36 hours in Belgrade
The capital city of Serbia is an affordable, friendly and culturally-rich Balkan jewel
While tourists are flooding European cities like Barcelona, Venice and Dubrovnik, the Serbian capital Belgrade is quietly moulding itself into a very fun and accommodating Balkan metropolis. Chefs are getting creative with Serbian cuisine and the cocktail bar scene has taken off, much to the delight of sophisticated locals. The National Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art have just reopened after unexpectedly long renovations. Now the residents of the former capital of Yugoslavia are just waiting for the world to make a beeline to this affordable, friendly city with so much to offer.
FRIDAY 1 3pm: National revival
The beloved National Museum was shut down in 2003 for renovations and remained closed for so long that locals started to assume it would never reopen. But then it did in 2018 to much relief and fanfare. The museum, housed in a spruced-up neoclassical building, contains three floors of magnificent works, including Roman-era artefacts from around Serbia, paintings by the likes of Tintoretto, Monet and Renoir, and 20th-century works by Yugoslavian painters and sculptors Marko Murat, Nadezda Petrovic and Ivan Mestrovic. Entrance is $2.80.
2 7pm: Comfort food
One of the few gastropubs in the Serbian capital, two-year-old Endorfin, specializes in comfort food. You can get a bacon, egg and cheese on a roll – inspired by co-owner Milos
Vuksic’s years of living in the Big Apple – or an excellent lamb burger. But visitors might be more interested in the Balkan-inspired dishes with a twist: grilled Miroc cheese from the mountains of eastern Serbia, drizzled with honey mustard; tender, juicy cevapi, the ubiquitous cigar-shaped minced meat, made with lamb instead of the usual beef; and veal tongue with beetroot, a delicious play on textures that may give you an endorphin rush by the time you’re finished. Expect to pay about $38 for dinner and drinks for two.
3 10pm: Purple smoke
Newly opened Dim (the Serbian word for smoke) was started by Dragana Dobric, who also co-owns the popular club and cultural space Drugstore. Set in a high-ceilinged industrial room in Cetinjska – the former Bip Brewery complex in the central Skadarlija neighbourhood that is now crammed with hip bars and restaurants – Dim functions as a bar, a club, an exhibition space, a live avant-garde music venue, and a hub for artistic and creative types. Most performances occur Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings, but turn up any time to have a cocktail while basking in the charmingly dilapidated space that is bathed in purple hues.
SATURDAY 4 11am: Yugo boss
Yugoslavia was a fascinating conglomerate of Southern Slavs – the literal meaning of “Jugoslavia” – and this museum takes visitors from the post-World War I Kingdom of Yugoslavia through the post-World War II Socialist Yugoslavia, led by dictator Josip Broz Tito, who kept the federation together and peaceful until his death on May 4, 1980. It’s been nearly 40 years since the Uniter-in-Chief passed away, so it’s an appropriate time to visit the Museum of
Yugoslavia. Even Tito’s grave – tastefully encased in marble under a glass ceiling – is on the premises in a building called the House of Flowers. You can also see a collection of gifts Tito received from other world leaders and other public figures, including moon rocks that the crew of Apollo 11 gave him. For a unique souvenir, stop by the gift shop to pick up a piggy bank in the form of Tito’s head – in blue, red, black or yellow for $23. Admission is $4.
5 1.30pm: Balkan fare, the real deal
Since 2014, this sleek, industrial-chic restaurant has been manufacturing meaty Balkan fare. Keep your Lipitor pills within arm’s reach. You may need an artery unclogger after a meal here. But Manufaktura is worth it. Bacon-wrapped prunes, sausages from Slavonia in Croatia, goulash from the region of Vojvodina in northwestern Serbia, and plates of cheese from all corners of the country round out a menu that will fill any meat-eater with palatepleasing delight. To buttress some of that cholesterol-laden grub, order a shopska salad: chopped cucumber and tomatoes topped with grated goat cheese. Expect to pay about $28 for lunch for two.
