Serbia holidays

Serbia is the Balkans' most-vibrant capital-and-culture country — Belgrade's confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, with Kalemegdan Fortress dominating the city centre and a famously alive nightlife scene that has earned Belgrade comparisons to Berlin (the floating river-club splavovi parties run year-round, the Skadarlija old-town tavern district, the Savamala creative quarter); Novi Sad (the country's second city, with the Habsburg-era Petrovaradin Fortress that hosts the EXIT Festival each July — one of Europe's biggest music festivals); the medieval monasteries of Studenica and Sopoćani (UNESCO, the heartland of medieval Serbian Orthodox heritage); the Tara National Park's Drina River canyon (the iconic small house on the rock in the middle of the river is one of Europe's most-Instagrammed scenes); and the small-village-and-mountain south (Zlatibor mountain resort, Mokra Gora's preserved village).

A 7-10 day Serbia trip: Belgrade (3-4 nights — Kalemegdan Fortress at sunset overlooking the river-confluence, Skadarlija bohemian quarter for kafana tavern dinners with live brass-band Roma music, the Tito Memorial Complex and museum, Saint Sava Temple — the largest Orthodox church in the Balkans — the Nikola Tesla Museum, the floating-club splav nightlife along the Sava) → Novi Sad (2 nights — Petrovaradin Fortress, Dunavski Park, the Synagogue, Stari Grad Old Town, day-trip to Sremski Karlovci wine town) → optional Tara National Park and Drina River canyon (2 nights — Drvengrad mountain village built for Emir Kusturica's film "Life is a Miracle", the Sargan-8 narrow-gauge mountain railway, kayaking the Drina) → optional medieval monastery circuit (2 nights — Studenica, Žiča, Žica, Sopoćani UNESCO sites).