Grandiose coffee houses and smoky dives all find rightful place along Knez Mihailova, a lively pedestrian boulevard flanked by historical buildings all the way to the ancient Kalemegdan Citadel. The riverside Savamala quarter has gone from ruin to resurrection, and is the city’s creative headquarters. Deeper in Belgrade’s bowels are museums guarding the cultural, religious and military heritage of the country. ‘Belgrade’ translates as ‘White City’, but Serbia’s capital is red hot.
Socialist blocks are squeezed between art nouveau masterpieces, and remnants of the Habsburg legacy contrast with Ottoman relics. This is where the Sava River meets the Danube, contemplative parkland nudges hectic urban sprawl, and old-world culture gives way to new-world nightlife.
You will never really get to know Serbian culture and feel country’s spirit until you put yourself in our shoes! Live through local routine – every day essentials: chitchat over most quality coffee in charming coffee bar, warming smell of fresh bread in the local bakery, buzzy bazaar with friendly market men letting you try their products… Test if you are a sweet tooth in a pastry-shop and find out how Balkan haute cuisine tastes like!
Follow your guide on a sweet-n-sour tour around Belgrade: we guarantee to whet your appetite with mouthful of delicious tastes, curious stories and traditional experience of a local! Find out where your food comes from, how coffee may help you get married, enjoy the irresistible 8-course menu featuring ingenious team of New Balkan Cuisine and feel yourself the cream of the crop!
You cannot fully understand a new country or city if you didn’t participate in local routine and daily rituals. If you didn’t taste products and food, either typical for that destination or those which represent new trends in local cuisine, you are not able to think you have learned it all! After this tour you will feel yourself more of a Serbian Expert! The tour starts at prominent Republic Square blow the Big Clock in Belgrade’s downtown at 10:00 am. First we will start with a morning coffee in a local charming café at Cara Dušana Street in famous Dorćol quarter. Coffee drinking is a ritual for locals that lets them enjoy a cup of energizing coffee and dynamic chitchat. At the coffee bar you will enjoy some good quality coffee prepared in Serbian manner and, in case you like it, purchase some for warming memories!
Here you will hear story how coffee was brought to Belgrade and how this ritual became a solution for every private or business challenge. After getting a dose of caffeine you will be ready to research one of the oldest green markets in Belgrade, known as Bajloni market even though its official name is Skadarska Market. On the way to market, you will stop by in a bakery to purchase some bruschetta for upcoming cheese-tasting on the market.
By the way, it’s almost unforgivable to miss the bakery, that “holy place” for Serbs who are big fans of bread and pastry! When you get to the Bajloni market, you will feel the taste of rural Serbia: villages where these dairy products are produced and where the fresh vegetables and fruits are grown. Markets in Belgrade are kinda live social networks where you can get well informed about all daily happenings.
You will, of course, get informed on how the first market in Belgrade was set. The first, walking part of tour will end on the best manner possible: sweetened up in the oldest traditional pastry shop in Dorćol quarter. It is a chance to try sweets that will demonstrate you rich Balkan heritage: Serbian basis with influences of Oriental and European cuisine. To proceed to the next point of the tour you will get a transfer to Sarajevska Street.
After you have learned the basics, you are ready for the “main star” of a tour: new hot place in gastronomic stage of Belgrade – the restaurant whose menu represents the synergy of traditional grown groceries (cereals, vegetables, fruits and dairy products), new technologies of preparation and unique form of presentation. Here you will enjoy an 8-course lunch enriched with chef’s story about ingredients and preparation. It is quite an experience letting you learn about new trends in organic agriculture and development of national cuisine. After the lunch you will better understand rhythm of Belgrade. Upon this exciting tasting the guide will help you find your way around the city or your accommodation.
