Belgrade

From MaxTravelz

Belgrade is the capital city of Serbia and Montenegro.

Contents 1 Understand 2 Get in 2.1 By plane 2.2 By train 2.3 By car 2.4 By bus 2.5 By boat 3 Get around 4 See 5 Do 6 Learn 7 Work 8 Buy 9 Eat 10 Drink 11 Sleep 11.1 Budget 11.2 Mid-range 11.3 Splurge 12 Contact 13 Stay safe 14 Emergency 15 Cope 16 Get out

Understand

Belgrade is a very old city, dating back to several thousand years before Christ. The city can be divided into three parts: Zemun, Novi Beograd and Stari Grad, or the Old City. Zemun used to be an independent city that belonged to the Austro Hungarian Empire. Therefore, the architecture of the city resembles that of that Austria. Novi Beograd (or New Belgrade) is the most modern part of town, where new edifices are found. However, there is an assortment of communist style buildings.However, it is becoming the commercial hub of the city. Stari grad is the old part of the city, situaded on the other side of the Sava. This was where the city first began, and where the famous Kalemegdan is located. In the winter, when it snows, the next day, the streets are covered in sleet, so it is very dangerous to walk. They do, however, clean the streets in the center, but not necessarily in the other parts of town. The stores normally close around 3 p.m on saturday evenings and most of them are not open on sunday. Therefore, finding an activity for the weekend must be thought of beforehand. At night, however, there are bars, cafes and discotheques that are open, selling priced drinks. Public transportation in Belgrade is a mess. Most buses are somewhat new, but the trams and trolleybuses are in bad condition. They need a serious amount of money and time if they are ever going to meet "European" standards. Some vehicles change their route without even informing you. Also, what must be noted is that mostly, only the young population speak english. Most of the old, however, do not. Belgrade is a city that IS NOT diversified. Most citizens are white, with a small minority of chinese and Romas. Despite this, Belgrade is enjoyable at some time of the year. Also, keep in mind that tourism in Belgrade is still improving.

Get in

Don't use taxis from the airport (use buses) and the bus/train station (use buses or call a taxi when you are 50 meters away from the station area). Prices are several times higher than they should be. Also, don't use "Beo Taxi" without text "radio" at their light table. (They are so called "wild" and their prices can be also several times higher.) Use "Beo Taxi" with text "radio", "Yellow Taxi" (cars are yellow), "Pink Taxi" (only light tables are pink), "Blue Taxi" (only light tables are blue), "Maxis Taxi", "Alfa Taxi", "Gold Taxi" or "Beogradski Taxi". (2004)

Money can be exchanged at official exchange offices, which are clearly labeled and numerous in central Belgrade, or at the airport. There are many ATMs which accept foreign bank and credit cards without a glitch. It is forbidden by law to use foreign currencies otherwise.

Bus number 72 runs about twice an hour from the airport to Zeleni Venac (city center) in about 40 minutes for 45 dinars (0.5 Euro). You may buy tickets at the bus driver, but have to pay in Dinars. Two companies (JAT; Lasta) run hourly direct airport buses to the railway station and to Hotel Slavija for 80 Dinars (1 Euro; Lasta) or 160 Dinars (2 Euro; JAT).

By plane

If you want go by taxi to the city center of Belgrade, don't take one of the taxis that are offered by men in and around the airport. They are much too expensive. Just take one that arrives with new travellers. They will be happy if they don't have to go back on their own. The average trip is between 550 and 800 CSD (Dinars) (January 2005: 1400 CSD).

Make sure that the taximeter is switched on. Tarif 1 is the correct one Monday to Saturday from morning till 10 pm.

You can change money at the airport. There are several ATMs, one is located right at the luggage collection area (to the right behind the toilets).

By train

Central station is located in the city centre. Most national and international trains stop here, so you won't have to go to some other ones. Travelling by train is pretty cheap but low in quality too. Trains are usually late and sometimes they might be unsafe for strangers travelling alone. Several international trains to Budapest-Vienna and Zagreb-Ljubljana-München/-Zurich. Usually, they should not be too late (seldom more than 1 hour), and I (frequent traveller on those trains) was never reported about security problems, made bad experiences or saw strangers having problems (unexperienced travellers may get their money stolen in France or Germany as likely as in Serbian trains...). The night train to Budapest was very regularly overcrowded in summer 2005 (only 1 sitting car). Furthermore, there are direct (day or night) trains to Skopje - Thessaloniki. Trains to Sofia and Bucuresti however seem to be often very late (several hours). For international travelling in Europe, see timetables on www.reiseauskunft.bahn.de.

