Some days the kids just need to run. This list gathers the parks and playgrounds we've checked across the city, from neighborhood play areas good for a quick swing after school to big riverside and forest parks worth a whole Saturday with bikes, a ball and a picnic.
Šumice is a park-forest of about 14 hectares, planted in the 1950s on Pašino Brdo, with nearly 7 km of paths under ash, oak and maple trees. The Drveni grad (Woodville) playground and exercise area sits in the middle of the larger western section, near chess tables and covered pavilions. Squirrels are the main wildlife draw, and hedgehogs turn up too.
A creative playground beside the Cvijeta Zuzorić Art Pavilion, on the eastern side of Kalemegdan Park where the fortress grounds meet the city streets. Its centerpiece is a big rope climbing net strung across a wooden frame, over soft wood-chip ground. It opened in 2015, built to European safety standards with a modern design. The Belgrade Zoo takes up the northern end of Mali Kalemegdan, a short walk away.
Savski Park is one of the biggest green spaces in the city center, about the size of four soccer fields, with more than 140 trees. Kids get a playground with modern equipment and a waterplay area built around water mechanisms they can work themselves.
Older kids can use the 700-meter two-lane jogging track, ping-pong tables and a multi-sport court for basketball, handball and small-sided soccer, plus six picnic tables.
Avala is a forested 511 m mountain on the city's southeastern edge, protected since 1859 and a long-standing picnic spot for Belgrade families. On top stands the rebuilt Avala TV Tower, with a visitor complex at its base that has sports fields, an outdoor gym and a climbing rock.
Nearby is Ivan Meštrović's Monument to the Unknown Hero, and the Sakinac hiking trail winds up through the woods.
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.
Ušće Park spreads over 52 hectares of lawns, paths and trees on the point where the Sava meets the Danube, the largest park area in the city. Kids can bike the paths, watch the skaters at the skatepark, and look across the water to Kalemegdan fortress and Great War Island.
In winter, birdwatchers come for the rare waterbirds off the banks.
Pionirski Park is a 3.6-hectare former royal garden set between the Old Palace, now the City Assembly, and the New Palace, now the President's office. The side along Kneza Miloša has the most lawn and the finest old trees, with panels naming giant specimens such as an English oak, a ginkgo and a horse chestnut. Toward Kralja Milana there is a fountain with flowerbeds.
Tašmajdan, which locals shorten to Taš, is a 9.84-hectare park on the site of a limestone quarry the Romans once worked, with Saint Mark's Church at its edge. Shaded paths lead to two children's playgrounds, a star-shaped fountain and a heart-shaped memorial to the children killed in the 1999 bombing.
The Tašmajdan Sports Center sits inside the park, with an outdoor 50-meter pool and a small children's pool beside it.
Hyde Park is a 7.3-hectare triangle of woodland on the northern slopes of Topčider Hill, between Senjak and Dedinje. A central path lined with plane trees splits it in two: a forested half with running trails, and a recreation half with an outdoor fitness area of 12 machines.
A sawdust trail of about 1,400 meters circles the edge, and a children's playground sits in the middle.
Topčider was Belgrade's first park, laid out in the 1830s in the English style with winding paths, streams and small lakes. Plane trees planted around Prince Miloš's Residence in 1831 still stand there today.
Around the residence sit fountains, a stone obelisk and the Žetelica (Woman Harvester) statue, the city's first park sculpture. Past the lawns, the paths lead on into the Topčider and Košutnjak woods.
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.
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.
Some days the kids just need to run. This list gathers the parks and playgrounds we've checked across the city, from neighborhood play areas good for a quick swing after school to big riverside and forest parks worth a whole Saturday with bikes, a ball and a picnic.
Šumice is a park-forest of about 14 hectares, planted in the 1950s on Pašino Brdo, with nearly 7 km of paths under ash, oak and maple trees. The Drveni grad (Woodville) playground and exercise area sits in the middle of the larger western section, near chess tables and covered pavilions. Squirrels are the main wildlife draw, and hedgehogs turn up too.
A creative playground beside the Cvijeta Zuzorić Art Pavilion, on the eastern side of Kalemegdan Park where the fortress grounds meet the city streets. Its centerpiece is a big rope climbing net strung across a wooden frame, over soft wood-chip ground. It opened in 2015, built to European safety standards with a modern design. The Belgrade Zoo takes up the northern end of Mali Kalemegdan, a short walk away.
Savski Park is one of the biggest green spaces in the city center, about the size of four soccer fields, with more than 140 trees. Kids get a playground with modern equipment and a waterplay area built around water mechanisms they can work themselves.
Older kids can use the 700-meter two-lane jogging track, ping-pong tables and a multi-sport court for basketball, handball and small-sided soccer, plus six picnic tables.
Avala is a forested 511 m mountain on the city's southeastern edge, protected since 1859 and a long-standing picnic spot for Belgrade families. On top stands the rebuilt Avala TV Tower, with a visitor complex at its base that has sports fields, an outdoor gym and a climbing rock.
Nearby is Ivan Meštrović's Monument to the Unknown Hero, and the Sakinac hiking trail winds up through the woods.
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.
Ušće Park spreads over 52 hectares of lawns, paths and trees on the point where the Sava meets the Danube, the largest park area in the city. Kids can bike the paths, watch the skaters at the skatepark, and look across the water to Kalemegdan fortress and Great War Island.
In winter, birdwatchers come for the rare waterbirds off the banks.
Pionirski Park is a 3.6-hectare former royal garden set between the Old Palace, now the City Assembly, and the New Palace, now the President's office. The side along Kneza Miloša has the most lawn and the finest old trees, with panels naming giant specimens such as an English oak, a ginkgo and a horse chestnut. Toward Kralja Milana there is a fountain with flowerbeds.
Tašmajdan, which locals shorten to Taš, is a 9.84-hectare park on the site of a limestone quarry the Romans once worked, with Saint Mark's Church at its edge. Shaded paths lead to two children's playgrounds, a star-shaped fountain and a heart-shaped memorial to the children killed in the 1999 bombing.
The Tašmajdan Sports Center sits inside the park, with an outdoor 50-meter pool and a small children's pool beside it.
Hyde Park is a 7.3-hectare triangle of woodland on the northern slopes of Topčider Hill, between Senjak and Dedinje. A central path lined with plane trees splits it in two: a forested half with running trails, and a recreation half with an outdoor fitness area of 12 machines.
A sawdust trail of about 1,400 meters circles the edge, and a children's playground sits in the middle.
Topčider was Belgrade's first park, laid out in the 1830s in the English style with winding paths, streams and small lakes. Plane trees planted around Prince Miloš's Residence in 1831 still stand there today.
Around the residence sit fountains, a stone obelisk and the Žetelica (Woman Harvester) statue, the city's first park sculpture. Past the lawns, the paths lead on into the Topčider and Košutnjak woods.
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.
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.
