A weekend in Belgrade: our top tips for a stylish escape

When I tell people I am from Serbia, they often look a little unsure, as if I had named somewhere they ought to have heard of but could not quite place. Then they visit Belgrade, and they come home talking about it for months. My home city is one of Europe’s great surprises: warm, characterful, and stylish in a way that costs a fraction of Paris or Rome. Here is how I would spend a weekend there.

First, a little geography. Belgrade sits where two great rivers, the Sava and the Danube, meet, and the whole city seems to lean towards the water. Start at Kalemegdan, the old fortress on the hill above the confluence. Come at the end of the day: the sunset over the two rivers, with the city at your back, is the view I carry with me wherever I live.

From there, wander down into Stari Grad, the old town, and along Knez Mihailova, the grand pedestrian street where the whole city comes out to stroll. This is where you feel Belgrade’s particular rhythm: unhurried, sociable, dressed up a little. Stop for a coffee and do not rush it. In Serbia, coffee is not fuel, it is an excuse to sit and talk, ideally for an hour.

For the evening, go to Skadarlija, the old bohemian quarter, a cobbled, sloping street of kafanas, the traditional taverns, with music spilling out of the doorways. This is the heart of old Belgrade: grilled meats, live songs, and a warmth that pulls strangers into the same conversation. Order ćevapi, the little grilled sausages, with kajmak, a soft, rich dairy that has no proper English name, and let someone pour you a rakija, our fruit brandy. Šljivovica, made from plums, is the classic. Sip it, do not shoot it, and always toast looking the other person in the eye.

If you have a second day, cross to Zemun, once its own town, now a gentle riverside quarter on the Danube. Climb the Gardoš tower for the view, then eat fish slowly at a table by the water. It is the calm counterpoint to the city’s energy, and my favourite half day in Belgrade. In summer, do as locals do and spend an afternoon at Ada Ciganlija, the river island we call our sea: swimming, cycling, and cafes along the water.

A word on the famous nightlife, since everyone asks. Yes, it is real, and yes, it goes late; in summer it moves onto the splavovi, the barge clubs moored along the rivers. But you do not need to stay up until dawn to enjoy Belgrade. Its real gift is the ordinary warmth of the place: the long dinners, the easy conversation, the sense that there is always time.

That is what people take home, more than any single sight. Belgrade is not polished in the way of Western capitals, and that is exactly its charm. It is generous, alive, and genuinely itself. Go with an open evening and an empty stomach, and let it look after you.