Belgrade Maps Tips

Map of Tourism Information Offices

WALKING TOUR OF BELGRADE (up to 3 hours) - THE BELGRADE FORTRESS  - KNEZ MIHAILOVA STREET  - PRINCESS LJUBICA’S RESIDENCE - BELGRADE CATHEDRAL - THE SEAT OF THE SERBIAN PATRIARCH - “?” RESTAURANT - KOSANČIĆEV VENAC  - STUDENTS SQUARE - REPUBLIC SQUARE and TERAZIJE

THE BELGRADE FORTRESS is located on a hill overlooking the confluence of Sava River and the Danube. Over the centuries of sieges, battles and conquests, the fortress was repeatedly razed to the ground, rebuilt and restructered. The Belgrade Fortress consists of Upper Town, Lower Town and Kalemegdan Park. KNEZ MIHAILOVA STREET the main part of the pedestrian area between Terazije and Kalemegdan Park. Called after Prince Mihailo Obrenovic. PRINCESS LJUBICA’S RESIDENCE built in 1829 for the family of Prince Milos Obrenovic, and there lived his wife Ljubica and sons Milan and Mihailo. Today it houses a part of the ethnographic exhibition. BELGRADE CATHEDRAL the church built in 1845 dedicated to Archangels Michail & Gabriel, with tombs of some members of the Obrenović dinasty.  THE SEAT OF THE SERBIAN PATRIARCH accros the street of the Cathedral with Ecclestical Museum. “?” RESTAURANT built in 1825 got this unusual name as its last owner could not recall any batter. KOSANČIĆEV VENAC paved in cobbled stones having the look of the town from the first half of the 19th century. STUDENTSKI TRG square and park with several buildings of Belgrade University, Etnographic Museum and Kolarčev narodni univerzitet.  REPUBLIC SQUARE with the National Theatre, National Museum and the equestrian statue of Prince Mihail Obrenović. TERAZIJE the main squire called after the water level of the towers parts of the Turchish acquduct in existence there in the 18th century.

BELGRADE SIGHTSEEING TOUR (up to 3 hours)

ST. SAVA TEMPLE built where the remains of St. Sava were burnt by the Ottoman Turks in 1594. The construction began in 1936. As St. Sava Temple may host several thousand warshipers, it is one of the world largest Orthodox churces.
BELGRADE FORTRESS located on a hill overlooking the confluence of Sava River and the Danube. Over the centuries of sieges, battles and conquests, the fortress was repeatedly razed to the ground, rebuilt and restructured. The Belgrade Fortress consists of Upper and Lower Town and Kalemegdan Park.
THE PARLAMENT was built between 1907 and 1936 with the decoration of broze statues of men and hourses.
OLD PALACE built in 1882 as a private residence of King Milan Obrenović. Today it is Belgrade City Hall.
NEW PALACE built between 1911 and 1922 as a Royal palace of King Petra I Karađorđević. Today it is the Office of the Serbian President.
NATIONAL THEATRE built in 1869 with the efforts of Prince Mihailo Obrenović.
NATIONAL MUSEUM the oldest museum in Belgrade, situated in the building from 1903 and out of its treasure all the other Belgrade museums have been established.
TERAZIJE STREET the main squire called after the water level of the towers parts of the Turchish acquduct in existence there in the 18th century.
KRALJA MILANA STREET is the main street connecting Terazije and Slavija Square.
KNEZA MILOSA STREET one of the oldest and the most representative city streets, with Embassies, Ministries and the houses of wealthy citizens of the beginning of 20th century.
THE 25th of MAY MUSEUM, HOUSE OF FLOWERS built in 1975 as office with covered garden during Josip Broz Tito’s life, near his residence. According to his wish he was buried there. Today, there is a simple tomb of white marble.

