In case you’re visiting Serbia, it is good to come prepared, and for that, we have chosen some fun, awesome things to do in Belgrade, Serbia’s capital city.
Belgrade is a rather small capital city, with a population of around 1.6 million, and still growing. Being busy during rush hours, it is generally a pleasant city with no modern glass skyscrapers and wide avenues. But it is far from being boring. It has been proclaimed by many as the best Europe’s city for nightlife, since it offers a lot of happenings for many different tastes, from clubbing to places with jazz, rock, alternative, trance and other kinds of music, or a great choice of some fancy or domestic cuisine restaurants. Among other things Serbia is famous for its food; if you wish to try delicious Serbian cuisine just visit some of Best Restaurants in Belgrade. Apart from boiling nightlife, there are plenty of activities to do during the day. For example, you can research and experience Belgrade’s rich history on your every step. And finally, to rest from all the sightseeing and heavy partying, Belgrade offers a great deal of places suitable for any kind of recreation, both indoor and outside.
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So, awesome and fun things… Where to begin from? People have different tastes and interests, so this list will be a mixture of various interesting things we have found. There are plenty of festivals going on in Belgrade throughout the whole year. To pick the most interesting ones we have checked the AboutTheBelgrade website, as well as official festivals’ websites. We have gone through the most visited and highly ranked activities on Tripadvisor. At the site Soul of Serbia we have found some awesome guided tours through historical points and sights which lead through some of the great and a must see landmarks of Belgrade. And at last, for other fun activities to do in Belgrade we have consulted Tourist Organization of Belgrade.
One more great thing about visiting Belgrade are cheap prices for the majority of things you can do there, from food and drinks to museums, festivals, and other activities. The affordable accommodation can also easily be found, no matter whether you prefer staying at the hotels, hostels or renting a private accommodation.
We hope we will satisfy needs and interests of people of different tastes with our list, and let’s see which 11 fun, awesome things to do in Belgrade we have picked.
11. Mount Avala
Being on the outskirts of Belgrade, this destination is probably more attractive to nature lovers. Avala is barely a mountain, being 511 meters high (gaining the status of a mountain with those 11 meters), but outstands the surrounding landscape. It is very easily accessible by public transportation, but it can also be a nice excursion destination for those who love to ride bicycles. It is a favorite picnic place for Belgradians since it is almost entirely covered in forest. Interesting visiting places are the Monument to the Unknown Hero (built upon remains of medieval Fortress Žrnov), mountaineering camps and the Avala Tower from where the Belgrade panorama can be seen (being 204,5 meters tall).
10. Visit some of the “splav”s
Up next on our list of fun, awesome things to do in Belgrade we have the splav that is Serbian word for raft, and in this case, those are rafts on Sava and Danube river docks adapted as clubs and bars. They are a unique feature of Belgrade’s nightlife, depending on what your tastes are. There are various kinds of splavs, oriented towards different nightlife modes in terms of music taste. Here, among others, you can also experience how a hardcore Balkan party sounds with the (in)famous turbo-folk music.
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9. Belgrade zoo
Visiting a zoo is always a fun thing to do, especially for children. Belgrade zoo is located in city center, built in one part of Belgrade fortress, so apart from enjoying the wildlife, you can also get a peak in centuries old Belgrade’s architecture. It is a rather small zoo, but there are plenty of exotic animals to see, like seals, mercats, snakes and many more. One of the historical features we might say, of Belgrade zoo is the oldest alligator in captivity the world! He is named Muja, and he was born before 1936.
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8. Belgrade Jazz Festival
Belgrade Jazz Festival has been on for 32 years, hosting many famous jazz musicians during that time, like Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and many more. It lasts for several days and it is usually held in October. Since 2007 it has been proclaimed as one of the most important manifestations in Belgrade.
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7. Belgrade Beer Fest
Belgrade Beer Fest is one of the fun, awesome things to do in Belgrade and because of the most visited festivals in Belgrade awarded with the “Best of Serbia” award for several years. Great thing is that it is free of charge. There you can try many domestic and foreign beers for cheap prices. Apart from being a beer festival, it is also a music festival, where you can hear many performers, from late afternoon hours till dawn. It is held during the August, so it is great opportunity to refresh while listening to some great music.
