Austro-Ottoman wars. Belgrade was again named the capital of Serbia in 1841. In a fatally strategic position, the city has been battled over in 115 wars and razed 44 times. Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia from its creation in 1918 to its dissolution in 2006.
Where to stay in Belgrade?
As we were entering Belgrade we got the impression of a dull and kind of ugly city. But that changed after we crossed the bridge and left the Danube river behind. The city wasn’t the most beautiful in the world but it had its charm. We saw beautiful buildings, cozy streets and a great ambience all around. After thanking the driver for his time and work, we walked to Hedonist Hostel.
If there was something I missed during our 7 days in Romania was a feeling of a good ambience at a hostel. The hostels we stayed at were good, but they were kind of empty. This though was about to change. Hedonist Hostel reminded me of the good old times in Australia and Indonesia. The hostel had a nice setup, the people in charge were pretty kind and there were plenty of guests, most of them gathered in different groups. There were common areas, a courtyard and even some arcade game machines (which, unfortunately, were not working).
The hostel was divided into two buildings and, after showing us around, one of the girls working there took us to our room. The room was good but you could feel it had some humidity. That was the “worst” part of the hostel. The rest of the rooms seemed ok and the same went for the bathrooms and toilets. Thus, overall, we were pretty happy with our choice. So, if you are travelling to Belgrade, give it a try, you won’t regret it!
Day 1 in Belgrade
The first thing we did after leaving the hostel was to look for an ATM. Pedro couldn’t withdraw money throughout the 7 days in Romania but he didn’t have any problems in Belgrade. For Manolo it was the other way around and, (luckily) for the rest of us, we didn’t have any problem either in Romania or Serbia. To you, future traveller, the only piece of advice I can give you is this: do your best to choose a “good” bank/card that allows you to withdraw money abroad.
As we walked around the city of Belgrade we started to see some signs showing we were indeed in a different country. You might be looking at the taxi and I guess there are not many taxis with the same look in other countries but, I was actually referring to the Cyrillic alphabet and its words. I didn’t understand anything but I liked the handwriting a lot 🙂
We were tired and hungry. We couldn’t sleep much on the way to Belgrade. Our driver’s skills were too harsh for us lol. We felt like looking for a place to eat but Pau, who had already visited Belgrade, advised us to go take a look at the Belgrade Fortress, which was kind of nearby.
Belgrade Fortress
Belgrade Fortress was indeed kind of close from our hostel. We just walked up “Knez Mihailova Street” (one of the main streets in Belgrade) and, after 15 minutes or so, we made it there.
About Belgrade Fortress
Belgrade Fortress consists of the old citadel (Upper and Lower Town) and Kalemegdan Park. It is located on the confluence of River Sava and Danube, in an urban area of modern Belgrade. Belgrade Fortress was declared a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979. It is the most visited tourist attraction in Belgrade, with “Skadarlija Street” (more on this later) being the second. Both Belgrade Fortress and Skadarlija are admission-free, which I guess helps making both of them the most visited areas in Belgrade 😉
Belgrade Fortress is the core and the oldest section of the urban area of Belgrade. For centuries, the city population was concentrated only within the walls of the fortress. Thus, the history of the fortress, until most recent times, reflects the history of Belgrade itself. The fortress occupies a huge space. It has different layers of walls, reflecting the different cultures and civilisations that occupied it through time.
The reason why the city of Belgrade is known as the “White City” resides in its fortress, whose walls looked white from the river. As of today, as soon as you enter the fortress, you can see a weaponry showroom with aircraft, tanks and other weapons. There are also a couple of churches and military museums, small souvenir shops, memorial busts of important people, restaurants and coffee shops. The location of the fortress makes a great lookout, with views to the confluence of Sava and Danube River.
Visiting Belgrade Fortress
As mentioned above, Belgrade Fortress is admission-free. Thus, after walking up Knez Mihailova Street and leaving some souvenir shops behind, we arrived to its entrance, which looked like this:
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the temperature was incredibly high for November. We enjoyed walking around such a historical building although, to be honest, we were a little tired and hungry. That’s why Nacho ended up buying a roasted ear of corn. He just couldn’t wait lol. The views from there were indeed amazing. We could see both rivers as well as some small towns. It looked like this:
After taking some pictures and enjoying the views, we made it to the end of Belgrade Fortress. There, we saw a statue under construction which we didn’t recognise. We didn’t pay much attention to it but, we would learn next day that it was indeed a pretty important and controversial one 🙂
Lunch at Zavicaj
Once we finished the visit to Belgrade Fortress, we felt like we really needed to find a place to eat. To that extend, Pau took us to Zavicaj, the one on Gavrila Principa 77. Even though we were tired and hungry, we decided to walk there. Again, we waked up Knez Mihailova Street and, after reaching Republic Square, we kept walking straight.
