Serbian Easter falls on May 2 in 2027, in the middle of the spring school break and the May Day holidays. On Good Friday families dye eggs, the first one always red, and on Sunday kids tap eggs together to see whose cracks first. The rest of the break is for getting outside. Here's what we checked, from the zoo at Kalemegdan to the royal church at Oplenac.
Belgrade Zoo fills about 7 hectares inside Kalemegdan Fortress park and keeps around 200 species. Kids look for the white lions and white tigers, watch the penguins in their 2019 enclosure, and find Muja, an American alligator that has lived here since 1937.
A petting zoo has alpacas, rabbits and pygmy goats, and two cafés and ice cream stands sit inside the grounds.
Belgrade Family Days is the city's spring festival for families, held outdoors in the parks and pedestrian streets of the center. Kids drift between zones: fairy-tale plays on open-air stages, a knights' village with fencing and archery, ceramics and painting tables, mini football and sack races.
Best for families happy to wander and pick as they go. Kalemegdan days end with an open-air family party.
An outdoor park of life-size dinosaur models in Mali Kalemegdan, next to the Belgrade Fortress. Kids walk the paths between the models, then let off steam at the on-site playground.
An open-air cafe serves drinks for parents, and a souvenir shop sells toys and keepsakes. The park also hosts birthday parties, with food, drinks, decoration and music organized by the team.
Ada Safari is an S-shaped lake of about 6 hectares near the downstream tip of Ada Ciganlija, ringed by century-old forest and a walking path. Peacocks, geese, ducks and swans live on the grounds, and herons and kingfishers turn up by the water.
The lakeside restaurant has a kids' playground with slides and big gardens. The lake itself is stocked for catch-and-release carp fishing.
Salaš Stremen is a Srem-style ethno farmstead with a restaurant, a horse riding club and grounds set up for family celebrations.
Younger kids can ride a pony or a horse around the grounds, and the club runs a riding school with a trainer for kids ready to learn properly. The club also hosts riding competitions, from an easy trot to fast gallops and jumps.
Jevremovac is a botanical garden run by the Institute of Botany, with more than 1,300 plant species outdoors. Its centerpiece is a Victorian glass greenhouse from 1892, with rainforest plants under the dome and desert succulents in the north wing.
Outside, paths lead past a Japanese garden with stepping stones over water, a water lily pool, a bamboo maze, a children's corner and oaks more than 140 years old.
Belgrade Fortress sits on a ridge where the Sava meets the Danube, with Kalemegdan Park wrapped around its walls. Kids can walk the ramparts and old gates, find the Victor monument and the fortress cannon, and go down into the Roman Well, a military bunker or the Nebojša Tower.
The park side has two open playgrounds, a Dino park and the Belgrade Zoo, plus basketball and tennis courts.
A 204-meter TV tower on Avala mountain, rebuilt after NATO bombing destroyed the original in 1999. Two fast lifts climb to a circular viewing deck at 122 meters, with four binoculars and views stretching from Šumadija to Vršac.
At the foot, in pine forest, kids get a playground, the Elf Village (six treehouses linked by hanging bridges), a 7.5-meter climbing wall with instructors, and two sports courts.
Ada Ciganlija is a former river island on the Sava, now a 6km-long peninsula beside Lake Sava. Its man-made beaches run about 6km, hold the Blue Flag, and have lifeguards through the bathing season.
Away from the water there are playgrounds, including a natural-wood Eco Park, a hands-on Science Park with physics and astronomy exhibits, mini golf, paddle boats, and a tourist train that loops the lake.
Košutnjak is a 330-hectare forest of oak, lime and chestnut on a 250-meter hill, crossed by paths and jogging tracks. Kids can look for squirrels, hedgehogs and woodpeckers, drink from the Hajdučka česma fountain, and walk the shaded path to the iron fence marking where Prince Mihailo was killed in 1868.
The name comes from the does (košuta) that lived in the old royal hunting grounds.
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.
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.