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6. Museum of Nikola Tesla
We are continuing our list of fun, awesome things to do in Belgrade with the Museum of Nikola Tesla that contains all the belongings of Nikola Tesla left after his death. It has two permanent exhibitions, one dedicated to Tesla’s life, and the other to his inventions. There you can see some of Tesla’s inventions, the Egg of Columbus, induction motor, Tesla’s coil, etc. Since 2015 a research center was opened at the museum, enabling young researchers from all over the world to meet and research works of Tesla.
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5. Zemun
Although now considered as a part of Belgrade, Zemun was once a city on its own and a part of Austro Hungarian Empire. Therefore you can see remains of well preserved Austro-Hungarian architecture, and get rest from busy city center in slow walks beside the river or visit a rich square market. The most interesting places in Zemun are the hill of Gardoš , the historical landmark and the Millenium tower, a memorial place celebrating thousand years of Hungarians settling in Pannonian basin. Visiting Zemun is definitely one of the best among 11 fun, awesome things to do in Belgrade!
4. Downtown tours
Whether going solo, or hiring a tour guide, we recommend walking through Belgrade city center. Belgrade’s center is not big and in short time you can visit many interesting places and landmarks. Some of the recommended sights are Skadarlia bohemian quarter, the Cathedral Church, the oldest tavern in the city named ? (Question mark or Znak pitanja), National Theatre, Museum of Applied Arts, National Museum (currently closed due to the reconstruction), Residence of Princess Ljubica, etc. In the end, you will probably end up in Knez Mihailova Street where you can do some shopping or have a drink in some of the city center’s bars.
3. Ada Ciganlija
Ada Ciganlija, the next one on the list of fun, awesome things to do in Belgrade is a Sava river’s island turned into a peninsula. It is a very popular place especially during summer, where you can do many activities, mostly sports. There are many bike paths, tennis and beach volleyball courts, football fields, mini golf course, paintball field, and skateboard ramps. There are also many water activities available, apart from the beach there are water slides and rowing clubs. Apart from these activities, there are a lot of nice bars on the river beach where you can rest and grab a drink after a hot summer day.
2. Belgrade Fortress – Kalemegdan
Comming in on the second place on our list of fun, awesome things to do in Belgrade, is the Belgrade Fortress that is the most important historical site of Belgrade. It has more than 2000 years of continuousnual history, living through the tribes of Celts, the Roman Empire, the great Migration of people, settling of Slavs, Serbian medieval state and occupation by Turks (from whom the name Kalemegdan comes from) till the 19th century. Today, among being cultural heritage of highest importance, it is a nice place to spend a day at. Most of Kalemegdan’s surface is covered in vegetation, being one of the most beautiful parks in Belgrade. Many people use its lawns for recreation and relaxing. At Kalemegdan you can visit the Military Museum, small gallery of Natural History Museum, the Nebojša Tower, the Victor statue (by famous Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović), the Clock tower and many more. There are also several cafes and often some open air exhibition going on. You can also try out your chess skills on some of the chess tables placed on walking paths.
1. Try out some rakia
As a unique Serbian experience, we recommend rakia as the number one on our list of fun, awesome things to do in Belgrade. Although all Balkan nations argue about where rakia originates from, leaving that issue aside, we highly recommend trying this awesome beverage. Rakia (or rakija, how it is originally spelled) is a very strong alcoholic drink (of around 40-50% ABV) made by distillation of various fruits. Most popular Serbian rakia is Šljivovica (shlivovitza) and it is made of plum. Other popular Serbian rakias are made of apple, pear, quince, grapes, appricot, and also mixtures of rakia with honey or walnuts. Although you can try this delicious beverage in every bar or restaurant, we would recommend you to try some of the home made rakias, which are also not hard to find, since many country households brew their own rakia. And, of course, as you might have guessed, there is also Rakija fest being held every December since 2007.