Knez Mihailova, being one of the main streets in Belgrade, was full of people walking around, shopping and enjoying the nice weather. Since we didn’t have Internet in our phones (we were outside the European Union), we relied on Maps.me, an app which was of great use during my trip in South Asia. In case we couldn’t rely on the app, we could always rely on the street signs, couldn’t we? 😅
We eventually arrived at Zavicaj and, I have to say, it was a good choice. The place was beautiful, the food was superb and prices were middle-high. You can find cheaper places in Belgrade but the restaurant was worth it. We ordered local salads, plenty of beer and home-made bread (which was delicious). Then, each one chose his own dish. I went for the “bohemian kebab” and I couldn’t finish it. It was a huge dish made of meatballs, mushrooms and cream. It looked like this:
We were super sleepy after the heavy lunch but Pau encouraged us to go check out an “interesting” building on the way to our hostel. So, we just followed him.
Yugoslavian Ministry of Defence
The Yugoslavian Ministry of Defence was built between 1957 and 1965. It is divided by Nemanjina Street and its design is meant to resemble a canyon of the Sutjeska river, where one of the most significant battles of World War II was fought. As Nemanjina Street comes up the hill from the main railway station, the two parts of the building form a symbolic gate.
In 1999, the NATO launched a military attack against Yugoslavia. They said it was an operation to stop human rights abuses that were taking place in Kosovo. Despite not having an approval from the United Nations, NATO believed that the correct thing to do was to bomb the country to stop any potential war crimes.
Severely damaged by the 1999 bombing, the building could have been repaired but it was chosen not to. In November 2015, they worked on it to avoid the collapse of the structure. Today, it is Belgrade’s most famous ruin and a popular tourist attraction, preserved as cultural heritage and monument, symbolising the 1999 NATO bombing and “suffering of Serbia”.
I must admit I was pretty impressed when I saw the building. We watch the news everyday and see plenty of disasters and wars. Yet, from the comfort of our couches, we believe these things will never happen to us… Nonetheless, just watching how the building ended up gave me the chills…
Thursday night in Belgrade
We left such a powerful reminder of tougher times behind and started to walk back to Hedonist Hostel, still with goosebumps. The walk was nice and helped us out with the digestion. I liked wandering around Belgrade, it was an interesting city. The streets were full of people but we didn’t see or hear anyone from Western Europe. I guess people living in those countries haven’t considered Belgrade as a place to travel to. But, who knows? That might change sooner than later 😉
After a short nap and a shower, we felt ready for our Thursday night in Belgrade. One thing you have to know when it comes to partying in Belgrade (and I guess it works pretty similar in the rest of Serbia) is that you need to book a table. If you go to “popular” venues you will find them full and, unless you have a table booked, you can’t enter. We can discuss whether that’s fair or whether I like that but, the point is, in Belgrade, the night scene works like that.
Skadarlija Street
So, after pondering our options, we decided to go with Freestyler Winter Stage. Therefore, before leaving the hostel, we booked a place at the “bar” area of Freestyler Winter Stage. With the booking confirmed we let Pau guided us, as it had been a constant throughout the day. We walked for around 10 minutes and we arrived to the beautiful Skadarlija Street.
Skadarlija Street is one of the most famous streets in Belgrade. It is a vintage street in the municipality of Stari Grad (Old Town) and it is known as the main Bohemian neighbourhood of Belgrade, similar to Montmartre in Paris. Thus, it is no surprise that it is the second most visited place in Belgrade after Belgrade Fortress.
The street has a picturesque and unique decoration. Some of the facades of its buildings seem from a fairy tale. There is a lot of history regarding this street which we would learn next day, thanks to Katarina, our free tour guide. Thus, you’ll be learning it as well later on 🙂
Skadarlija Street is full of restaurants with Serbian live music, making it an ideal place to go have lunch or dinner. In our case, since we were not hungry at that time, we struggled to find a place to have just some drinks. In the end though we found one, ordered some beers and enjoyed the views.
After the beers we decided to walk to a different place and it was then, as we were leaving Skadarlija Street, that a woman at a booth offered us to try the typical Serbian drink: rakia. Rakia is a fruit brandy in the Balkans. It is kind of similar to Pálinka, which we had already tried in Romania. She had different flavours and alcohol percentage available and we went for the strongest one. We paid 200 Serbian dinars each (1.70 €) and, after toasting to a great Thursday night in Belgrade, we left Skadarlija Street behind.
Wandering around Down Town Belgrade
We had to be at Freestyler Winter Stage at around 00:30. You might be wondering about the “Winter Stage” part and, the reason is that, clubbing in Belgrade is divided into two seasons: winter and summer. Basically, what that means is that in summer you have more open-air options while in winter they would be closed, due to the cold.