Serbian Easter falls on May 2 in 2027, in the middle of the spring school break and the May Day holidays. On Good Friday families dye eggs, the first one always red, and on Sunday kids tap eggs together to see whose cracks first. The rest of the break is for getting outside. Here's what we checked, from the zoo at Kalemegdan to the royal church at Oplenac.
Belgrade Zoo fills about 7 hectares inside Kalemegdan Fortress park and keeps around 200 species. Kids look for the white lions and white tigers, watch the penguins in their 2019 enclosure, and find Muja, an American alligator that has lived here since 1937.
A petting zoo has alpacas, rabbits and pygmy goats, and two cafés and ice cream stands sit inside the grounds.
Belgrade Family Days is the city's spring festival for families, held outdoors in the parks and pedestrian streets of the center. Kids drift between zones: fairy-tale plays on open-air stages, a knights' village with fencing and archery, ceramics and painting tables, mini football and sack races.
Best for families happy to wander and pick as they go. Kalemegdan days end with an open-air family party.
An outdoor park of life-size dinosaur models in Mali Kalemegdan, next to the Belgrade Fortress. Kids walk the paths between the models, then let off steam at the on-site playground.
An open-air cafe serves drinks for parents, and a souvenir shop sells toys and keepsakes. The park also hosts birthday parties, with food, drinks, decoration and music organized by the team.
Ada Safari is an S-shaped lake of about 6 hectares near the downstream tip of Ada Ciganlija, ringed by century-old forest and a walking path. Peacocks, geese, ducks and swans live on the grounds, and herons and kingfishers turn up by the water.
The lakeside restaurant has a kids' playground with slides and big gardens. The lake itself is stocked for catch-and-release carp fishing.
Salaš Stremen is a Srem-style ethno farmstead with a restaurant, a horse riding club and grounds set up for family celebrations.
Younger kids can ride a pony or a horse around the grounds, and the club runs a riding school with a trainer for kids ready to learn properly. The club also hosts riding competitions, from an easy trot to fast gallops and jumps.
Jevremovac is a botanical garden run by the Institute of Botany, with more than 1,300 plant species outdoors. Its centerpiece is a Victorian glass greenhouse from 1892, with rainforest plants under the dome and desert succulents in the north wing.
Outside, paths lead past a Japanese garden with stepping stones over water, a water lily pool, a bamboo maze, a children's corner and oaks more than 140 years old.
Belgrade Fortress sits on a ridge where the Sava meets the Danube, with Kalemegdan Park wrapped around its walls. Kids can walk the ramparts and old gates, find the Victor monument and the fortress cannon, and go down into the Roman Well, a military bunker or the Nebojša Tower.
The park side has two open playgrounds, a Dino park and the Belgrade Zoo, plus basketball and tennis courts.
A 204-meter TV tower on Avala mountain, rebuilt after NATO bombing destroyed the original in 1999. Two fast lifts climb to a circular viewing deck at 122 meters, with four binoculars and views stretching from Šumadija to Vršac.
At the foot, in pine forest, kids get a playground, the Elf Village (six treehouses linked by hanging bridges), a 7.5-meter climbing wall with instructors, and two sports courts.
Ada Ciganlija is a former river island on the Sava, now a 6km-long peninsula beside Lake Sava. Its man-made beaches run about 6km, hold the Blue Flag, and have lifeguards through the bathing season.
Away from the water there are playgrounds, including a natural-wood Eco Park, a hands-on Science Park with physics and astronomy exhibits, mini golf, paddle boats, and a tourist train that loops the lake.
Košutnjak is a 330-hectare forest of oak, lime and chestnut on a 250-meter hill, crossed by paths and jogging tracks. Kids can look for squirrels, hedgehogs and woodpeckers, drink from the Hajdučka česma fountain, and walk the shaded path to the iron fence marking where Prince Mihailo was killed in 1868.
The name comes from the does (košuta) that lived in the old royal hunting grounds.
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.
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.
