Plenty of good family days start with an hour or two in the car. These are the trips out of Belgrade we'd plan with kids: Danube fortresses to climb, caves to walk through, lakes to swim in, Roman ruins and forest trails. Pick by season: the caves stay cool in July, and the lakes are a summer trip.
Palić Zoo covers 10 hectares near Subotica, with more than 450 animals from over 100 species: tigers, zebras, brown bears, seals, lemurs, camels and meerkats among them. Paths run through a botanical garden, and the grounds hold a children's playground and an adventure park.
On weekends, keepers feed a different animal each hour in front of visitors and answer kids' questions about what the animals eat.
Crni vrh is the ski slope near the mountain village of Divčibare: one 850-meter run with a 180-meter drop, rated medium, served by a lift and topped up with artificial snow when needed. A ski school and rental shop run all day, with licensed instructors for first-timers.
In summer the lift carries panoramic rides and bikes, and the Magic Forest kids' zone sits beside the bike park.
Ljubičevo is Serbia's first state stud farm, founded in 1853 by Prince Miloš Obrenović on 300 hectares beside the Velika Morava river. Kids can watch the farm's horses, ride in a horse-drawn carriage and find the monument to Ljubičevac, a Triple Crown winner.
Walking paths, a 350-meter fitness trail, an outdoor gym, a playground and a mini adventure park fill the grounds.
The palace was built in the late 3rd or early 4th century for Roman emperors at Sirmium, the Roman city under today's Sremska Mitrovica. A modern building covers the dig, and walkways take visitors down among the excavated walls, the hot-air heating channels under almost every floor, and about 350 m² of geometric mosaic floors. Next to it lay the chariot-racing circus, the only Roman circus found in Serbia.
Risovača is a cave on the edge of Aranđelovac where Neanderthal hunters sheltered during the last ice age. Its 187-meter system of passages and halls is hung with stalactites, stalagmites and flowstone shaped like flowers and grapes, with models of a cave bear and cave lion along the main passage.
The last hall holds a figure group of a Neanderthal family.
Resava Cave is a show cave in the Upper Resava region, found by local shepherds in 1962 and opened to visitors in 1972. About 800 meters of its 4.5 km of passages are adapted for walking, with handrails and LED lighting through halls of red, yellow and white formations. The colors come from iron oxide, calcium and clay in the water that shaped them.
Silver Lake (Srebrno jezero) is a 14 km arm of the Danube, up to 300 m wide, with clear water filtered through sand dunes. It is advertised as the "Serbian sea".
Families come for the lakeside beaches and the Aqua Club, five outdoor pools with slides, including shallow ones for small kids. There is also 12-hole mini golf at the marina, next to the lakeside promenade.
Lepenski Vir is a prehistoric settlement on the Danube in the Djerdap gorge, where people lived more than 9,000 years ago. Kids see the excavated house floors, then the carved stone heads in the exhibition space, shown alongside bones, fishing hooks and stone tools.
Outside, a replica house built from stone, wood and clay shows how a family lived around its central hearth.
Golubac Fortress is a 14th-century stronghold whose stone towers climb a cliff above the Danube, where the river narrows into the Iron Gate gorge at the entrance to Đerdap National Park.
Kids can walk the restored lower walls and the lawns by the water, look up at the Hat Tower, its top 70 m above the river, and watch boats tie up at the piers below.
Zasavica is a protected wetland in an old bed of the Sava: a slow river lined with reed beds, water lilies and flooded meadows. Beavers brought back in 2004 now build dams along the channels.
Kids can visit the Balkan donkey farm, look for woolly Mangulica pigs and Podolian cattle on the Valjevac pasture, and find carved sculptures of local animals, including a 15-ton stone ox at the main entry.
Deliblato Sands is a 35,000-hectare nature reserve of sand dunes, pine forest and steppe pasture, one of the largest sandy areas in Europe. Seven marked trails cross it, three of them easy 3.5 to 5 km routes suited to preschool and school-age kids.
Herds of gray Podolian cattle graze the old pastures, and bee-eaters, hoopoes and kingfishers live here.
Viminacium was a Roman legionary camp and city on the Danube frontier, and the park shows its excavated remains on guided tours. Stops include the imperial mausoleum, the Roman baths under protective shelters, the rebuilt amphitheater that once held around 7,000 people, and the central courtyard of Domus Scientiarum, the site's research center. In summer a small tourist train runs between the mausoleum and the baths.
