Things to do in Belgrade
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Ada Ciganlija
Ada Ciganlija, a green and sandy island park in the Sava River, is Belgrade's summer retreat. Gentle choices are swimming in the lake (naturists 1km upstream, please), renting a bicycle or just strolling through the woodland. Adrenaline junkies might fancy the bungy jumping or the water-ski tow. Plenty of places overlooking the lake sell restorative cold beers.
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Kalemegdan Citadel
Capture the hill protected by the junction of the Sava and Danube Rivers and you control the land to the south. This explains why there has been a fortified settlement here since Celtic times, but such prime real estate attracts enemies. Over the last 2300 years some 115 battles have been fought over this site, and parts of it and the outer city have been razed 44 times, as one conqueror removed another.
What remains today dates from the 18th century. The core of the fortifications is the Upper Citadel, accessed by several massive gates and bridges (now wooden) over deep moats.
The main entrance is the Stambol Gate, built by the Turks around 1750, which leads to the Milita…
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Skadarska
Often hailed as Belgrade's Montmartre, Skadarska was the bohemian hang-out of poets and artists in the early 1900s. Today this cobbled street is famous for its Balkan taverns, strolling musicians, cafés and art galleries. In summer, the restaurants spill out onto the street, and music, theatre and cabaret performers entertain customers and passers-by.
The restaurants rejoice in unusual names, such as Tri Šešira (Three Hats - it was once a millinery), Ima Dana (There Are Days), Dva Jelena (Two Deer) and Dva Bela Goluba (Two White Doves).
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Palace of Princess Ljubice
The Palace of Princess Ljubice is a Balkan-style palace built for the wife of Prince Miloš in 1831. Mostly, it's a collection of period furnishings, carpets and paintings but it desperately needs the addition of personal items to bring out how the princess led her life. To one side is a little hammam (Turkish bath), where the princess would have had steam baths and massages, and were she a woman of today, her yoga or Pilates class.
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Nikola Tesla Museum
One of Belgrade's more interesting museums is the Nikola Tesla Museum dedicated to one of Serbia's few heroes, the man who discovered alternating current. Apart from demonstrations of Tesla's fascinating inventions, the big thrill is when the curator turns on a high-frequency oscillator that lights up the (unconnected) fluorescent tube you're gingerly holding in your hand. Shades of Star Wars' light sabres!
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Sveti Sava
Started in 1935 and interrupted by Hitler, communism and lack of cash, Sveti Sava is billed as the biggest Orthodox church in the world. The church lies on the reputed site where the Turks burnt the relics of St Sava, the youngest son of a 12th-century ruler and founder of the independent Serbian Orthodox church.
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Sveti Marko
Behind the post office stands Sveti Marko, a solid church supported by four massive internal pillars containing the grave of the Emperor Dušan (1308-55). Behind, and dwarfed, is a petite blue-domed Russian Church erected by refugees who fled the October Revolution.
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Plastic
The sizable dance floor with a seamless mix of house, techno and drum'n'bass keeps Belgrade's clubbers up to all hours. Plastic is very popular; you may have to queue a while.
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Stari Grad
South of the citadel lies Stari Grad, built mostly when the Habsburgs grabbed Belgrade from the declining Ottoman Empire.
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?
The shortest restaurant name in town came about because of a dispute between a long-past owner and the abstemious clergy of the Orthodox cathedral opposite, who objected to its then name, Cathedral Tavern. The clergy threatened action so the landlord changed the signboard to a '?' signalling his perplexity as to what the fuss was about. Inside is an original Balkans tavern that could be a set for a noir film.
Chiaroscuro light from panelled windows creeps in to pick up cigarette smoke and dust specks dancing through the sunbeams. Furniture and foot-polished floorboards glow with a patina of antiquity, diners sit at low wooden tables on equally low half-moon chairs while …
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Ethnographical Museum
The outstanding Ethnographical Museum has a comprehensive collection of Serbian costumes, folk art and items of everyday existence. The costumes show a superb quality of weaving and embroidery using russet browns, wine reds and muted yellows. Some retro-designer just has to discover these patterns. Agrarian tools and equipment take up much of the top floor, with several displays of rooms furnished to reflect various periods of time and different communities.
Explanations are in English and a small shop sells examples of the crafts.