- ST. SAVA TEMPLE
- BELGRADE FORTRESS 
- THE PARLAMENT
- OLD AND NEW ROYAL PALACE
- NATIONAL THEATRE
- NATIONAL MUSEUM
- KRALJA MILANA STREET
- TERAZIJE STREET 
- KNEZA MILOŠA STREET
- THE 25th of MAY MUSEUM

EXTENDED CITY TOUR (up to 5 hours)

NEW BELGRADE
- UŠĆE 
- SERBIA PALACE 
- ARENA 
- MODERN ART MUSEUM 

ZEMUN 
- MILLENNIUM TOWER 
- ST NIKOLAS CHURCH 
- KARAMATA FAMILY HOUSE
- THE CHURCH 
- SPIRTINA KUĆA 
- FRANCISCAN MONASTERY
- CHURCHES OF ST ARCHANGELS AND ST ROK

This tour includes: Belgrade sightseeing tour with NEW BELGRADE andZEMUN (Zemun a separate settlement throughout the centuries, but development of New Belgrade in the late 20th century joined them together in a continuous urban area) 

NEW BELGRADE

UŠĆE bussiness centre former seat of the Communist party of Yugoslavia, built between 1961 and 1965.
SERBIA PALACE former seat of the Yugoslav Goverment, built between 1947 and 1954.
ARENA one of the biggest sports complex hosting up to 25,000 spectators.
MODERN ART MUSEUM built 1961 and covering the development of the Yugoslav art from 1900 onwards, situated in a beautiful park of Peace and Friendship.

ZEMUN 

MILLENNIUM TOWER on Gardoš hill constracted in 1896 when the Hungaries of the Austrian Empire were celebrating a 1,000th anniversary of their comming to the Pannonian Plain.
ST NIKOLAS CHURCH the oldest one in the city constracted in 1742.
KARAMATA FAMILY HOUSE constracted in 1763 and lived in by the same family for almoust two and a half centuries.
THE CHURCH dedicated to the birth of Virgin Mary built in 1777 with richly decorated iconostasies.
SPIRTINA KUĆA family house from 1840, built pseudogotic stuly. Today is the Town museum.
FRANCISCAN MONASTERY built by the same order in 1739.
CHURCHES OF ST ARCHANGELS AND ST ROK constracted on the space of quarantine where people and goods had to wait before continuing there trip to prevent spreading of diseases from the East. 

RIVERS SIGHTSEEING TOUR (up to 2 hours)

This tour includes: two hours cruise on Sava and Danube rivers.

Where to Stay

http://www.mapavodime.rs/integration/user/tob/category/hostel/lang/en

Belgrade Walking Tour Map


View Serbia tourist guides - Belgrade tours in a larger map

Click on Belgrade 360º

Belgrade sightseeing from open top bus BS Tours

Belgrade Sightseeing by Minibus

Sightseeing by walk ( Just 6 euro) 

Belgrade sightseeing with an "Open Top" bus

These are useful links about Belgrade Trip 

http://belgradecitycard.rs/home.html ( city card)

http://www.serbianheritagetours.com/#!belgrade-tours  (Private Tours)

http://www.explore-belgrade.com/

http://livinginbelgrade.com/....  

http://livinginbelgrade.com/virtual-tours-belgrade.php

http://www.guides-serbia.com/

http://baloncentar.com/ ( Baloon Tour) 

http://www.eurometronavodi.com/eng

http://www.turistvodic.info/2eng.htm (tour guides)

http://www.travelserbiabelgrade.com/en/excursions/boat-sightseeing.html (boat tours with dinner)

http://www.tob.rs/en/sightseeing_in.php?id=720 (Sightseeing by walk - 2,5 hours)
http://www.tob.rs/en/sightseeing_in.php?id=135 (Fruška gora and Novi Sad)

http://belguest.rs/

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Travel Tips For Paris

These are very useful travel tips for Paris.

How to go to Paris ?

* You should check skyscanner or expedia.com to find the best prices  if you go to Paris by plane. I offer you to book your flight three or four months ago.

How do you choose what hotel you stay in?

Paris has a wonderful metro network so you can choose a hotel or a hostel which is close to a metro station. We stayed at Ibis hotel 3* in Montmarte and it was nice and just 40 meters to metro station.(25 mins to Eiffel Tower) 

What is "zone" term in Paris? 