St. George's Church on Oplenac Hill is the mausoleum of the Karađorđević royal family, built in white marble from Venčac Mountain. Inside, 725 mosaic compositions copied from 60 medieval Serbian churches cover the walls and crypt, made from 40 million pieces of colored glass. A 9-meter bronze chandelier hangs under the main dome.
The hilltop grounds also hold King Peter's House and the royal vineyards.
Smederevo Fortress was built from 1428 to 1439 as the last capital of medieval Serbia, where the Jezava River meets the Danube. Its walls, up to 4 meters thick, run with 25 towers around about 11 hectares.
Kids can roam the open Large Town grounds, then enter the Small Town, the former palace, with its Great Hall and carved stone windows. Look for the Turkish bath by the Danube wall.
Fruška Gora is a low, wooded mountain ridge above the Danube, and Serbia's oldest national park. Clearly marked trails run from easy walks to hard climbs, with plenty of picnic areas and restaurants for a break.
Fossil seashells and corals dug up here date from when the ridge was an island in the Pannonian Sea, and 16 Orthodox monasteries are still active in the woods.
Sremski Karlovci is a historic town on the Danube in Vojvodina. Its main square holds the Four Lions Fountain from 1799, ringed by the Patriarchal Court, the Clerical High School and the oldest Serbian high school.
Kids can take the sip from the fountain that legend says brings you back, visit the Beekeeping Museum, or use the playgrounds in Dvorska Garden and along the river.
Petrovaradin Fortress was built above the Danube between 1692 and 1780, on three levels. Kids can climb the 214 stone steps to the Upper Fortress, find the Clock Tower whose big hand shows the hour, and look across the river to Novi Sad. Underneath run more than 16 km of military tunnels. The Arsenal now holds the City Museum of Novi Sad, and a bastion holds the Planetarium.
Novi Sad sits on the Danube, with Petrovaradin Fortress on the bank opposite the old town. The fortress area holds museums, galleries, cafes and around a hundred art studios.
Across the river, the old center runs from Liberty Square, with the City Hall and the Church of the Name of Mary, along Zmaj Jovina Street to the Bishop's Palace. Štrand, the city beach, is open for swimming in summer.
Plenty of good family days start with an hour or two in the car. These are the trips out of Belgrade we'd plan with kids: Danube fortresses to climb, caves to walk through, lakes to swim in, Roman ruins and forest trails. Pick by season: the caves stay cool in July, and the lakes are a summer trip.
Palić Zoo covers 10 hectares near Subotica, with more than 450 animals from over 100 species: tigers, zebras, brown bears, seals, lemurs, camels and meerkats among them. Paths run through a botanical garden, and the grounds hold a children's playground and an adventure park.
On weekends, keepers feed a different animal each hour in front of visitors and answer kids' questions about what the animals eat.
Crni vrh is the ski slope near the mountain village of Divčibare: one 850-meter run with a 180-meter drop, rated medium, served by a lift and topped up with artificial snow when needed. A ski school and rental shop run all day, with licensed instructors for first-timers.
In summer the lift carries panoramic rides and bikes, and the Magic Forest kids' zone sits beside the bike park.
Ljubičevo is Serbia's first state stud farm, founded in 1853 by Prince Miloš Obrenović on 300 hectares beside the Velika Morava river. Kids can watch the farm's horses, ride in a horse-drawn carriage and find the monument to Ljubičevac, a Triple Crown winner.
Walking paths, a 350-meter fitness trail, an outdoor gym, a playground and a mini adventure park fill the grounds.
The palace was built in the late 3rd or early 4th century for Roman emperors at Sirmium, the Roman city under today's Sremska Mitrovica. A modern building covers the dig, and walkways take visitors down among the excavated walls, the hot-air heating channels under almost every floor, and about 350 m² of geometric mosaic floors. Next to it lay the chariot-racing circus, the only Roman circus found in Serbia.
Risovača is a cave on the edge of Aranđelovac where Neanderthal hunters sheltered during the last ice age. Its 187-meter system of passages and halls is hung with stalactites, stalagmites and flowstone shaped like flowers and grapes, with models of a cave bear and cave lion along the main passage.
The last hall holds a figure group of a Neanderthal family.
Resava Cave is a show cave in the Upper Resava region, found by local shepherds in 1962 and opened to visitors in 1972. About 800 meters of its 4.5 km of passages are adapted for walking, with handrails and LED lighting through halls of red, yellow and white formations. The colors come from iron oxide, calcium and clay in the water that shaped them.
Silver Lake (Srebrno jezero) is a 14 km arm of the Danube, up to 300 m wide, with clear water filtered through sand dunes. It is advertised as the "Serbian sea".
Families come for the lakeside beaches and the Aqua Club, five outdoor pools with slides, including shallow ones for small kids. There is also 12-hole mini golf at the marina, next to the lakeside promenade.
Lepenski Vir is a prehistoric settlement on the Danube in the Djerdap gorge, where people lived more than 9,000 years ago. Kids see the excavated house floors, then the carved stone heads in the exhibition space, shown alongside bones, fishing hooks and stone tools.
Outside, a replica house built from stone, wood and clay shows how a family lived around its central hearth.
Golubac Fortress is a 14th-century stronghold whose stone towers climb a cliff above the Danube, where the river narrows into the Iron Gate gorge at the entrance to Đerdap National Park.
Kids can walk the restored lower walls and the lawns by the water, look up at the Hat Tower, its top 70 m above the river, and watch boats tie up at the piers below.
Zasavica is a protected wetland in an old bed of the Sava: a slow river lined with reed beds, water lilies and flooded meadows. Beavers brought back in 2004 now build dams along the channels.
Kids can visit the Balkan donkey farm, look for woolly Mangulica pigs and Podolian cattle on the Valjevac pasture, and find carved sculptures of local animals, including a 15-ton stone ox at the main entry.
Deliblato Sands is a 35,000-hectare nature reserve of sand dunes, pine forest and steppe pasture, one of the largest sandy areas in Europe. Seven marked trails cross it, three of them easy 3.5 to 5 km routes suited to preschool and school-age kids.
Herds of gray Podolian cattle graze the old pastures, and bee-eaters, hoopoes and kingfishers live here.
Viminacium was a Roman legionary camp and city on the Danube frontier, and the park shows its excavated remains on guided tours. Stops include the imperial mausoleum, the Roman baths under protective shelters, the rebuilt amphitheater that once held around 7,000 people, and the central courtyard of Domus Scientiarum, the site's research center. In summer a small tourist train runs between the mausoleum and the baths.
St. George's Church on Oplenac Hill is the mausoleum of the Karađorđević royal family, built in white marble from Venčac Mountain. Inside, 725 mosaic compositions copied from 60 medieval Serbian churches cover the walls and crypt, made from 40 million pieces of colored glass. A 9-meter bronze chandelier hangs under the main dome.
The hilltop grounds also hold King Peter's House and the royal vineyards.
Smederevo Fortress was built from 1428 to 1439 as the last capital of medieval Serbia, where the Jezava River meets the Danube. Its walls, up to 4 meters thick, run with 25 towers around about 11 hectares.
Kids can roam the open Large Town grounds, then enter the Small Town, the former palace, with its Great Hall and carved stone windows. Look for the Turkish bath by the Danube wall.
Fruška Gora is a low, wooded mountain ridge above the Danube, and Serbia's oldest national park. Clearly marked trails run from easy walks to hard climbs, with plenty of picnic areas and restaurants for a break.
Fossil seashells and corals dug up here date from when the ridge was an island in the Pannonian Sea, and 16 Orthodox monasteries are still active in the woods.
Sremski Karlovci is a historic town on the Danube in Vojvodina. Its main square holds the Four Lions Fountain from 1799, ringed by the Patriarchal Court, the Clerical High School and the oldest Serbian high school.
Kids can take the sip from the fountain that legend says brings you back, visit the Beekeeping Museum, or use the playgrounds in Dvorska Garden and along the river.
Petrovaradin Fortress was built above the Danube between 1692 and 1780, on three levels. Kids can climb the 214 stone steps to the Upper Fortress, find the Clock Tower whose big hand shows the hour, and look across the river to Novi Sad. Underneath run more than 16 km of military tunnels. The Arsenal now holds the City Museum of Novi Sad, and a bastion holds the Planetarium.
Novi Sad sits on the Danube, with Petrovaradin Fortress on the bank opposite the old town. The fortress area holds museums, galleries, cafes and around a hundred art studios.
Across the river, the old center runs from Liberty Square, with the City Hall and the Church of the Name of Mary, along Zmaj Jovina Street to the Bishop's Palace. Štrand, the city beach, is open for swimming in summer.