By car

Coming from north, it is recommended to use the Subotica - Novi Sad - Belgrade highway, which is an extension of E-75. However, the roads are not in good condition, so be cautious.

By bus

Central bus station is just next door from the train station. It serves number of national destinations as well as international ones. Buses being late are not much of a surprise here so do not be too worried about it. Be sure to check your destination since everything is in serbian and drivers do not speak english usually. Maybe the best way is to spot some from the younger generation and to ask them. Travelling by bus is pretty much cheap, but majority of buses are old and noisy. Information can be obtained through phone and in personal on the bus station and there is no internet site regarding it.

By boat

Belgrade lies where the rivers Sava and the Danube meet. Passenger ships enable you to reach every place along the Danube in a very convenient and meditative manner with many fascinating attractions along it, but it is a quite slow and rather expensive way of traveling.

Get around

Belgrade has buses, trolleybuses and streetcars. They have no metro. What must be noted is that 90% of these vehicles are old, dating back to the communist era. They are dirty, prone to brake frequently and are often crowded. However, there are some new buses and trolleybuses. Tickets for public transportation are cheap, costing 25 dinars (roughly 33 cents of a dollar) and can be bought at any kiosk in the street. You can also buy them from the driver, and this will cost you an additional 10 dinars.Tickets can only be used once, are good for any transportation and must be cancelled inside the bus, tram or trolleybus.Failure to do so will cost you 1400 dinars (around 20 dollars) if you are caught with an unmarked ticket. If you are going to live in Belgrade, and intend to use the public transport a lot, than you can buy passes that range from 15 days to 1 month. These must be purchased at the public transport department, and can be somewhat difficult for foreigners to acquire one, since this process is long, due to the fact that it is almost communist like (filling out forms with most of your personal information) and the people do not speak english. Taxi transportation is cheap and safe in Belgrade and you can either stop one in the street, or call a taxi company (on advertsiments, they say that if you call a cab, they will give you 30% off). Make sure that you ride only in licensed cabs, or you may end up paying too much. Never take a cab that has privately owned (the ones with the white marker on the top that does not list the name of the company), since you can pay up to four times the original price. Car rentals are expensive and not recommended due to the lack of parking space and bad traffic.

See

• Kalemegdan, the still very impressive ruins of an extremely big and spacious fortress above the city. It is an open museum, entrance is free (since it is a park as well) and you can get a bird's eye view of the city. World War I began there, when the Austrian artillery on the other side of the river began firing upon the Kalemegdan. There is a roman well, which is one of the only Belgrade monuments you have to pay to enter, but few to see...
• Knez Mihajlova, main Belgrade street (pedestrian). It is packed with high name shops, selling very expensive goods.
• Sveti Sava temple, the second largest orthodox churche in the world.
• Skadarlija, (Skadarska street) old stile bohemian street. Filled with very nice restaurants that serve domestic, as well as, international cuisine.
• Ada ciganlija, river island on Sava river, in the center of the city. Great for sports and picnics.
• Terazije Fountain
• Belgrade cathedral
• Republic square (Main square).
• Residence of Princess Ljubica (Konak Kneginje Ljubice).
• White Court/Beli Dvor
• Museum "Nikola Tesla", museum dedicated to the man who changed the world http://www.tesla-museum.org/
• Army museum/Vojni muzej (on Kalemegdan fortress).
• Belgrade ZOO (on Kalemegdan fortress).
• Avala, small mountin (511 m) near Belgrade.
• Great war island/Veliko ratno ostrvo, a river island at the confluence of Sava and Danube river, for picnics and birdspotting.
• ' The 'Ivo Andric museum' may interest lovers of literature, but is very difficult to find, as there is no proper sign on the building and you have to ring the bell of a could-be-private-flat (where Andric lived when he stayed in Belgrade). It's situating at the Andricev venac, just go to the federal parliament, cross the street and the small park - the museum is situated next to the Andric statue.
• ' The 'Tito mausoleum' you'll not find in any travel book that was issued in Serbia, nor will the tourist information inform you about that museum. However, it works! Take the bus Nr 40/41 from Studentski Trg or from Kneza Milosa street in the direction Dedinje and ask for "Kuca cveca" (House of the flowers). Entry is free of charge, but the museum closes in the afternoon.

