6 of the 7 Continents For The Budget Traveler: Along The Danube Serbia 2020

It was summer of 2020, the year the world locked down, but as dedicated travelers we always find a way! I had been on 3 continents every year since 2010, I live on one continent so the first one is always easy, I went to India in February right when things were starting to get hairy then summer rolled around. If you live in the USA you probably don't think too much of the Balkans as a place to go, and wrongfully so! Luckily I had good people that suggested the Balkans, and double luck as beautiful Serbia kept it's borders open. Here's how last minute, and on a budget we had a blast in Serbia in August of 2020.

Airbnb was an easy option for lodging, I went with another friend and after three of us crammed into a tiny hotel room like college students in Miami on New Year's Eve we decided to get our own apartment with comfortable separate rooms. For $40 a night we had a two bed two bath in the heart of the city. I'd actually say there are two hearts, the cultural heart, and the party heart, but don't worry they are both close and it's a beautiful 15 to 20 minute walk over the river connecting them.

Church in Belgrade
Belgrade is your obvious basecamp, and honestly while Nis and Novi Sad are cool places I highly advocate the capital as your main stay. Needless to say there are probably 100s of beautiful towns and smaller places to see in the country, but as budget travelers a lot of us will not have the luxury of time, so unless you are living or working there, Belgrade is top choice!

Delicious local food!
The Belgrade Fortress is of course a great place to visit! It's huge and connected to the Zoo, the military museum, small markets, dining, and the Belgrade Underground Tour which I will highly recommend! You'll see a WWII bunker, an old torture chamber, and some really ancient stuff, top it off with local wine in non covid times. The military museum and dinosaur exhibit are here as well, Military tanks are free to check out!
Golubac Fortress, if you are thinking of going to Serbia you have already seen photos of this place, do not skip it, without a doubt the highlight of our trip! You'll also get a trip to the Lepenski Vir Museum to see ancient world history, and our guide took us to an epic lunch at a local place on the mountain side overlooking the Danube.
Zemun is a little suburb of Belgrade but in its own right is solid for a day tour, take the bus there and head down to the river, hopefully you will catch a lot of the swan chilling and grab a drink, you can then go to the town square, and proceed all the way up to the top of Zemun for some epic views of Belgrade, Zemun, and Serbia from Gardoš Tower.

Now where to stay in Belgrade? We stayed in the classic historic center just one block off of Knez Mihailova. This is in my opinion the ideal area because it's close to tourism and not too far from partying, the best clubs are actually on the other side of the river in the same area if you are more keen to the Belgrade night life. And don't over think it, it's only about a 15 to 20 minute walk between them so you won't lose out either way. But besides partying, definitely more to see and do on Knez Mihailova side.
Speaking of partying, the Belgrade bar and club scene has something for everyone and will not disappoint, you're also paying a fraction of what you'd pay anywhere in western Europe for the same drinks and experience. Great dive bars and local places along Knez Mihailova but I recommend the river either the east side for an adult vibe or the west side for a wilder college party type scene with plenty of adults still there.
Take a day trip over to Ada Ciganlija island, rent a bike, go for a swim, enjoy the beach, check out the parks, Belgrade sign, and lift a Yugo Car!
Covid ravages the world in 2020, but the Belgrade casinos stayed open strong to lose money!
Church of Saint Sava!
I don't speak Serbian but do speak a little bit of Russian which was definitely useful especially with negotiating cab prices as Uber didn't work for us.
Hopefully you fly in during day light hours, just kind of unique gateway to Belgrade building

Serbia was a travelers gift to us in summer 2020, as so many borders were closed, I wanted to go somewhere safe following the good old or rather good new covid rules, and somewhere that would hit that traveler's high that we all seek so much when we set foot on a new land. I had always thought about the Balkans one day, and foolishly said, if I do x, y, and z first. Our tour guide that asked if we came to Serbia enlight of it's loose entry rules, it definitely played into it. But rather than crossing a simple bucket list item off, Serbia has opened a new travel gate. It opened us with wide arms, and showed us a part of Europe that is extremely favorable to the budget traveler compared to western Europe, yet with all the beauty and intrigue. It was the first time there, but will not be the last.