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Polet Restaurant
Fat shiny brass ship-railings surrounding the upper mezzanine floor, slatted shutters over portholes and a Mediterranean décor of blues and whites provide just the right ambience for this hideaway seafood restaurant. Enter from the street through the blue frontage; don't linger at the bar but descend 'below decks'. The menu ranges from the tasty fish soup to scampi à la Parisienne. The calamari is chargrilled to perfection, misted with lemon, and succulent.
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Military Museum
Inside Belgrade's impressive Kalemegdan Citadel lies this large museum complex which presents a complete military history of the former Yugoslavia. Proudly displayed are captured Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) weapons and bits of the American stealth fighter that was shot down in 1999.
Outside are several bombs and missiles, which have been contributed from the air by NATO, plus a line-up of old guns and tanks, some quite rare. There's a guidebook in English.
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Biblioteka
We've always felt that a library and a drinking den were a natural combination of pleasures. Biblioteka provides both. Books and magazines are racked up for reading, while waiters in cheeky red-banded bowlers, green checked shirts and large skirt aprons flit around to help with your drink and food requests. Many come here to meet friends, and the unobtrusive background music allows for quiet conversation or reading. Breakfasts are served until 13:00.
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Ben Akiba
We liked this place, its bubbly atmosphere and those cocktails - so smooth, so seductive and so moreish. You could easily leave here early in the morning brain- and wallet-drained. Another one of Belgrade's hidden bars, Ben Akiba started out as a secret drinking den for liberals opposed to Milošević. Slip round the back of the main building, go up to the 1st floor and knock. Then be prepared to heave yourself into the happy mass.
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Šešir Moj
An intimate little restaurant that has alcoves decorated with an art gallery of oils and pastels. A place for romantics, especially when members of a Roma band swirl in, playing their hauntingly passionate music. Go for the punjena belavešanica, which is a pork fillet stuffed with kajmak. Finish with Serbian coffee and a piece of orasnica (walnut cake) if you've any room left.
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Priroda
Give this restaurant owner a medal for battling against adversity. Why? Priroda perseveres as a superb vegetarian restaurant in a land of carnivores. Discover the delicate flavours, oozing from vegetables and pulses, that are absent in traditional Serbian cuisine. Try the Vivaldi Plate for its smoked tofu, sea vegetables and cereals, and finish with the macrobiotic cake - a stunner.
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Federal Association of World Travellers
A wonderfully eclectic basement bar in which you feel you've gate-crashed a surrealists' house party, and been welcomed in. It's decorated as though various members have returned from the four corners of the earth bearing one object as a contribution to the furnishings. Just open the big black gate, follow the lights that come on, and listen for the music, which is live every night.
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National Museum
The 3rd floor of the National Museum is an art gallery displaying just part of a very large collection of national and European art, including works by Picasso and Monet. Nadežeta Petrović (1873-1915), one of Serbia's first female artists, is well represented. The lower floors (prehistory) have been closed for several years.
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Andergraund
Once an air-raid shelter and then a mushroom farm, (still smells a bit that way), Andergraund is a warren of caverns where the big-name DJs play. Live music is usually on Saturday, and whenever there's a big sports event the large TV on the outside terrace is fired up. This is about the only nightclub in Belgrade with wheelchair access.
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Rezime
When you're hangover-hobbled, slink up here and collapse in the leather armchairs. Try to wrangle your body back to some normality with the buck-you-up coffee or vast range of teas (cherry is our favourite), maybe the supersmooth chilled chocolate mousse as well. But you don't have to abuse yourself to qualify for the Rezime treatment.
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Gallery of Frescoes
You should visit the Gallery of Frescoes just to appreciate the artistic wealth cloistered in this country's monasteries. There are some originals but otherwise they're exact replicas, faithful to the last blotch and scratch. These you can photograph, whereas in most cases you can't photograph the originals in the monasteries.
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Yugoslav Aeronautical Museum
The UFO parked near the airport just happens to be a futuristic building housing the exceptional Yugoslav Aeronautical Museum, which is sure to engross any aircraft buff. On display are rare planes from WWII, bits of that infamous American stealth fighter and a parking lot of 'make me an offer' MiG21s.
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Jevrem
Set in a lovingly restored old Dorćol house, Jevrem is furnished as if time stopped in the 1920s, and the old photographs of Belgrade on the sunflower-yellow walls confirm this. The food is traditional and simple, and for afters try the spiced hot brandy with baklava and Serbian coffee.
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