17 Best Things to Do in Belgrade, Serbia

Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia, isn’t the favorite destination of many travelers. And I get that as it took me a few visits to warm up to the city.

But once I got to know it a bit better I think this is a pretty cool destination, albeit not the most obvious one. With so many great things to do in Belgrade, you can spend there a few days without getting bored and actually enjoy the capital of Serbia.

I’ve been a frequent visitor to Belgrade for some ten years now as this is often the easiest entry point to the Balkans. While at first I was a bit reluctant when visiting Belgrade, now I’m always trying to add a day or two in the city to spend some time there and enjoy all my favorite spots.

Belgrade reminds me a bit of Warsaw or Bucharest, the capitals where the recent history wasn’t easy on them and where you can still feel its impact, making the cities not the easiest one to visit (especially if you are looking for Insta pretty places) but once you dig deeper into the layers they all turn out to be pretty amazing.

And so it’s time I put together this Belgrade guide with all the best things to do in Belgrade. As you will see there are not too many typical tourist spots and monuments but the list of Belgrade attractions can get really long! Read on, give the city a chance, and plan your own trip to Belgrade soon.

Why visit Belgrade

The main reason why many travelers visit Belgrade is to start their journey in the Balkans. But the city is pretty interesting too and offers a variety of attractions.

There are some old remnants like Kalemagdan fortress or beautiful architecture from the turn of the 19th and 20th century as well as quirky concrete masterpieces. But most of all Belgrade is a vibrant city with some amazing restaurants, bars and nightlife.

How much time for visiting Belgrade

You can see the main attractions in Belgrade, especially those located downtown, in one day but I think Belgrade deserves more time to feel the vibe of the city.

With two days in Belgrade, you can also explore areas located further away like Novi Beograd or Zemun. But of course, the more time you have, the better.

How to get to Belgrade

The local airport is the main hub in the region therefore you can easily fly to Belgrade from numerous destinations in Europe and beyond. The national carrier, Air Serbia, is the main airline serving Belgrade airport but other companies fly there too (I usually take direct flights from Warsaw with LOT).

You need to take the bus to get from the airport to the center, either bus no 72 to Zeleni Venac (free of charge) or Minibus A1 to Slavija Square (400 RSD).

If you arrive in Belgrade by bus the main bus station is located in the center, a short walk (uphill) from the major attractions.

The situation with the train station complicated a bit recently when the old one, located next to the bus station was closed in 2018. Now you need to go a bit away from the center to either Beograd Centar station to take the train to Budapest or Novi Sad or to Topčider station for trains to Bar, Skopje or Nis.

How to get around Belgrade

While many of the attractions are located in the central part of the city and you can walk to them there are a few spots (like Zemun, Museum of Yugoslavia or numerous brutalists buildings) that you need to take the local public transport to get to. I usually use Eway website to check the public transport routes and so far it never failed me in Belgrade.

Since 2025, the public transport is free in Belgrade, also for visitors. You can use buses, trams, trolleybusses and local trains at no charge. The only exception is the A1 shuttle connecting the airport with the center.

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Would you like to take on your trip the ad-free PDF version of this guide? You can purchase it, together with the offline map, by clicking here or on the photo below.

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Things to do in Belgrade

And now, without any further ado, let me tell you about all the best things to do in Belgrade.

Explore Kalemegdan Fortress

The Kalemegdan fortress is probably the biggest highlight of Belgrade and it is popular for a reason. This is one of the best places in the city to relax and enjoy beautiful vistas of the Serbian capital (especially around sunset time). It is also full of history and attractions.

Located at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers, the first fortifications were built here already in Celtic times. What you can see today dates to the 17th century and later and is an impressive example of defensive architecture.

It’s a really vast area and you should take your time to explore it properly as it hides some really great attractions on the Upper and Lower Fortress. My favorite part is the promenade on the Sava riverside and the part near the Victor Monument but the whole place is really great.

The best way to get to Kalemegdan is from the pedestrian Knez Mihailova street, you just need to cross the traffic lights at the end of it and you are already in Kalemegdan park.