We felt like having some drinks before making it to the club but we were not sure about where to go, so, we just went with the flow. And the flow took us to Republic Square, which was beautiful at night. It looked like this:
We walked around Republic Square but didn’t find anything appealing and kept walking to the river-side of the city. On the way there we ran into tons of people. It was Thursday night and you could feel it. We also ran into a fast-food place and got a (big) pizza slice for 120 RSD. That’s just one Euro. Are you guys crazy?!
Eventually we arrived at the river but, from there, we couldn’t find the way to Freestyler Winter Stage. Unfortunately, Maps.me didn’t have the right route. You know the saying “when life gives you lemons make lemonade”? That’s kind of what we tried to do. As we were wandering around, we ran into an amazing venue: Konzulat Bar. The problem? We didn’t have a table booked…
All in all we managed to go inside, but it was super full. We ordered a couple of beers but we were always in the way of the waiters. There wasn’t much room between tables and the “corridors” were kind of narrow. The place was amazing though. It had good live Serbian music, narguiles, and a great ambience and setup. But, due to all the stress we were creating, we left kind of quick.
Freestyler Winter Stage
One of the guys at Konzulat Bar was kind enough to let us know how to get to Fresstyler Winter Stage. We just needed to walk from Konzulat Bar all the way straight for around 15 minutes, leaving the river to our left.
Once at the entrance of the club they checked up on us like if it was an airport. We didn’t have any problems and managed to enter the venue. One of the hostess working there asked me for my reservation and I told her I had booked the special offer online. The special offer consisted in a bottle of Vodka and 4 red bulls for 50 Euros. To that extend, you needed to book a place at the “standing bar” area. And what did I do? I booked it at (just) the “bar” area.
After a few minutes talking to her, she told me she was sorry but, due to the booking I had made, we couldn’t “enjoy” the offer. Nonetheless, we could stay at the standing bar and (after more talking) order “just” regular drinks. Meaning, we were not “forced” to buy whole bottles. So, in the end, it turned out to be a great deal 🙂
Just to sum up, the club was divided in some sort of stories. The bar was the cheapest option, then it came the standing bar and then tables with seats. The higher you were in the club, the bigger the bottle and the more you had to pay for it. The regular drinks were not expensive. We paid 5 € for a Long Island but, if you wanted to sit at the highest table, you had to pay around 350 € for a big bottle of Grey Goose Vodka 😅
The music was not the best, according to our musical taste. The ambience was also kind of “fake”. People were just talking to the ones that “belonged” to their table. They were not leaving the table to dance or anything. They spent most of the time taking pictures with their phones. I had travelled to other countries but I had never (till that moment) run into such a “robotic” ambience.
So, due to all the points mentioned above, after a couple of Long Island, we decided to leave. Just a few minutes before that, they started to introduce the dancing girls. And that was when they played the best music. It sounded like this:
Ben Akiba
Once again the group split. Half of it went to sleep and the other half decided to give another chance to the Belgrade nightlife on a Thursday night. Your humble servant was included in the second group 😉
We walked back to the bridge, which, by then, had become our landmark. From there, we made it to Ben Akiba. It wasn’t actually the first time we tried to make it there. Before walking to Fresstyler Winter Stage, we tried to get in but they told us they were hosting a private party and we could just enter after 23:00. So, since it was already way passed 23:00, we decided to give it a try.
From the moment we stepped in (after paying around 300 RSD) we felt like if we were in a different planet. What a change in just a few minutes walking! The setup, the ambience, the way people behaved and, specially the music, were completely different. And, in this case, they were not just different but, per our standards of a good nightlife experience, they were way better than at Freestyle Winter Stage.
We decided to go there because one of the guys working at the reception of Hedonist Hostel advised us to go check it out. He also told us that we might not like Freestyler much and, it turned out he was right in both statements. I loved Ben Akiba. The music (electronic one) was amazing. The setup was super cool with goat and doll heads hanging from the roof as well as other unique decoration. At some point, I felt like I was stepping on someone’s foot and, when I turned back, I realised there was indeed a foot but it belonged to a TV. To a what? Yes, to a TV. You don’t believe it me? Check it out:
It was around 03:00 when Pau and Manolo told me we should get going. I was having an amazing time but then, when they pronounced the words “No Sleep Festival”, I realised they were right and we needed to get ready for next day. Friday night in Belgrade was going to be a unique experience and we needed to make the grade.
So, how did you like the first of our 2 days in Belgrade? Have you experienced watching the confluence of Danube and Sava from Belgrade Fortress? Did you also get goosebumps after watching the Yugoslavian Ministry of Defence? Have you eaten at any of the restaurants at Skadarlija Street? What’s your thought on the Belgrade night scene? Let me know in the comments below!