6 4pm: Retro fashion
Over a decade ago, Bojana Boshajacki was backpacking around Europe and made a life-changing discovery: vintage fashion shops. She realized Belgrade sorely lacked one. A couple of years later, Jane Doe Vintage was born. Today, the small, 11-year-old shop in the leafy, central neighbourhood of Dorcol is packed with groovy blouses and dresses from Sixties and Seventies
Yugoslavia, early Eighties men’s shirts, and accessories such as vintage Gucci sunglasses – all for a fraction of the price you’d find in countries farther west. For something more contemporary, check out DechkoTzar in the pedestrianized centre of town, a small shop that sells smartly designed T-shirts with Belgrade references on them.
7 6pm: Rakia revolution
In the Balkans, you can’t throw a plum without hitting someone who makes their own rakia, a fruit beverage that is stomach-meltingly potent. Branko Nesic had a hunch that Serbs were going to eventually
The beloved National Museum was shut down in 2003 for renovations and remained closed for so long that locals started to assume it would never reopen
want a higher-quality drink. Some rakia distillers did, too. So Nesic opened Rakia Bar in 2006, offering something unusual to the public: excellent artisanal rakia, some of which is barrel-aged for up to 10 years, giving it a deeper, more complex taste. Now he’s taken it to the next level by opening up the Belgrade Urban Distillery in the Beogradski Market, a hip spot filled with street food stands, vintage clothes retailers and a record shop. You can sample some of the 23 different rakias in the distillery – made from plum, quince, apple and apricot, among other fruits – or buy a bottle to take home. A half-litre bottle costs $8.
8 8pm: A factory of Balkan flavours
This rustic restaurant (whose name is translated as Little Taste Factory) on the border of the trendy and slightly upscale Vracar and Neimar neighbourhoods serves Serbian dishes with some creative license. The menu is divided into two parts, ‘Traditional’ and ‘Imagination,’ the first focusing on Serbian dishes like paprika-spiked cevapi and beef goulash, while the second veers toward steak with prune sauce. The grapes list is long on Serbian grapes with a few Croatian, Czech and Italian bottles thrown in. In the warm-weather months, grab a table on the leafy stone patio. Dinner and wine for two is about $37.
9 10pm: Letting the spirits move you
The cocktail bar scene in Belgrade has exploded. One of the first to open – and still one of the best – is Kultura Bar, in the quiet neighbourhood of London. In 2012, Juraj Kozma and Zivko Budelan were bartenders in nightclubs and pubs and felt like the city needed a more sophisticated bar. So they opened this ambient and refreshingly sedate spot with a glass bar filled with bric-a-brac, which today is still shaking up a serious collection of classic and signature cocktails – including a near-perfect Negroni – to an increasingly cocktail fluent local crowd.
SUNDAY 10 11am: Fortress of solitude
The fortress complex on the hill, Kalemegdan, is the spot where Belgrade was born. Formerly a Roman outpost of Singidunum and then a medieval Turkish outpost, it was converted into a park in the mid-19th century and today is home to cafes, museums, and the Belgrade zoo. It’s a pleasant, tranquil place for a Sunday stroll, taking in the views of the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. Pose for a photo at the Victor Column, or Podebnik, erected in 1928 to commemorate the Serbian victory over the Ottomans in the 1870s and the AustroHungarian Empire after World War I.
11 1.30pm: Serbian Meat Spectacular
The emphasis at Bar Sasa, which opened in 2017, is meat. Specifically steak. Cuts of ribeye and porterhouse are aged for 21 days. But it’s not all steak here. The weekend brunch for $18 per person is an all-you-can-eat affair with beef stew, chicken skewers and ample amounts of cured meat. For a traditional Balkan speciality, try the pleskavica, a patty of ground beef stuffed with cheese. Here, this popular street food item comes topped with a stewed red pepper stuffed with buttery, creamy kajmak cheese. It’s one of the best versions in Belgrade. The grapes list spins around the region offering bottles from Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia.