A few things to know before traveling to Serbia ~ Especially don't miss the swans in Zemun town
Serbia, a country located in southeastern Europe, is a landlocked country on the Balkan Peninsula, bordering 8 countries, 4 of which are former Yugoslav members. In recent years, Serbia's economy has grown rapidly, and it has gradually become one of the popular destinations for European travel. In 2015, it was rated as "one of the top ten travel destinations worth traveling" by Lonely Planet. Serbia is one of the most complete places for natural ecological protection in Europe, with exceptionally rich natural scenery, orchards, forests, grasslands, peaks, canyons, lakes, rivers, vineyards and vineyards everywhere, with very little pollution and fresh air ~ The Danube is the European river that flows through the most countries, and one-fifth of it is within Serbia's borders.
I went to four cities in total: Belgrade, Novi Sad, Subotica, Zlatibor ~
Let's share Belgrade first
The capital of Serbia, Belgrade ~ This is one of the oldest cities in Europe, located at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers, it is known as the "crossroads of the eastern and western worlds".
The St. Sava Church is located on a hill in the eastern part of the old city of Belgrade. It is the largest Orthodox church in the world. The last time I came, the exterior construction was completed ~ The interior is still being decorated, and this time I finally saw the golden interior of the church. It's absolutely beautiful! The high and majestic dome interior walls and surroundings are golden giant mosaic murals, with a total area of over 15,000 square meters, ranking among the world's largest mosaics.
When you come to Belgrade, you must go to the city's most famous commercial street, Mihailo Grand Duke Street, to stroll around. The representative buildings of the 19th century European style stand on both sides of the street ~ Walking along this street to the end is the Kalemegdan ancient castle located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. It is the best witness to the history of Belgrade city and a landmark scenic spot and leisure place in Belgrade. Although the castle has been repaired and expanded many times, the architectural style of ancient Rome and the Austro-Hungarian Empire can still be seen,
Most of the existing ruins of the Kalemegdan Castle were mainly built during the Turkish rule ~ Now a park has been built around it, overlooking the Danube and the former battlefield ~ The entire castle is built of huge stones, and the architectural style of ancient Rome and the Austro-Hungarian Empire can still be seen ~ Walking to the northwest end of the castle, sitting on the high city wall of the Belgrade Fortress, you can see the Sava and Danube rivers converge. Walking back from the Belgrade Fortress, after seven years, the Moskava Hotel is very suitable for drinking hot red wine in winter! It used to be called the Moscow Grand Hotel ~ It is a long-established hotel in Belgrade, with a strong Vienna Art Nouveau style. Once ~ The whole of Yugoslavia regarded going to the Moscow Grand Hotel for coffee as a grand and beautiful thing in life!
In addition, Zemun in the suburbs of Belgrade is a good place for locals to relax ~ There are many good restaurants along the Danube in the small town ~ Climbing to the top of the highest point of the small town, the Millennium Tower, you can overlook the entire small town's Central European style red roof buildings, looking far along the Danube, you can also see the cityscape of Belgrade.
In Belgrade ~ Weekends always come to Zemun town for a stroll ~ Look at the swans on the Danube, especially after the snow is more beautiful! Zemun was once a border town between Austria and the Ottoman Empire, so it blends Austrian and Ottoman exotic styles ~ The locals in Belgrade love to come here for leisure and vacation. Coming here is like traveling through several centuries in the past ~ You can experience and feel the quiet time of the old times.
Other places I recommend not to miss when coming to Serbia:
The northern city of Serbia, Novi Sad·South Backa State, holds a four-day EXIT music festival every July, attracting nearly 300,000 tourists from all over the world ~ Historically, it was the cultural center of Serbia, known as "The Athens of Serbia", drinking afternoon tea on the castle of Petrovaradin Fortress, overlooking the quiet flow of the Danube; eating Brunch in Freedom Square, drinking a few glasses of champagne, enjoying the warm sun in the spring afternoon can be slightly drunk ~ The brightly colored buildings with European retro luxury horse-drawn carriages kicking past, people are confused, as if they have traveled to the prosperous place of Europe hundreds of years ago...... It only takes one hour to take a bus from Belgrade to Novi Sad, with a bus every 20 minutes, which can be returned on the same day.
The northern border city of Serbia, Subotica·North Backa State, is full of local art buildings with Hungarian colors. This is a colorful art city, and it is also a city of multi-ethnic integration: 25 ethnic groups, 6 languages. Due to its proximity to the Hungarian border, it is popular to decorate local buildings with Hungary's famous Zsolnay ceramics. Subotica also has a museum that carries the treasures of new art, the famous local resort Palic Lake is a fairy tale world for me, and there is a quite large zoo in the fairy tale world, which makes the fairy tale world more vivid ~ In addition, if you like wine, you can also go to Serbia's famous ZVONKO BOGDAN winery and vineyard, which is also near Palic Lake.
The western border city, Zlatibor·Municipality of Cajetina is located in the border area of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina ~ Serbia has 5 national parks, more than 30 natural parks and special nature reserves, and the Tara National Park located in Zlatibor State is a very distinctive one, Tara Mountain and Drina River are intertwined ~ There are wooden villas for accommodation under the mountain, the scenery along the way of hiking is beautiful, the small wooden house standing on the rocks of the Drina River for nearly half a century, these two years have been constantly exploding hermit thoughts on various social media ~ The real thing is indeed dreamy ~ The rich resources of the Zlatibor mountain area can allow people to experience the real outdoor adventure fun. Summer hiking, boating, climbing and winter skiing are all popular projects here. Kopaonik Mountain is a famous ski resort in Eastern Europe ~ Although it is bathed in sunshine for more than 200 days a year, the magic is that every November to May of the following year is snowy, even if its reputation may not be as good as Switzerland, France and other European ski resorts, but its 44 kilometers of ski slopes and 20 kilometers of ski cable cars make many traditional ski resorts pale in comparison ~ In addition, the Wood Village located in the Zlatibor mountain area is a famous Serbian director built for the filming of the movie "Life is a Miracle" ~ All buildings from the ground to the house are built of wood and decorated with colorful oil paintings ~ Now the Wood Village has also become a famous resort, not only with museums and galleries, stadiums and restaurants and cafes, but also with a cinema that can accommodate 100 people. You can also take a small train to tour the Zlatibor mountain area in the Wood Village. As one of the few narrow-gauge railways in the world, the train itself is a museum. The four carriages have completely different styles and layouts, which are very worth experiencing ~ The entire operation line takes two and a half hours to cross 10 bridges and 22 tunnels in total, taking in the beautiful and quiet mountain scenery......