How much cost life in Belgrade

Belgrade and Serbia are one of the cheapest places in the Europe to travel and stay a while and experienced those special and unique spirit of them.

Serbia is the small Balkan country you’ve probably never heard of, but who has lot to offer to visitors. This is a country with beautiful mountains, spas, rivers and creeks, monasteries, cute towns you will love to visit once you see them in pictures. Special story is its jewel in the crown - the capital of the state -Belgrade

 

Beautiful Serbia

There are two main reasons for European tourist to visit Belgrade and Serbia:

1. it’s unbelievably beautiful and charming

2. it’s ridiculously affordable.

We will mention something about second reason

Accommodation

The average wage in Serbia is around 300 Euros a month. It is obvious that the accommodation costs can’t exceed that amount. For a decent one-bedroom apartment in center of Belgrade you should pay as much as 220 Euros a month. Outside of the center the prices of accommodation is even cheaper. The average monthly utilities would not exceed 80 Euros which includes electric, heating and water. The visitors can rent a private apartment for shorter or longer stay for  just of 20 euros per person per day. except that they are cheap these apartments are very comfortable, cozy and quiet

Belgrade at Night

Eating Out

In Serbia you will get for very cheap prices a lot of good food. Eating out is very affordable. Serbians love having “burek” and other products from bakery with yogurt for breakfast, which costs no more than 2 euro for both. Restaurants, taverns and bars are not only a local’s favorite place for socializing but are also very easy on the pocket. 

Grill in Serbia

A nice three course meal in an inexpensive restaurant will cost you 10-15 euro. For that price you will get salad, soup, bread, main meal with lot of meat and desert. A glass of wine is up to 2 euros, bottle of beer is 0,6 to 1,5 euro depending of place where you buy it.  Of course there are very expensive fancy restaurants but they are not for this text.

 

Full experience - try Serbian food

Transportation

Belgrade has several options of transportation means to choose from. One-way tickets in public transport usually cost around 0,8 euro. If you’re staying for a while a monthly pass costs around 25€.

Taxis in Serbia are also very affordable, for a 15-minute drive they will charge you no more than 8-10 Euros.  To rent a car you will pay from 20 to 30 euros depending of class of the car and length of lease.

You can even buy vehicle – used vehicle, depending how old is, can be 1200 to 1500 euros. The cost of running a car by European standards is fairly cheap, liter of gasoline is around 1 €.

 

Night Life in Belgrade

Social Life

People in Belgrade love to have long coffee breaks with friends. Price of coffee is 1 euro. They also love things like visit the cinema, which costs around 3 to 5 euros, or visit one of many theatres in Belgrade for little higher prices of 5 to 10 euros. Belgrade’s residents  know how to parting. The clubs and bars (splavovi)  are full every night and on Fridays and Saturdays it’s almost impossible to find a seat. If you want to experience the Belgrade’s nightlife you should budget around 10-20 euros per night. It worth  every penny, believe me.

How to Spend Less Money, but More Time in Belgrade

There are a lot of articles about things you should visit in capital of Serbia. But, just like every big city in a world, Belgrade also has some secrets, some thing that you should avoid in order to travel cheaper and longer.

Accommodation and Food

Find a good place to stay. If hotels are to expensive for your budget, and hostels are not your cup of tea, staying in apartment is a good solution. You can find a lot of cozy, well equipped apartments, with air condition, internet and cable TV. It doesn't have to bi in very center of the city, you can walk downtown or use a public transport. The price vary depending on apartment size, but also location is very important and can make a big difference. It's always better choice to spend seven, then five days, in city like Belgrade. The only thing you should do is to plan ahead and make a smart choices.

Don't eat at expensive restaurants. The food in downtown restaurants sometimes is going to be double the price of food that you can find elsewhere. It is great experience to have a meal at Kalemegdan, or Skadarlija. But, you can find a lot of small, not so famous restaurants, with tastier food and smaller prices. These are the places where local people eating, and they have to offer high quality, or they will lose customers otherwise.

It's smart idea to use websites like Foursquare to check what are Belgradians rating highly, or try some adventure and walk into random restaurant, a few blocks from downtown.

