Serbia trip tips

[Snyper564]

Current Itinerary (1-16Oct)
1-9 Oct Belgrade
Rest TBD

Using this for tips

A Two-Week Travel Itinerary To Serbia

Check out the perfect two-week itinerary for the magical nation of Serbia, including Belgrade, Novi Sad and the best food on the continent.

theculturetrip.com

With the Ottoman influence Turkish food abounds this side - so I can still get my fix!

Rest TBD is now as follows:

We will split the 7 days into two main bases:

1. Novi Sad - https://www.lonelyplanet.com/serbia/vojvodina/novi-sad

Items of interest

2. Nis - https://www.lonelyplanet.com/serbia/southern-serbia/nis

Items of interest

A lot of this trip will be figuring things out on the fly, information is spotty. Not a bad thing def looking forward to it!

Will pop many craft breweries, vineyards, good food and hikes into the mix!

Breweries

THE 5 BEST Serbia Breweries (Updated 2024) - Tripadvisor

Top Serbia Breweries: See reviews and photos of Breweries in Serbia, Europe on Tripadvisor.

www.tripadvisor.co.za

The Best Breweries In Belgrade, Serbia

Looking for craft beer in Belgrade? You're in luck. There is a Serbian pivo revolution brewing, and these fine folk are at the very head of it.

theculturetrip.com

Vineyards

THE 10 BEST Serbia Wineries & Vineyards (Updated 2024)

Top Serbia Wineries & Vineyards: See reviews and photos of Wineries & Vineyards in Serbia, Europe on Tripadvisor.

www.tripadvisor.co.za

THE 10 BEST Central Serbia Wineries & Vineyards (Updated 2024)

Top Central Serbia Wineries & Vineyards: See reviews and photos of Wineries & Vineyards in Central Serbia, Serbia on Tripadvisor.

www.tripadvisor.com

Hikes

8 of Serbia’s most beautiful hikes for the best views and nature

Whether you're looking to have your fitness tested on the Svrljig mountain range or simply see some natural phenomena on a more leisurely path, this is our pick of the top routes in Serbia.

www.euronews.com

Top 10 Hiking Destinations in Serbia — The Armchair Mountaineer

A Comprehensive Guide to the Best Hiking and Walking Destinations in the beautiful, little-known and less-visited, country of Serbia.

armchairmountaineer.com

 

[Snyper564]

Im just going to use this thread as my research dump hopefully someone else can find it useful

 

[Snyper564]

Investec just confirmed Turkey tickets will be refunded in full no penalty!!!!


Whoot whoot

For investec clients highly recommend using this

Investec Travel

flight.travelbyinvestec.co.za

I did not select a "more expensive" ticket just the usual one

 

[Snyper564]

I have been quiet on this thread of late due to reasons and I come with some info.

If anyone plans going to Serbia if you have a Schengen Visa no issues but if you plan going straight out and need a Serbian visa. Do not book via airbnb.

Serbia requires something called a white card essentially the establishment will declare you to police etc part of the visa process one of our airbnb hosts refused to do it and cost us three weeks and an entirely new visa application process. That's 1250 per visa gone....

Anyway hotels have agreements to automatically declare you etc. Stick to hotels. Upside their really top tier hotels are still instanely cheap.

Anyway now I can continue with more travel research just leaving this here for anyone in the future.

Process takes around 23 days. Both decline and approval took same time to the day.

 

[Snyper564]

Slowly building the itinerary.

From Belgrade to Nis plan on stopping here

Kosmaj Mountain - A Historical and Natural Site - More Than Belgrade

Kosmaj Mountain is located in the vicinity of Mladenovac and at 626 meters above sea level is the second-lowest mountain in Serbia.

www.morethanbelgrade.com

Then off to Kabinet craft brewery for some beer and lunch

Home | Kabinet

kabinet.rs

Then off to Nis.

More details to follow. Trip is around the corner now!

 

[Snyper564]

Busy with some last bit of trip prep.

All banks called to "not freak out" when cards used abroad.

Mandatory Lonely Planet book picked up - also to be added to the library after the trip and some beer nerd research to brush up on.

 

[TEXTILE GUY]

If you wish,
Download maps.me
Then download the regions you are likely to be in.

Its an offline maps app that works only on gps, not data.
I find it useful, and dont always have mobile data abroad.

Also, most destinations need a self declaration form to be filled prior to boarding.
I have had to do this for most countries I have visited in past 6 months, so just check for this.

 

[Snyper564]

If you wish,
Download maps.me
Then download the regions you are likely to be in.