Do

Learn

Most of the people understand and use English language, especially younger generations.

Like in German,the letter "J" is pronounced like the letter "Y" in english.

Work

Buy

• Knez Mihailova is where you want to go for a good shopping zone. And the houses are wonderful too.

You can also go to the Fair *Sajam where you have a large choice of clothes to buy for a pretty cheap price.

Eat

Firstly, it must be noted that Serbian cuisine is heavily influenced by the Turks. This means they have a lot of meat in their meals, and every meal is accompanied by bread, no matter what the meal is. Belgrade has some international restaurants, but these are expensive. Meals can range from 30 dollars per person. Some good places to eat include the Hyatt and Intercontinental Hotels. Most Serbian restaurants offer traditional Serbian dishes. If you are a meat lover, try eating rostilj, a large meat meal that satisfies even the craziest of carnivores. If you are a herbivore, than good luck! The only salads available to you are side dishes! There is also pljeskavica, the serbian version of a hamburger, much better and tastier than the McDonald's version. These can be purchased from fast food restaurants. Speaking of fast food resstaurants, Belgrade is full of them. You can find your typical McDonalds and Pizza Hut, but most Serbs prefer to eat at their local shops. These shops are mainly fast food joints and bakeries, both of which sell pizza, sandwiches and palancike (the serbian version of a crepe). Some may go beyond that, selling turkish delicassies such as baklava, tulumba and other greek/turkish treats. There are a handful of international restaurants that range from american to mexican food to oriental. These are moderately priced to very expensive. A nice, pleasant street filled with very nice restaurants is the Skardalija street. If you get a chance, go there.

Drink

Serbs love beer. So, therefore, you can find a large amount of domestic and imported beer on the market. Domestic beer is very good, suitable to all tastes. Imported beers include Heineken, Bittburger and Becks. Montenegro produces excellent wines called Vranac. These are very popular with the serbs and if you get a chance, try it. Most alcoholic drinks are available to satisfy your every craving. Also, try some national alcoholic drinks such as the famous Rakija, a serbian brandy that is very delicious! For the sobre crowd, Belgrade has delicious juices and a wide variety of soft drinks.

Sleep

Budget

Several hostels have opened up in Belgrade recently, mainly in the center of the city. Some are only open in the summer, but a couple function all year round.

There are alo several hotels right around the train station that are relatively cheap ($10-$15 USD) that are actually quite nice. Just walk around and you should find one with empty rooms without much difficulty. They are, however, a bit of a walk from anything scenic or exciting.

• Belgrade Eye hostel, Krunska 6B: a large family house turned into a hostel that offers a surprising degree of comfort at very low rates (starting at 10€). Private rooms are available as well as dorms. For more details, see www.belgradeeye.com

• Monster Hostel, Visegradska 25: a three level penthouse converted into a clean, modern hostel. Close to central train station. Prices for dormitory; 12.5 €. Relaxed atmosphere and helpful staff. Tel: +381 63 7583037 Email: smokikid@yahoo.com

• Hostel Jelica Milanovic, Krunska 8: a highschool students campus in the middle of town which functions as a hostel in summer. Prices for dormitory; 9-10 €. Its not great but good enough.

Mid-range

Hotel Royal, Kralja Petra. January 2005 prices: single for 24 EUR/night, double for 35 EUR/night, both including (simple cooked) breakfast. Very central: close to shopping streets, going-out areas and the fortress.

Splurge

Contact

Stay safe

Take care of money, documents and mobile phones because of pickpocketing in the city center.

If you have your own car: You need an alarm or adequate (!) mechanical protection like Lavlja Kandza.

Take care: As long as you do not step on the street, no car will halt or even drive slower only. However, traffic lights are obeyed by the drivers.

Belgrade is not a particularly dangerous city, but do exercise common sense caution.

Emergency

In case of an emergency, call 92 (police), 93 (fire) or 94 (ambulance). Always carry the phone number and an address of your embassy with you.

In case of injury or illness, place to go is Urgentni centar (Urgent Centre) of the Clinical Centre of Serbia.

Cope

Get out

• RTS Webpage of National Television

This article is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is very little information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow!