I got to Belgrade via an epic 7.5 hour bus journey from Sarajevo. It was epic in the sense that it was fairly complicated (getting to a remote bus station, actually in a different region) and the scenery was spectacular. It was then a case of finding the hostel, which was more difficult than I was expecting as the signs were in Serbian (a type of Cyrillic). When I got there it was worth it though!

I asked in the hostel the day before setting off what the best way of getting to Belgrade was. According to the woman in the hostel, it was to get the shuttle bus, which takes you door-to-door, but is no fun! I got up at 6am instead and got a local trolley bus to the border with Republika Srpska, a Serbian-controlled entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I then crossed the border and went to buy a bus ticket, but as I had been trying to get rid of my Marks, I didn’t have enough to get the ticket with. I went on a mission to get some more Marks, which was more difficult as the station was almost in the middle of nowhere, but a big shopping centre had a bankomat so I could get some Marks from there. I got some and went back to the bus station. I tried to get rid of the rest of my Marks by buying a fruit drink and some expensive crisps.

The journey to Belgrade was spectacular, going through the countryside in Republika Srpska to the border. The bus stopped every hour or so and it was very pleasant, until we got to the border with Serbia, not long after which it was mainly motorway to Belgrade. This wasn’t very interesting and North Western Serbia is very flat. We eventually arrived in Belgrade and it was very hot as I was walking around, tring to figure out where I was.

I eventually made it to the hostel after climbing a steep hill, which was necessary but slightly more difficult as I hadn’t really eaten anything for breakfast. I got to the hostel which was clean and almost empty and the girl there helped me plan what I was doing next.

Whilst in Belgrade I went out with the hostel staff and the guests, walked around the Old Town, Citadel, went to Tito’s mausoleum and went to Usce Park, ending up having cake and ice-cream by the river. It was very good and I could have easily stayed for another day.