Belgrade's playgrounds worth a trip sit inside its big green parks, so one outing covers climbing, a long walk and a snack on a bench. We looked for the ones worth crossing town for: rope nets, water pumps kids work themselves, wooden climbing frames under old trees. Here's what we checked, from the rope net by the fortress to the Eco Park by the lake.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Belgrade's playgrounds worth a trip sit inside its big green parks, so one outing covers climbing, a long walk and a snack on a bench. We looked for the ones worth crossing town for: rope nets, water pumps kids work themselves, wooden climbing frames under old trees. Here's what we checked, from the rope net by the fortress to the Eco Park by the lake.
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.
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.
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.
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.
