Serbia
The company where I work has bought a company which has a division in Serbia, Belgrade. The data scientists team is located over there and as I’m also responsible for data science at our work, a visit for workshops was organised. During the evenings we had a couple of hours to have a few city walks and to explore the area. Belgrade has some nice environments but I miss an old city center like Prague. Nevertheless, with its beautiful buildings and some nice parks you can easily spend a weekend without being bored. And that is without entering any of the buildings or museums. There are also many bars and restaurants. For our standards it is not expensive to eat and drink, which is off course an extra added value.
Beautiful buildings
During our evening city walk we passed several nice buildings. The Parliament, The Church of Saint Sava, the house of Princess Lubjana, … and many more. They were all nicely lighted during the evening. It brings a special atmosphere.
The Church of Saint Sava is one of the largest Eastern Orthodox church buildings. From our hotel is was quite a walk, but you are then very close to the number 1 restaurant of Belgrade according to Trip Advisor (see later on this page). So that might be an extra trigger to go visit it. But even without that motivation I would really recommend to go check the building out. We did not enter the building during our walk.
Kalemegdan Park
Belgrade Fortress exists of the old citadel and Kalemegdan Park. The place is huge! Without a map is was also quite hard to find where we were and where we had to go to. We still think we covered most of the area. We did it during evening so the place was lighted nicely.
During our visit to the Kalemegdan Park there was a kind of kitsch light festival in the park. It was hard to figure out what was the reason and there were no English sign.
Strava statistics
With the great weather during our visit and the traffic jams going from the new part to the old part, we decided to walk back to the hotel and extend the walk with exploring some highlights of the city. Below you can find a link to the gpx files on Strava. The city is easy going for pedestrians and being with 3 people we never felt insecure.
Restaurants
Rated number 1 out of 1404 restaurants on TripAdvisor during our visit and that is a correct score. The restaurant is located directly next to the Saint Sava Church. The restaurant focuses on the tourists and serves all kind of meals but no local ones. So if you are looking for that, you will need to find an alternative.
We were seated on the second floor and our waiter Peda was very friendly and helpful in selecting a dish and accompanied wine. The food was very nicely decorated and was tasteful. The atmosphere was cosy and friendly. Around 10 PM a DJ started to play music but it was not bothering at all. You could easily continue your conversation. I can really recommend this restaurant.
Dva Jelena (The Two Deer Restaurant)
Ranked number 58 out of 1404 restaurants on TripAdvisor during our visit and recommended to us by a friend of a colleague. This is more a traditional restaurant where they serve local dishes. Some people told us that this is already a pricey restaurant to Serbian standards, but compared to Belgium is was quite cheap. The service was fast and friendly.
This is an extremely big restaurant which has several areas, floors and zones. We were seated on second floor, in non-smoking.
During dessert a local band came to play next to another table where a group was seated. Although it shows local folklore and it was nice to see for 1 or 2 songs, it started to bother us after and we could hardly continue our conversation. When we left the restaurant, another band was playing on the ground floor.
Courtyard by Marriott
Although there is a hotel next to the company we decided to stay 4.4 km further, but more in the city center. A very good choice. We sometimes took a taxi and sometimes we walked. The Marriott is located next to the Republic Square on which you have the statue of Prince Mihailo and is just next to the pedestrian shopping street: Knez Mihailova.
I stayed in room 508 with view on the main street. The isolation of the room is great. I did not hear anything from street noise. The room features 2 separate beds, a desk, flat screen, (on demand filled) mini bar, coffee amenities and a clean and nice bathroom with a great shower.
The breakfast was not booked by default and costs about 14 euro per day. For that you get a buffet with different kind of bread, pastries, cheese, meat, warm dishes, yoghurt, coffee, cereals and many more. There are also 2 chefs that prepare things fresh on demand like American pancakes, omelette and few other options. When ready it is served by a friendly waiter to your table.
The space is not that big, but we always had place and it did not feel crowded. You have few seats with view on the street, nice sitting there.
The breakfast area is also a restaurant in the evening but we did not ate in-house. Why would you if you have so many alternatives in Belgrade where you find good and cheap food for Belgian standards.
Just around the corner of the restaurant and breakfast area you have the hotel bar which is like any other hotel bar. Different kind of drinks ranging from local crafted beers to cocktails but not that cheap. We paid 290 Dinar for a draft beer. The service is great and if you arrive late like we did, it’s the perfect location to have a quick drink before heading to your bed.
There are some tables spread around the bar where you can sit, or you can sit at the bar where you can also watch television if you want. They were showing Champions League soccer games when we were there.
The reception people were very friendly and helpful. They assisted us daily by ordering a taxi or answering any question we had. You could expect that from such a hotel, but I’m always pleased if it is like that.
The room was around 120 euro excluding breakfast.