Walk down Knez Mihailova Street

Knez Mihailova Street is the main pedestrian lane in Belgrade that stretches for around a kilometer between Terazije and Kalemegdan Fortress. This is one of the oldest and most valuable parts of Belgrade, lined with beautiful buildings from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

It’s always busy with people shopping in the numerous places along the street or chilling in any outdoor cafes. This is probably the best place in Belgrade for people watching. You should walk Knez Mihailova street in the morning, when it’s still fairly empty, to admire the beautiful architecture around and then return later on to enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of the place.

Some of the most interesting buildings here include Srpska Kruna Hotel (at number 56), The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts’ building (at 35), Ruski car restaurant (at the corner of Knez Mihailova and Obilićev Venac streets) and numerous residential buildings (especially at numbers 46, 48 and 50).

See grand buildings in the downtown

Belgrade might not look like a beautiful city at first but it has some beautiful grand buildings in downtown. The center of the city is a peculiar mix of architecture, and while some of the newer additions to the scenery don’t really fit into the image of the big capital, there are still plenty of buildings that are worth looking at.

You can find some of them in and around Trg Republike, Terazije, Kralja Milana street or Trg Nikole Pasica but wandering around the downtown will reveal even more random beauty around.

If you can, step inside the buildings and gates too as you can find some real wonders there. My favorite find was the interior of the Main Post Office with a beautiful retro design.

But downtown Belgrade hides some real gems too and you can find them when wandering the backstreets, especially near Kneza Mihaila street. Some of the buildings there are really neat and can surely impress you!

Admire the beauty of Hotel Moskva

Of all the beautiful buildings in downtown Zagreb, Hotel Moskva must be my favorite one. This is one of the oldest operating hotels in Serbia, it was opened in 1908. The stunning art-nouveau building really stands out among other Belgrade architecture.

Due to its importance, location, and high standards Hotel Moskva welcomed numerous well-known guests over the years, including Albert Einstein, Alfred Hitchcock, or Richard Nixon, among many others. It also played an important role in the local history (i.e. it was the Gestapo headquarter during World War 2) and culture.

Today it is still a popular place among travelers but even if you are not staying there you can enjoy Hotel Moskva a bit – there is a fine cafe you can sit at and get a glimpse of the place and its vibe.

Enjoy the bohemian side of Belgrade

The neighborhood of Skaradlija is known as the bohemian side of Belgrade, so much different than the rest of the city. Its heart is Skadarska street – a 400-meters long cobbled lane full of attractions.

You will find there numerous restaurants, art galleries, or antique shops – Skadarlija is known as Belgrade’s Montmarte, and you can surely feel the artistic vibe there.

This is a perfect place for a slow wander around and the benches lined along the street welcome visitors to sit down and relax.

Getting to Skadarlija is rather easy, the street is located a short walk away from Trg Republike.

You can read more about Skadarlija here, in the article I wrote about this area only.

Find the Belgrade’s version of Sebilj

If you visited Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, you know that one of the city’s main attractions is Sebilj – the old, Ottoman-style drinking fountain.

What many people don’t know is that you can find Sarajevo Sebilj’s replica in Belgrade. It looks almost the same, just the color is a bit darker than the one in Sarajevo. This is one of the very few Sebiljs you can find outside of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina and it was donated to Belgrade by the city of Sarajevo in 1989.

You can see Belgrade’s Sebilj when visiting Skadarlija, it’s located at the corner of Skadarska and George Washington streets.

See the impressive Saint Sava Church

One of the most recognizable attractions of Belgrade, clearly seen from many places all over the city, is the enormous Saint Sava Church, dominating the scenery with its round domes. This is actually one of the largest churches in the world and often compared to Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (due to its shape) or Sagrada Familia in Barcelona (since both are still not fully finished).

Works on Saint Sava Church started in 1935 and finished only in 2004, and the interior is still very much under construction. Still, this is a beautiful place to visit and a must-stop during your Belgrade sightseeing, it can impress everyone with the fine details and impressive architecture.

If you can visit only one church in Belgrade, Saint Sava is the one (with Saint Mark’s being the close second).