Serbia Travel Guide (2026)

Serbia wears its history hard and lives loudly: a capital fought over for two thousand years, a riverfront that never quite sleeps, and, an hour north, one of the region’s prettiest Habsburg-flavoured cities. It’s an easy country to travel — good roads, short distances — and a natural hub between the Adriatic and Central Europe. Here’s how to travel Serbia in 2026.

How to get around Serbia

Serbia has decent roads and a motorway spine linking Belgrade north to the Hungarian border and south toward North Macedonia. Trains are slow and limited for tourists, so most visitors get around by car or private transfer — comfortable given the modest distances (Belgrade to Novi Sad is only about an hour).

Belgrade — the capital

Belgrade is the heart of any trip: big, energetic, and best felt on foot in the centre. Start at Kalemegdan and the Belgrade Fortress on the bluff where the Sava meets the Danube, walk the pedestrian Knez Mihailova into the old town, and take in the vast Church of Saint Sava and the riverside district of Zemun. The buildings and museums inside the fortress keep their own opening hours and admission — check the official schedule before you go. Our Belgrade one-day itinerary lays out a route through it all. Nikola Tesla Airport is about 18 km west.

Novi Sad & the north

The standout day trip is Novi Sad, about an hour north — Serbia’s second city, with the mighty Petrovaradin Fortress above the Danube and a pretty Habsburg centre. Beyond it, the monasteries and wine villages of the Fruška Gora hills and the Art Nouveau town of Subotica near the border round out the region.

Belgrade → Novi Sad

1h 10mDirect routeDoor-to-door

from €75

View route →

Airports & arriving

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is the main gateway, about 18 km west of the centre (25–30 minutes by car). Many travellers also arrive overland from Bosnia (Sarajevo), North Macedonia (Skopje) or Croatia.

Cross-border to neighbours

Belgrade is a natural road hub for the wider region:

• Bosnia — Sarajevo is a scenic long-haul south-west.
• North Macedonia — Skopje is south down the motorway.
• Hungary, Croatia, Montenegro — all within a comfortable drive.

Kosovo and Serbia do not combine freely. Serbia is likely to refuse entry to travellers arriving directly from Kosovo without a Serbian entry stamp obtained earlier — at Belgrade, Niš or Kraljevo airport, or at a Serbian land crossing with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, North Macedonia or Romania. Check the current official guidance for your own nationality before you plan a leg that links the two.

Practical info

• Currency: the Serbian Dinar (RSD) — Serbia does not use the Euro, so change some cash or use cards. Euros are occasionally accepted but not reliably.
• Language: Serbian (Cyrillic and Latin scripts); English is common in Belgrade.
• Visas & entry: EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian citizens can currently visit Serbia without a visa for short stays — British citizens, for example, for up to 90 days within any 6-month period. The permitted stay and the document validity required differ by nationality, so check your own government’s guidance before you travel. Make sure the border officer stamps your document on entry: leaving Serbia without an entry stamp can lead to a fine or prosecution.
• When to go: May–June and September are the best months — warm, with the riverside terraces at their liveliest, without peak-summer heat.

Why use a private transfer in Serbia

With slow trains and a few key sights spread between Belgrade, Novi Sad and the border corridors, a private driver keeps things simple: the fortress and Saint Sava linked without backtracking on Belgrade’s hills, an easy run up to Novi Sad, and comfortable long-haul connections to Sarajevo or Skopje with the border handled for you.

When is the best time to visit Serbia?

Late spring and early autumn (May–June, September) are ideal — warm days, long river evenings, and the outdoor scene at full tilt without the July–August heat. Belgrade is famously a year-round city, though the riverside terraces are a warm-weather pleasure.