Water is free. You don't have to buy water in Serbia, you can drink it from faucet, or from drinking fountains in public places. Also, you can take a plastic water bottle with you, and fill it on these spots. You can find at least four or five drinking fountains in center of Belgrade, in Knez Mihajlova street. When you're in a restaurant or coffee shop, you can ask for a glass of water, it's free of charge.

Act Like a Belgradian

If you have to exchange money, don't go to the bank. Maybe it looks like the safest place, but exchange rates are the worst, for sure. You should use exchange offices instead, there are a lot of them in Belgrade. They will offer a better rates, especially if you have a bigger amount of money to exchange. You can't pay in foreign currencies, only dinar is accepted in Belgrade, and the rest of Serbia as well.

The other way is to use your card to make payments, but if you want to buy some souvenir from a street vendors, you are supposed to have cash.

Don't use a taxi, unless it is the only option. Public transport in Belgrade is not so great, but it's good enough if you are a small budget traveler. It can take you more time, but you will always get the place you want to visit. When you are going to spend more than few days in Belgrade, or travel in a bigger company, you should consider rent a car as a reasonable option. When you share costs, it is cheaper than a taxi, and more convenient than public transport.

Visit a local tourist office. Maybe it should be the first stop on trip to Belgrade. People that work there are supposed to know the answers on every question that you might have. They get paid for that, so do not hesitate to ask. Here you can get a information:

• about city events
• advice about accommodation and restaurants.
• get a discount cards
• information about places that you can visit for free

Anyway, it is a good place to start your visit.

Belgrade

Capital city

Belgrade is capital, and also the largest city of Republic of Serbia. 1 650 000 citizens live within borders of Belgrade. This old and full of history city is situated on the confluence of two big European rivers, Sava and Danube, it also lies on the spot where Pannonian plain touches the mountainous part of Serbia, northern Balkans.

Position

Because of its position, Belgrade is beneficial for international traffic, especially from western parts of Europe to Black sea, eastern Mediterranean and Asia.

History

History of Belgrade is long and culturally diverse. Throughout the history Belgrade had been occupied by Illyrians, Thracians, Dacians, Celts, Romans, Hungarians, Austrians and Ottomans. Before the Slavs occupied Belgrade in 7th century, the name of this city was Singidunum( Singi is a Dacian tribe, and Dunum means city or a fort ). Belgrade or Beograd ( as the Serbian name suggests ) actually means “white city”, it is believed that the city got its name from the white stones of Tašmajdan.

Belgrade story

In  year 1284., Belgrade became part of Serbia for the first time. Despot Stefan Lazarević made Belgrade a capital of Serbia by the beginning of 15th century. 

Belgrade was burnt to the ground 40 times, but it has always managed to remain an important European metropolis because of its size, wealth and people who have always fought for it. 

History could be experienced in the city itself, because it contains many important historical and religious objects, monuments and museums.

Importance

Capital of Serbia holds a big importance for south Slavic Christian orthodox culture. Around Belgrade you can find many interesting sacral objects and locations, such as temple of Sveti Sava in Vračar, which is still in construction because it is enormous and very decorated. Church Ružica in Kalemegdan is quite old and church Sveti Marko, famous for its exterior. On the other hand, Belgrade also has a muslim community, where you could find a mosque built in Ottoman times, called Bajrakli. Some of the most visited museums in Belgrade are Vojnimuzej( Army museum ), Museum of Belgrade, Cvijićev muzej ( Jovan Cvijić is a well-known scientist ) , Etnografskimuzej ( shows how life of Serbs used to be ) and Museum of Nikola Tesla.

Tourism

Most visited tourist attractions in Belgrade include Kalemegdan – a fort located on the confluence of Sava and Danube rivers, Knez Mihajlova street ( a long pedestrian street with stores and cafes, Skadarlija street , also a pedestrian area, but famous for its bohemian vibe and numerous “kafana”, bars and restaurants, Zemun which is a part of Belgrade with beautiful architecture from the time of the Habsburgs. Of course, in Belgrade there are many hotels and apartments to welcome tourists.