The White City - Beograd

There are a few must-sees for any trip to Belgrade. First, even if you are in Belgrade for a couple of hours, you simply must take a walk through Kalemegdan, Belgrade’s Fortress Park. Beyond the benefits of a leisurely stroll, you’ll be rewarded with impressive views of the Dunav and Sava Rivers and centuries-old defensive architecture. One must also take a walk down Knez Mihailova Street, the pedestrian mall in the center of Belgrade, which is the home of countless numbers of shops and cafés. I would also recommend meandering and possibly eating your way through Skadarlija.

Quick Tips:

In an effort to develop the appeal and ease of Belgrade as a tourist destination, the city of Belgrade has recently erected direction signs to attractions all over the city. Conveniently, these signs are both in Serbian and English and posted throughout the city. They make it very easy to get your bearings of the city, even on your first day.

Best Way To Get Around:

Most places in downtown Belgrade are within walking distance, meaning within a 15- to 20-minute walk. If you’re not up for walking or want to venture out into Belgrade’s extensive suburbs, the public transportation system is pretty extensive and reasonably easy to figure out. Maps and price information is available at www.gsp.co.yu/english/main.htm.

From the airport, there will always be an endless line of cabs waiting to take you downtown, usually for about a 1000 dinar (or ) fare. JAT airlines also runs a bus from the airport to its hotel, the Slavija, in downtown Belgrade. This bus seems to leave the airport after most international and local flights, but I am not sure about the times. It costs 200 dinars. There is also a regular city bus (no. 72) that runs from the airport to the city center for 45 dinars. Basically, there are a number of options that are all relatively simple.

The Union is a clean and decent hotel near the center of Belgrade. It is located within a 5-minute walk of Trg Republike (Republic Square). It definitely has slightly better rooms than the typical formerly state-run hotels that dot the former Yugoslavia – rooms come with color TVs and cable, a minibar, and adequate lighting.

Like a number of hotels in Belgrade, the Union boasts of their "recent" renovations at the end of the 1980s. Needless to say, the decade of turmoil and minimal maintenance have left some things that could stand to be improved, namely the bathrooms. The very basic plumbing system left our bathroom with the most pungent port-o-potty smell.

Overall, it was not a bad place to stay. The location was great and the price was not that bad, 60€ for a double. Check out this website for other hotel options in the Belgrade area: http://www.tob.co.yu/english/smestaj/hoteli/index.html

For all of you who have been traveling in Eastern Europe for too long and are dying for some food other than local, Que Pasa is NOT your place. Don't be fooled by the name of the restaurant, or even the guidebooks that call it Mexican/Latin cuisine. It is nothing like it. First of all, only a handful of things on the menu have titles that resemble Mexican dishes. And then if you read the description of the "Mexican" dishes, you will find quizzical ingredients, like string beans. And, finally, after ordering a "burrito," you'll get something that tastes more like a pizza with string beans than anything else.

But, if you are just looking for a chill atmosphere, a kickin' Nescafe, and some awesome chocolate cream cake, then Que Pasa isn't that bad, but I warn that it serves nothing remotely similar to Mexican food.

The Konak (Residence) of Princess Ljubica is an interesting take-in in downtown Belgrade. It is located in the oldest section of Belgrade, Kosančićev Venac. From the outside, the house is not all that impressive, especially relative to the ornate three-story structure across the street. But its somewhat austere style is one of the best preserved examples of mid-nineteenth century ‘Balkan’ architecture in Belgrade.

The museum is named after Princess Ljubica, the wife of Serbian Prince Mihailo Orenović, the man credited with liberating Belgrade and parts of Serbia from the control of the Ottoman Empire. The house was built in 1831 as the private residence of Princess Ljubica and her two sons. However, since their forced eviction in 1842, the building has served multiple purposes. For 150 dinars (approximately $2.40, as of May 2005), you’ll get a self-guided tour of the Konak’s 15 or so rooms decorated with European and Turkish-style period furniture. All the descriptions of paintings and furniture are in Serbian, written in the Cyrillic alphabet. However, the entrance fee also includes a pamphlet in Serbian, English, and French, which briefly describes the history of the museum, the building, and its various residence. It is open every day except Sunday.

