SERBIA · THE BALKANS
Two rivers, a fortress city, and the days out.
Belgrade where the Sava meets the Danube, the Iron Gate gorge, the house on the Drina and the monastery roads. River cruises, rakija bars and the best days out across Serbia.
Only in Serbia
Three days you can only have here.
River cruises and old towns turn up all over Europe. A gorge this size, a house standing midstream, a club that floats on the Danube: those belong to Serbia. Build the rest of the trip around them.
On the Danube
The Iron Gate Gorge
Where the Danube forces its way between Serbia and Romania it carves the longest, deepest gorge in Europe. Golubac's nine towers guard the mouth of it, Roman inscriptions and the prehistoric Lepenski Vir settlement line the banks, and the only way to feel the scale is from a boat on the water.
- 1 From Belgrade: Golubac Fortress & Iron Gate Danube Gorge
- 2 Along the Danube: Golubac Fortress & Iron Gate Gorge day trip from Belgrade
- 3 Iron Gate NP Tour with 1-hour speedboat ride + 2 viewpoints
In the west
The House on the Drina
A tiny wooden house stands alone on a rock midstream in the Drina, one of the most photographed sights in the Balkans. An hour away the Šargan Eight railway loops through the hills in a figure of eight, and Kusturica's hand-built wooden town of Drvengrad looks out over Mokra Gora.
- 1 Šargan Eight Railway, Wooden Town & House on Drina river day trip from Belgrade
- 2 Full-Day Trip from Belgrade: Tara National Park & The Drina River Valley
- 3 National park Tara – private day tour
After midnight
Belgrade’s Floating Clubs
Belgrade throws its best parties on the rivers. Splavovi, the bars and clubs built on barges, line the banks of the Sava and the Danube and run until sunrise. No other European capital puts its nightlife out on the water quite like this one.
- 1 Belgrade Nightlife Bar Pub Club Crawl with Drinks
- 2 Belgrade Sunset Cruise w/ Live Tour Guide
- 3 RE:PLAY Pub Crawl Belgrade
Start here
The one travellers book first.
Whether you have a weekend or a week in Serbia, this is the experience that tops almost everyone's list. Here is the day in full.
Most booked
Serbia's Most Popular Tours
Golubac and the Iron Gate, Novi Sad, the Drina, the monasteries, Belgrade by day and by night. The trips travellers book first.
By region
Pick a part of Serbia.
Belgrade for the rivers and the late nights. The Iron Gate for the gorge. Novi Sad for the fortress and the wine. The Drina for the wooden towns. The monastery roads for the quiet.
By tour type
Or pick the kind of day you want.
A river cruise if you want the city slow. A food walk if you came hungry. A vineyard afternoon, a fortress walk, a kayak round War Island, a night out on a splav.
How to plan it
Base in Belgrade. Pick your days out.
Almost everyone runs Serbia as a hub and spoke: a few days in the capital, then a string of day trips, east up the Danube, north to the plains, or west into the hills. Here is how the map actually breaks down.
Come hungry
Ćevapi, rakija, repeat.
Serbian eating is a full-contact sport: grilled meat and ajvar, warm bread, a vineyard afternoon out in Sremski Karlovci, and a rakija to open and to close. These are the tastiest ways in.
On the rivers
See Belgrade from the water.
The city grew up where the Sava runs into the Danube, and it still looks best from midstream: a sunset cruise past the old town, a kayak round Great War Island, a slow lunch on a moored boat.
Just added