Best hostel in town!ArkaBarka Floating Hostel is an experience you won't want to miss out on in Belgrade. From the incredible views of the Danube, to the fantastic in-house bar and cafe, you won't find a better spot to call home in the Serbian capital!
What a better way to know a city than walking around? Discover Belgrade’s culture, incredible sites, stories & legends.
Let’s walk? Book your tour and learn with passionate and entertaining local guides that will teach you some Serbian history and culture.
Here’s some facts about Belgrade and Serbia:
Fact #1 – Rakia:
A common alcohol in Serbia is Rakia. Rakia is commonly homemade and comes in 100’s of flavors. The most common flavor is plumb. It usually has an alcohol percentage between 40-70%.
Fact #2 – Party like a Serbian:
The locals say there are three levels of a Serbian party: At the table (starting the night), on the table (dancing on top of it), and under the table (after too much Rakia).
Fact #3 – Mixed alphabets:
Serbians read both Cyrillic and the Roman alphabets. They read both without realizing the change and sometimes mix the alphabets.
Fact #4 – Serbia in the Yugoslav Wars:
Serbia was under sanctions because of the war in Croatia and Bosnia from 1991-1996. At this time salary was approximately €3/month. A month! Inflation got out of control during this time in Serbia and the biggest currency note was a 1 with 12 zeros following it. Today that amount of money could buy an island. During the time of sanctions, it could only buy you 10 eggs…if you could find eggs.
Criminal activity became high. And, strangely, plastic surgery became a trend. Our tour guide described women looking like ‘exploding balloons’ during that time. There was no money for food, but a plastic surgery craze was prominent in Belgrade.
Belgrade has been attacked 80 times in history, and it has been destroyed 45 times. The last attack was the 1999 NATO bombings.
Fact #5 – The Empires in Belgrade:
Belgrade shows the history of different eras of power and control all over the city. The white stones of construction are from the Romans. The white bricks are Serbian. Red bricks are from the Austro/Hungarian Empire. There were three wars between the Ottoman Empire and the Austro/Hungarian Empire for control of territory.
Belgrade means ‘White City’ because of the white hilltop fortress overlooking the city. The Romans loved white rocks.
Fact #6 – East of the West or West of the East?
People of Belgrade consider themselves to be East of the West (Western Europe) and West of the East (Eastern Europe).
Fact #7 – Belgrade and the rivers:
Two rivers meet in Belgrade: the Danube River and the Sava River. From above where the Romans built their fortress, the views of the rivers meeting is very pretty.
