In Summary…

On our 2019 first visit to Serbia, we only got a small taste of the country in the cities of Belgrade, Niš and Novi Sad. To be frank, we weren’t enamored, which is not surprising given our affinity for smaller towns, villages and more off-the-beaten path locations. However, we did fall for Subotica, which we discovered on a day trip from Novi Sad. It has been on our radar to return to for years, and it was this side of Serbia, arguably quite different in the province of Vojvodina, that ultimately captured our hearts. We also enjoyed seeing a slice of the western mountains, an area we would definitely consider returning.

Below is our personal list of stats, money saving tips, and personal upsides and downsides for the country.

Time Spent: 32 nights 

Money Spent: $1740 or $54.38 in USD/two people, which breaks down to:

• $776 (Accommodation)/$24/night avg.
• $555 (Groceries)/$17/day avg.
• $145 (Restaurants)
• $136 (General)
• $130 (Transportation)

Our itinerary: 

• (1) night, Belgrade
• (28) nights, Subotica
• (3) nights, Valjevo 

Day Trips included: Sombor, Senta, Palic, Subotica Sands, and Szeged (Hungary)

Would we return? Absolutely to Subotica, and we’re also interested in discovering more mountainous regions in both the west and east near the Bulgarian border, ideally with a car.

Best Budget Saving Tips

• Take the train when you can; it’s much more enjoyable and cheaper than town-to-town bus travel
• Stay for a month in one place for deeper discounts. This goes for almost anywhere and has been a true advantage to our new, more intentional, slow-down plan.
• Shop at the local market for fruits/veggies and local artisan goods. Again, applies almost everywhere.
• Take city public transportation. In Subotica it’s very affordable at $1.20/ride and in Belgrade, it’s even free! 
• Cook the majority of your meals in, or pack picnics. Duh. Of course, this also goes for almost everywhere.
• Shop at Lidl! It saves so much money in Europe. Sadly Too Good to Go hasn’t made its way here yet.
• Maxi Supermarket is terrific in the evenings for deep discounts on expiring products.

Our Upsides

• Overall, the destinations we visited were incredibly walkable, tree-lined and charming, with no transportation, other than our feet, needed.
• As mentioned, the train network is phenomenal and affordable. It also crosses into many border countries.
• Most Serbs speak some English thanks to their mandatory and early exposure to the language. 
• We were able to use our knowledge of Bulgarian to speak rudimentary Serbian more than we expected. There were many words and phrases that were the same or similar, including numbers.
• All public transportation was integrated into Google.
• The currency conversion is quite easy to interpret if you are spending USD. $1 USD=$102 Serbian Dinar
• The Art Nouveau architecture, especially in Vojvodina, is unique to the region, and stunning
• It’s common to buy bottles of locally produced wine by the liter, meaning better bang for your buck. (~$4-5) It’s also quite quaffable, for table wine.
• Portion sizes in restaurants are huge. 
• You can easily have a great meal out with wine for 2 people around $15, a scoop of gelato for $1, and a beer for $3. 
• Access to a public swimming pool for $3/visit was terrific for doing laps. 
• Also, green and enjoyable parks for running/walking
• We lived very comfortably on our budget of $55/day.
• There is a wide selection of mouth-watering fruits and vegetables. 
• Grocery stores are plentiful and well-stocked. We were able to get mostly anything we wanted.
• DMs (the German H&B store) are widespread and significantly cheaper with their product than in Western Europe. It’s a good place to stock up on toiletries, as is Lilly.
• It’s was also easy and affordable to find our prescription medicines (without a prescription). Strangely, we also encountered two pharmacists that didn’t speak English, but that wasn’t an issue.
• We had great, and economical, experiences at the dentist, getting bloodwork, and ultrasounds
• It’s incredibly bike friendly. We loved watching the older people scoot by our apartment on their often rickety and dated bikes.
• And certainly last, but not least, was the people. We felt welcomed by nearly everyone we encountered, and we noticed their good sense of sarcasm and humor. Most Serbs were eager to speak some English and typically said hello in passing. We also appreciated the mostly welcoming vibe we received from the plethora of locals who joined or interacted with our page. 

Our Downsides

• That said, sometimes the energy in comments could feel a bit like swimming in choppy waters. Yikes!
• The smoking. Oh my goodness, it feels like 40 years ago in the States. Every restaurant or cafe…although fortunately buses no longer seem to allow it.
• If you’re a shorter person, cabinets and mirrors can be difficult to reach. These people are generally tall and all seem to be related to Nikola Jokić. Haha. 
• Not being able to rent bicycles for the month was disappointing. If we stay for longer on a future visit, we would consider just buying and reselling ,because it would definitely be an advantage in flat and bike-friendly Vojvodina.
• That said, Vojvodina is simply too flat for our taste, as many of you know we love our hiking/mountains. Of course this changes in other parts of the country.
• We’re not crazy about Serbian food. Most of it feels red meat-centric and heavy for our taste.
• Drivers weren’t always good about stopping for pedestrians 
• Buses are considerably more expensive than trains, and then they charge you for luggage as well.