Belgrade: Feel the buzz

Looking to relax, unwind and get some mellow southern vibes? Our recommendation: keep looking. Because Belgrade is and keeps you wide awake.

Soft light. Quiet late summer days. Leisurely small talk, while the traffic on the street dribbles along in a relaxed manner. Travelers will look in vain for all this in the Serbian capital. Belgrade jumps out at you. There is no room for superfluous formalities. If you're looking for the city that never sleeps, and if you've ever been disappointed by a deserted Manhattan at 11 p.m., you might find everything you've been looking for in this energetic Balkan boomtown.

But first things first. At the airport we we jump into a cab that takes us to the city center. The cab driver briefs us on what would be happening in the city over the next few days, and we were given a mini-sightseeing tour, interrupted only by occasional curses about other road users. We learn: Whoever brakes, loses. Especially the respect of the cab professionals.

Next act: the hotel check-in. At the Courtyard hotel, we are welcomed with a big smile. Even though the hotel belongs to an international chain, you immediately believe that the reception team is happy about every guest. We receive a city map with the top highlights and need a short break after so much briefing. A moment to cool down, because the September sun is blazing at 34°C.

But the city calls, and after an extra strong coffee we feel ready to plunge into the hustle and bustle. Via Knez Mihaila, the central pedestrian zone and promenade, we move in the direction of the fortress. On the city map, the fortress appears green, and in fact it is also surrounded by a beautiful, well-kept park. If you equate that with tranquility though, you're up for a surprise: within a relatively small area, we discover a street food festival, several wedding parties taking photos, a few city tour groups, sports clubs, an event team dismantling a theater stage, and lots of different languages. The acoustic backdrop is a punk concert that can be heard throughout the city. We sense: Belgrade is alive. Belgrade is under full steam. Belgrade pulls you along.

View from above: New meets old and everything in between.

The fortress has quite a few surprises in store. Apart from the fantastic view over the Sava River and its mouth into the Danube, we accidentally discover a dinosaur park and a military museum. The sad history of the Balkan war is still very present in a large part of the population. We take our time, don't skimp on coffee breaks and head back to our chosen home base.

Slowly it gets cooler, and for us that means: we're getting hungry! Very close to the hotel we discover a small cevapi store at the back of the National Theater - Drama Cevapi. We hear a lot of Serbian language being spoken there, find the prices hard to beat and enjoy our cevapi fresh from the grill, accompanied by coleslaw, freshly baked pita bread and the must-have side dishes called ajvar and kajmak. Without any drama, we decide to let ourselves drift through the city center this evening. The impressions of the afternoon translate to nightlife: the streets are even more crowded than during the day, cocktail bars, restaurant terraces, clubs and night markets bring people together and create that special atmosphere that is characteristic of the big cities of the European south. Everywhere there is live music or at least a DJ. It is not to be expected that this special "buzz" of Belgrade nightlife will diminish significantly in the next few hours. We, however, do not join in today, but walk back to the hotel and get ready for the next morning.

Fuel for the night: no-drama cevapi.

Our plan for the day: explore Belgrade by walking. From Republic Square, we crisscross towards Savamala. While our coffee stop on the way is a breakfast break, we meet a group of decidedly determined party people who have just come out of a club and are discussing where it is best to continue partying in the morning. If you slow down, you lose.

Savamala has many faces. One of them is dusty. Around the central market called Zeleni Venac, the atmosphere changes - the glamor of the city center, the party scene, even the tourists, all that suddenly seems far away, even if it is actually less than 200 meters. What we recognize is the energy - in building, in doing, in the loud discussions between grandmothers and policemen or in the breakfast laughter on the balconies of those buildings that are reminiscent of Berlin-style brutalist apartment blocks. Tito sends his regards.

The contrasting program is called "Belgrade Waterfront" and stretches behind the central, incredibly chaotic bus station towards the Sava river. Here, a row of gleaming high-rise residential buildings has sprung up, making an expensive impression, and perhaps seeming a bit undercooled. But the promenade along the Sava with its cafes, green spaces and food trucks is full of life, so we also spend some time here, watching the many scenes that take place on and off the water. Finally, we also explore the street art highlights of Savamala, for example "La Santa de Belgrade" or "Waiting for the Sun".

"Make a wish": Streetart at the water front.

Our lunch is short, after all we have bigger plans for the evening - but more about that later. In the meantime, we spend a pleasant evening in the Bohemian Quarter of the city, which is described by the usual travel guides as a "place with a more conventional nightlife". This refers to folk musicians who move from terrace to terrace, loudly gracing the tourists present with their, well, let's call it "entertainment qualities". Some people like that. We let the hustle and bustle work on us, walk through the alleys and crisscross the city slowly back to the base to cool down.

At sunset, we make our way to the banks of the Sava, past the boat docks of the river cruise ships. We must confess that we are a little bit amused by the fact that exactly on the opposite bank, only a few meters away, there are several floating bars and clubs. A quiet river cruise is not on offer in Belgrade - because life is also raging on the water.

Quiet evenings on the riverbank: in Belgrade, that's not a thing.

Our destination is the restaurant Ambar, because we have heard that it is possible there to chow through the menu - the most interesting dishes of Serbian cuisine in tasting size, a quick pass, so to speak. What we do not know at this point: Tasting size is a relative term, and our Belgrade hosts are very pleased with our curiosity. This in turn means that the 15 dishes we are served in the course of the evening are simply normal portions, at least in our terms. Nevertheless, we are brave and enjoy cevapi, bean stew, various salads, skewers, ajvar and much more. Our hosts are satisfied, probably they would have been seriously surprised if we had eaten everything. Nobody goes home hungry here. Satisfied too, we marvel once again at how much life there is late in the evening, even though the next day is a working day - and are already making plans for another trip to this bubbly, lively city. Probably not by ship, however.

These are just the starters.

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Good to know

La vie en route was in Belgrade and flying with Swiss in late summer 2023. The pure flight time is about 90 minutes from Zurich, but longer waiting times are to be expected, especially at Belgrade Airport. Also note that Serbia is not in the Schengen zone, which entails passport controls. Belgrade airport seems to be in the middle of a major reconstruction, hopefully this will improve efficiency there.

The transfer to the inner city takes about half an hour by taxi. Other travelers have reported taxi scams, so it is advisable to pay attention to basics like a switched-on taximeter. Uber does not exist in Belgrade, but a local taxi company offers a fairly reliable app: Pink Taxi works similarly to Uber or Bolt and the company seems to have a good reputation.

Within Belgrade, a lot can be explored on foot with a little time - but if your legs get tired, Pink Taxi is also an affordable option.

As described in the amount, we were satisfied with the Courtyard by Marriott. The location could not be better and given that, the house is also relatively quiet - however, we were also lucky with a room on the top floor.

Our restaurant highlight was the Ambar with a culinary journey through the cuisine of Serbia. Fewer courses might have done the trick, but Ambar still offers a nice combination of location, atmosphere, warmth and - of course - very fine dishes at fair prices.