Its an offline maps app that works only on gps, not data.
I find it useful, and dont always have mobile data abroad.

Also, most destinations need a self declaration form to be filled prior to boarding.
I have had to do this for most countries I have visited in past 6 months, so just check for this.

Thanks for the tips. Yup got the self declaration forms too from Qatar, but could have missed it.

 

[Snyper564]

Bags packed enroute to airport.

I realise after not flying international for a while I have become horrific at packing. O well. Let the fun begin!

 

[TEXTILE GUY]

Bags packed enroute to airport.

I realise after not flying international for a while I have become horrific at packing. O well. Let the fun begin!

Have a great trip bud

Ditto - bags packed - on my way back to Orlando - post Ian .........

 

[Snyper564]

Have a great trip bud

Ditto - bags packed - on my way back to Orlando - post Ian .........

Thanks will do!

Forgot the mask, need to grab one in the airport.

 

[Snyper564]

What's the benefit of using a EUR based card?

This trip to Serbia not using my global acc card for anything but the lounge key. Serbia has their own currency so no point.

Using investec for free atm and capitec for daily swipes.

Slow lounge is atleast not chaotically busy so just chilling till the flight

 

[Snyper564]

Touch down.

Flew Qatar what an absolute pleasure the whole experience was!

 

[Snyper564]

Blown away by capitec!

Google rsd to zar price for sim card was 60c off.

272.60 vs 272

 

[Tongs of Destiny]

a bit late now but if you wanted the internet in most places in the world, just get a Pokifi. You load data onto it and you can use it anywhere in the world to surf the internet etc, makes a hotspot which you just connect your phone to.

 

[MaisonP]

Touch down.

Flew Qatar what an absolute pleasure the whole experience was!

You cant fault them, by reason they voted the worlds best currently.

 

[Snyper564]

Loving the trip so far! Will do a detailed info dump when I'm back but I'm blown away by the prices here.

When we were in France three years ago just a random Cafe in Paris two drinks and small meal was R1500.

We were at Bela Reka a Michelin guide (not starred) and Gault & Millau restaurant.

Starters main dessert, beautiful wine beer and Bermet. R1000 which included a 15% tip. Simply blown away by how cheap it is. Food service everything absolutely perfect!

Restoran Bela Reka (@restoran.bela.reka) • Instagram photos and videos

20K Followers, 51 Following, 801 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Restoran Bela Reka (@restoran.bela.reka)

instagram.com

Also bought a bottle of premium barrel aged 8 year old rakija (plum) to take back only cost 380 rand.

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

Put all your videos together and call it "A Serbian Film"...

 

[Snyper564]

(Place holder to be updated as the trip goes on.) FULL POST HERE https://mybroadband.co.za/forum/threads/serbia-trip-tips.1189006/page-3#post-30118609

Currency: RSD Serbian Dinar.

Cash/card: many places have card machines but many places only accept cash. Highly recommend that you carry ZAR1000/RSD7000 at all times. Also important to note Mastercard is the provider of choice with Visa not even accepted everywhere. All online sources that say you can just use card have never gone to any of the local spots - I don't mean a market I mean local bakery.

Language: local language is Serbian. As with all our travels learn the basics, please, thank you, sorry etc. The language barrier is real. A few people will speak English but thats 1 in 20. I have found with all my travels just be friendly patient etc and language is not a problem. I don't learn more than the basics as language is not my strong point anyway. Everything is in Cyrillic and Latin alphabet.

Transport: Belgrade has no metro but has loads of trams, buses, electric buses and taxis. For about R100 you can get an unlimited three day pass for all standard public transport. Taxis, there are a few to use just stick to pink taxi though in Belgrade or download Car Go similar to Uber in Serbia to avoid the scam taxis.

Safety: if you are a South African just use your basic safety logic. One massive difference here is that you can pretty much walk all over the main city no issue. We were out walking midnight and the streets and restaurants etc were busy and packed to capacity.

Spending money: if you have ever done any European holiday especially the likes of France you will feel rich here. It's so cheap it's scary as previously mentioned we went for a three course meal at Michelin guide (non starred) restaurant with drinks and ended with local dessert wine and a 15% tip for less than Zar 1000. Most attractions are free entry for example the fortress, museums cost around Zar100 per person. If you wanna feel like you are in Europe on a South African budget this is the place for you. It's prices are on par if not cheaper than South Africa.

(to be updated)

Some photos so it's not a wall of text

 

[Snyper564]

Sneak peak from drive today. One of the best days yet also had a blast at Kabinet brewery such wonderful hospitality, food and beer!

Also super interesting soviet era architecture - looks like it's from another world!