Serbia’s central location in eastern Europe has seen lots of history over the centuries. A roadtrip through the country provided a better view of the variety of scenery and sights than simply staying in the capital of Belgrade.
Travel thought: What is the proper balance between an undiscovered place without many travelers and a place with sufficient amenities like lodging, restaurants, and good roads?
Drvengrad is a small town of wooden houses built for a movie set. Today it offers a hotel, restaurant, and photogenic views.
Felix Romuliana in Gamzigrad is a large Roman archaeological site. Roman columns, mosaics, sculptures, and walls are still visible.
A small pup was playfully following me around the Roman ruins when I arrived
Golubac Fortress is perhaps the best restored fortress in Serbia, and one of the top photo highlights of any roadtrip in the country.
Kapaonik is a popular winter ski destination on the border with Kosovo. The mountain views are excellent.
Lepinski Vir is a famous archaelogical site that has some of the oldest sculptures in Europe, dating back to roughly 6000 B.C. The original site was going to be flooded with the construction of a new dam on the Danube river, on the border with Romania, so the archaelogical team moved some of the artifacts to a higher elevation and reconstructed what the site looked like.
Maglić Fortress is situated on a high hilltop and has the feeling of a place lost in time. Minimally restored, it has scenic views from the fortress walls. In the last 2 years, a cool cafe has been developed at the base of the fortress staffed by young foreign volunteers.
Midžor is the highest peak in Serbia. Unlike the highest peaks in some neighboring countries, the mountain feels like a giant meadow. Lots of flowers were to be found all the way to the summit, with many insects flying around during the summer. I slightly prefer more alpine ridgelines, but this high elevation meadow was an unexpected surprise.
Niš is the biggest city in southern Serbia, not to be confused with Nashville :)
Novi Pazar is the largest city with a Muslim majority in Serbia. Located in the Sandžak region, along the border of Montenegro and Serbia, the mixture of people and religions here is an artifact of old Ottoman influence in the region. The city feels very different from elsewhere in Serbia, but in my opinion, it’s finding this variety in a small country that makes Serbia appealing.
Pirot is a small town near the Bulgarian border. A small fortress in the center of town is the tourist highlight here.
Yugoslavian Spomenik, or monuments, are concrete memorials built in Yugoslavian times, usually to commemorate the country’s independence of war victims.
Tara National Park, on the border of Bosnia, is host to amazing mountain forests and views of the Tara Gorge.
Traffic in rural Serbia
Serbia’s near high speed train to Budapest!
Zlatibor hills are very scenic rolling hills. The area is also home to a popular winter ski destination that’s a couple hours away from Belgrade.
