We visited three different cities in Serbia, Novi Sad, Belgrade and Niš, each one with its own unique charm. Serbia was never really on my radar as I know it's not for a lot of people and what a shame! I quickly fell in love with the culture, food, landscape, and its people. Each city we visited had its own allure and I believe Serbia has something for everyone. Throughout these blogs I hope you discover why Serbia should be at the top of your list for your next overseas adventure!

Helpful tips when traveling to Serbia: Must try national dishes, helpful phrases and fun facts!

Helpful Serbian words and how to pronounce them

A few Serbian words and how to pronounce them:

Hello: Zdravo (ZDRAH-voh) Thank you: Hvala ti (HVAH-lah tee) Good day: Domar dan (DOH-bar dahn) Please: Molim te: (moh-LEEM teh) Excuse me/ Sorry: Izvinite (z-VIN-ih-teh) How much?: Koliko (koh-LEEK-oh) Yes: Da (Da) No: Ne neh

How to say one through five in Serbian:

One: Jedan (yeh-dahn) Two: Dva (dva) Three: Tri (tree) Four: Cetri (cheh-ter-ee) Five: pet (pet)

Must try National dishes in Serbia:

Ćevapi: a grilled minced meat sausage

Burek: a flaky phyllo dough stuffed with meat, cheese, vegetable or even fruit and a very popular lunch

Pljeskavica: a ground meat patty similar to a hamburger but with more seasonings in a pita like bun then topped with your choice of sauce and vegetables

Sarma: Pickled cabbage leaves stuffed with a mixture of rice meat and spices then slow cooked.

Pljeskavica

Burek

Ćevapi

Five Fun facts about Serbia!

Nikola Tesla is Serbian: Though he was born in the Austrian Empire which is now Croatia, he identifies with both his Serbian and Croatian heritage. He is also celebrated as a national hero in Serbia.

Albert Einstein lived in Novi Sad: Albert Einstein's wife Mileva was from Novi Sad and they lived there for a brief period of time. Mileva ultimately returned after their divorce.

Serbia uses two alphabets!: Serbia uses both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabet. The Cyrillic alphabet is used by the government, but there is a preference for Latin among the population.

Vampires originated in Serbia!: According to folklore vampires originated in Serbia and the word itself is Serbian. In the 1720s Austrian forces opened an investigation into vampires in the Balkans.

The world's largest sausage coil: On February 23, 2013 Udruženje Kobasicijada in Turija, Serbia made the largest sausage coil weighing in at 340kg (750lbs) uncooked with a diameter of 3.97m (13ft 0.3 in)

Albert Einstein

Nikola Tesla

Street sign in both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabet

Helpful Tips for Travling to Serbia

Visas for U.S. citizens: At this time (2025) U.S. citizens do not needed a visa for stays under 90 days. For stays over 90 days contact the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade.

Navigation: We used Google maps here an found it to work pretty well for walking directions as well as busses. In some areas the bus routes have been changing so we just asked the driver if it was going to our stop. We don't speak Serbian but we found just staying the stop name was enough to communicate our needs and they would respond with a head nod.

Language: The official language is Serbian and though we did find English speaking people, especially in the tourist districts, it was not wide spread. If you can learn a few words it goes a long way and we found the locals were more then happy to work with us.

Translator: We used Google Translate and found it to be very helpful with both spoken and writen Serbian. We like to download the offline version incase we end up in an area with no cell service.

Click HERE to learn more about Novi Sad, Serbia

Click HERE to watch our Serbia YouTube video.

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog, your continued support means the world to us! If you haven't already, please sign up for emails so you can stay up to date. And remember, step out of your comfort zone when you travel; try new foods, stay in traditional accommodations, try and speak the native language, even a few phrases is appreciated, talk with strangers, accept invites into their homes, and leave the tourist districts whenever possible. If you're not embracing their culture and their way of life you're missing the most rewarding experiences traveling has to offer!

Enjoy our content?

Show your support and donate here. Unfortunately life isn't free, content creation takes time, and we need to be fed frequently.

Thanks! Moose and Bugs