Novi Sad is one of the Balkan’s most accessible and fun places to explore. We met up with VaradInn’s owner, Tijana to get the lowdown on the must do’s on your interrailing stop off exploration of Novi Sad.
Novi Sad is an up and coming Serbian city. It’s the second biggest university city in Serbia with most young people speaking good English. Its youthful feel is evident with lots of cheap bars and restaurants with nightlife all night, every night! There is always something going on in the city, with festivals and street concerts a common occurrence. Our city is on the Danube, with an awesome city beach, where you can relax in the summer heat just like you are on the coast. Getting around the city is easy with cheap taxis and busses, its also easy to get around by foot.
Novi Sad is different, it’s very much a human tailored city, rather than a huge anonymous metropolitan city, with walking distances to all the major interest points, such as the beautiful Petrovaradin Fortress. It also has a distinctive baroque and medieval European architectural feel. The city is orientated on the Danube river (not the case in Belgrade). There is a big music scene – Novi Sad is also, of course, home to the world famous EXIT festival. We’ve got great nightlife and the city has a relaxed and sociable feel to it.
That’s a hard one! 2 days wouldn’t be enough! Day 1 would be spent exploring the Petrovaradin fortress – take up some wine and food for a picnic and enjoy the huge open spaces and panoramic views of the city across the river, before exploring the multilevel underground military catacombs – if you’re brave enough! The evening would be spent in the city centre, slurping on Jelen beer and going from bar to bar.
Day 2 would start with the famous Serbian hangover cure, a burek (a pastry with mince or cheese inside) or for extreme cases when hair of the dog is the only way forward – rasol (not for light weights) to dust off last nights cobwebs. Once sufficiently back on form, take a canoe down the Danube, seeing the city as you float past. Alternatively, relax on the Štrand beach and soak up the nearly always perfect weather.
In the afternoon take in a bit of Serbian culture at the galleries of Matica Srpska or Pavle Beljanski, have an afternoon coffee with the locals in one of the many outside coffee shops, or even visit the nearby middle age orthodox monasteries of Fruska Gora and meet the monks for whom the place still holds a strong significance to this day.
There are so many Serbian delicacies so these are just some of my favourites:
Add to that the ultimate starter and dessert…. Rakija, rakija, rakija – all different types (cherry, apricot, quince, plum, grape, pear, mulberry…)
Novi Sad is very affordable for all Euroventurers! For a pint of beer it costs about the equivalent of 70p – yes, really! For rakija, a glass of wine, a coke or a coffee is about the same!
Visit Novi Sad from Belgrade on our Balkan Trail package or alternatively why not add it on to your Iron Curtain interrailing route? It’s a true hidden gem!
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