Kalemegdan (or the Belgrade Fortress) is a gem of a park directly adjacent to downtown Belgrade. Historically, Kalemegdan, perched on a hill at the confluence of the Dunav (Danube) and Sava Rivers, served as a critical military outpost and fortress. Its position, at the crossroads of the East and the West, has been desired across the centuries, making its history defined by numerous overthrows and conquests. Celts, Slavs, Austrians, and Ottomans all occupied the fortress complex at least once in its varied past. Today Kalemegdan is simply a city park, but it is still a very desirable location for locals and visitors alike. The park’s numerous winding walking paths, shady benches, picturesque fountains, random statues, mammoth historical architecture, and incredible river views are inviting.

As Belgrade’s tourism industry is still in its infancy you won’t find hordes of guided tours traipsing through the park. This definitely has its advantages, as you can experience the park at your own pace without annoying mobs passing you by and blocking the best views. On the other hand, there is so much history to the statues and structures within the park, a simply stroll through will leave you with little understanding of significance of this incredible place. My suggestion is to pick-up a dedicated Belgrade guidebook at anyone of the English bookstores in downtown. Even if you have a Eastern Europe or Serbian guidebook, the Belgrade books provide more detailed information than these overview books (I have all types). I personally recommend the IPS bookstore and guide on Knez Mihailova, but I am sure others are similarly informative.

The Ethnographic Museum is a great spot to get a better feel for Balkan culture and its diversity. Overall, I was really impressed with the exhibits, especially since it only cost 60 dinars, or $1, to get in.

The material housed in the museum ranges from clothing and tableware to house styles and farming/herding equipment. Although not all artifacts are labeled, there are a number of interpretive signs (in English and Serbian) throughout the museum that add context to what you are observing.

The first floor of the museum is dedicated to textiles and clothing styles of the late 19th and 20th centuries from across "Serbian" regions. Even after living in Serbia-Montenegro for the past year and consistently hearing about the diversity of clothing styles, it wasn’t until I saw this exhibit with all the different styles by region that I began to understand the true diversity of dress.

The second floor is predominantly a weaving exhibit. It highlights the various raw materials used, how and with what they were dyed, standard weaving equipment, and what types of items were produced and their significance in society. The third floor was devoted to the household. Exhibits highlighted the geographical and economic differences of "Serbian" regions and how those differences structured the cultural materials from each area.

Overall, this was great. It is not the most sophisticated museum, but it does an excellent job at providing a fundamental glimpse at Serbian, or more generally, Balkan culture. And the truly great thing is that it is open every day, even Sunday.

My husband and I were strolling through Belgrade’s old town, Kosančićev venac, wanting to see one of the most important Orthodox churches in Belgrade and Serbia, the Saborna crkva, or in English, the Orthodox Cathedral. The church (circa 1840) itself is simply gorgeous – white classic-style church with colorful mosaics decorating its western façade. To our surprise, we arrived just in time to the start of a wedding ceremony. Living in the area for a year now, we have come to know that a caravan of honking decorated cars is common place for such a festivity, but there is something about weddings that always makes it special and exciting. It was fabulous – the bride, groom, and a handful of other guests piled out of the decorated cars. The wedding caravan, maybe seven cars long, extended across the block and through one of the major intersections in town. Other motorists seemed to be pretty patient at first – it was a wedding, after all – but after two turns of the lights, with no movement, other Belgraders seemed to be getting anxious and started honking their horns. This time the horns were not out of nuptial jubilation, but rather impatience. Everything worked out in the end. Soon enough, the wedding caravan had dispersed, and the church doors closed for the religious ceremony. It was definitely an interesting moment in time.