During your visit to Montenegro, it is very easy to go to Serbia and see two large cities, Belgrade and Novi Sad, each with its own vibrant history and connected by the Danube river. There are different ways to get to Serbia: by railway (Bar and Belgrade are connected with railway going through Podgorica), by car, by bus or by plane (Tivat – Belgrade or Podgorica – Belgrade). From Belgrade to Novi Sad and vice versa you can get by Soko fast train and it takes only 36 minutes.
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and the largest city of Serbia. It is located in a strategic place at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers.
The Belgrade Fortress and Kalemegdan Park form a historical core of the city and its heart. The fortress has a long history, built by Romans and rebuilt a lot of times, being several centuries under the Ottoman rule.
This place can suggest you awesome views of the Sava and Danube rivers and Belgrade itself (especially New Belgrade and Zemun). The area of the park is huge and it is a favourite place of locals for walking and spending their free time. Here you will find several museums and the Belgrade Zoo.
After visiting the Belgrade Fortress and Kalemegdan Park you can walk along Knez Mihailova Street, it is a pedestrian and shopping zone connecting the Belgrade Fortress with Terazije and Trg Republike. This street was named after Mihailo Obrenović III, Prince of Serbia. There are a lot of historical buildings and cultural monuments here.
Trg Republike (the Republic Square) is one of the main squares of Belgrade, here you can see the statue of Prince Mihailo (Michael), the National Museum and the National Theatre. The National Museum of Serbia is the largest museum of Belgrade. It features archeological, numismatic and art collections. Its art collection includes significant Italian art collection (for example, works by Titian, Tintoretto, Botticelli, Modigliani and others).
Hotel Moskva is one of the oldest hotels in Serbia and it is located on the Terazije square, about from 150 metres from Trg Republike. Here you will find one of the oldest cafes of the Balkan region – Moskva cafe and pastry shop – known by its famous cakes and historical interiors.
Let’s finish our Belgrade walk on Savski Trg (Sava Square) situated near the old railway station of Belgrade.
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia and the centre of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, the northernmost region of Serbia near the border with Hungary. During its history Vojvodina was a part of the Kingdom of Hungary, was under Ottoman rule, then under Habsburg rule and a part of Austro-Hungarian empire and after the World War I it became a part of Yugoslavia.
Founded in 1694, Novi Sad is an important as cultural, educational and financial centre.
Due to the long Habsburg rule the largest church in Novi Sad is the Name of Mary Church, this is a Roman Catholic church located in the very centre of the city, on Trg Slobode (Freedom Square). It is built in a neo-Gothic style.
In the centre of the city you will find buildings in different architectural styles – from classicism to Art Nouveau.
Novi Sad is a green city, and close to the centre you’ll find several nice parks like the Park of Danube.
National Park Fruška gora is close to Novi Sad (about 20 km to the south and buses go there from the city centre), there you can enjoy mountains, hiking trails and different kinds of trees and plants.
The Danube river is very important for Novi Sad and you’ll see its panoramic views from many points in the city. Together with several existing bridges (some of them were destroyed by NATO in 1999 but later they were reconstructed) you’ll notice the remains of old bridge across the Danube. It is the remains of Prince Andrew railway bridge that was destroyed twice during the World War II (finally by the German forces in 1944).
Petrovaradin fortress is located on the right bank of the Danube river, opposite to historical core of Novi Sad. One of the remarkable places in this fortress is its clock tower with reversed hands. The small hand shows minutes and large hand shows hours. They say it was done so for fishermen so they could know the time being far from the clock.