Even though it seems like the summer travel season is flying by, those still looking to book a European getaway have some cheap options for a last-minute trip, according to a new report.
21.07.2023 - 08:25 / roughguides.com / Art
Serbia’s capital is always on the move – a constantly changing scene of new bars and restaurants alongside old favourites. After a scorching hot summer, temperatures are now perfect for getting the most out of the city’s lively café culture and Eastern Europe’s best nightlife. Here are a few reasons why Belgrade is a hidden highlight of Europe.
There aren’t many cities that have made use of its riverfronts as Belgrade has done. More than two hundred floating bars, clubs and restaurants known as splavovi line the Danube and Sava rivers, ranging from intimate little cafés to sprawling nightclubs that go on till dawn. Some are open only for the summer season, but others including Splav Play keep going all year round. Lovely views of the river come with cocktails costing less than 500 dinars.
The choice of restaurants in Belgrade is dizzying, and many are absurdly cheap by most European standards. The old town is full of traditional Serbian restaurants, where you can get Balkan staples such as cevapcici (meat rissoles) and roasted red peppers stuffed with cheese. Or you can join the trendy set in the cosmopolitan collection of waterfront restaurants at Beton Hala, where Italian, Spanish and Asian flavours dominate.
There’s rarely a quiet moment along Knez Mihailova, Belgrade’s broad, pedestrianised boulevard that cuts through the old town. Amid the buskers, street sellers and strollers, you can check out the shops or stop for a lingering coffee in one of the many cafés in front the street’s handsome nineteenth-century buildings. At number 26 is the Zepter Museum, an entertaining stroll through Serbian modern and contemporary art. There’s some fantastic art on display here – more than worth the 200 dinars admission.
Belgrade old town © Tatiana Popova/Shutterstock
Head to the eastern bank of the River Sava to Savamala, formerly a rundown area of derelict warehouses and decaying Art Nouveau mansions. Over the past few years, bars and clubs have been moving into the empty buildings and giving them a hyper-trendy new buzz. KC Grad and Mikser House have led the way in this funky regeneration, both set in old warehouses and offering a mix of live music, food, drink and vintage clothing stalls. Stop for a drink in the shabby-chic garden of Klub Dvoristance or cool industrial Prohibicija before stopping by Tranzit Bar for cocktails in its brick vaulted interior.
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Cross the Sava to Zemun and you immediately notice the difference between east and west. Now a Belgrade suburb, Zemun had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918, and the Habsburg architectural legacy is unmistakable. But the atmosphere is typically Balkan, with the scent of Turkish coffee wafting from the riverside café tables and
Even though it seems like the summer travel season is flying by, those still looking to book a European getaway have some cheap options for a last-minute trip, according to a new report.
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