Paris and the surrounding area is divided into 5 circular zones for use in pricing public transportation passes.  Travel into the 5th and farthest zone is the most expensive, while zones 1-2, central Paris, are the least expensive.  Examples of popular destinations and their zones:

• Chateau Versailles & Orly Airport - Zone 4
• CDG Airport & Disneyland® Paris - Zone 5
• Fontainebleau - Zone 5

There is a map of zones.You can download it.

Which is the best and cheapest way for transportation in Paris ? 

Get a "Paris Visite" card use metro network limitless.

Organising your transport around Paris between attractions can be stressful and time consuming. That’s why every Paris Pass includes a Travelcard called the Paris Visite Pass. It's a great saving too - 1day Travelcard in Paris would cost you €9.75

The Visite Pass gives you unlimited access to the cities public transport network including:

• Paris Metro trains
• Paris RER over ground trains
• Bus network
• Trams
• SNCF Overland Suburban Trains
• The Montmartre Funicular
  
  
  TOP TIPWith a Paris Visite Pass in your hand you won’t have to queue up for travel tickets anywhere in Paris, saving you time and the hassle of carrying cash.
  
  

  WHERE TO BUY PARIS VISITE? Paris Visite pass can be purchased in all Paris Metro, RER, Transilien SNCF stations, bus terminal ticket counters, RATP Boutiques, RATP sales desks at Orly and CDG airports and Paris tourist offices. You can also buy your pass in certain travel agencies and tour operators abroad.

  Fares Adults Children Zone 1- 3 1- 6 1- 3 1- 6 1 Day 9.30 19.60 4,65 9.80 2 Days 15.20 29.90 7,60 14.95 3 Days 20.70 41.90 10.35 20.95 5 Days 29.90 51.20 14.95 25.60

  WHERE SPECIAL OFFERS Arc de Triomphe A breathtaking view of the Champs Elysées! 20% off admission fee Espace Dali Dali's World in the heart of the Montmartre district. Special Euro o 6.00 instead of Euro o 10.00 admission fee Museum of the quai Branly The dialogue place of cultures. Preferential tariff: 6 Euro o instead of 8,50 Euro o for the ticket to standing collections The Pantheon Temple of Great Men and Women - 20% off admission fee Opéra national de Paris Tthe Palais Garnier, the Temple of Opera and Ballet. Special Euro o 5.00 instead of Euro o 8.00 admission fee at Visite windows Castle of Auvers sur Oise Travel back to the time of the Impressionists! Special Euro o 10 instead of Euro o 12 admission fee, except on 5 April and 23-24 May 2009 Fontainebleau Castle Royal abode of the sovereigns of France. Euro 2.00 off admission fee Vincennes Castle The highest keep tower in Europe! 25% off admission fee Disneyland Resort Paris Tthe magic Mickey mouse festival is only waiting for you! - 20 % discount on the standard ticket (1 day / 2 parks) Grévin Museum Meet the Who's Who of Paris, with 300 wax figures 30% off admission fee Cité des Sciences A world of science to discover - Special Euro 6.00 admission fee to Explora exhibits (instead of Euro 8.00) Montparnasse Tower Enjoy the most beautiful of Paris from the top of the Montparnasse Tower! 35% off admission fee Galeries Lafayette The department store capital of fashion 10% off your purchases + 1 free shopping bag

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Travel Tips - Learn the local Language

Whenver you are visitng another country for any reason vacations, buisness trip etc one of the most important things is to learn a little bit of the local language. You should learn simple words like hello, thanks, how much does this costs and other similar words in the local language.

Recently on of my friend was visited France and before visitirng he had learnt French very fluently from the website http://www.traducteur-anglaisfrancais.fr/ this website allows for English to French translation ( Traducteur Anglais Francais) and vice versa. Moreover he had his iphone with him so whenever he found any difficulty he simply open the site in his iphone write what he want to say in English and click on translate to French it as simple as the click of a mouse.

This is a simple but effective thing when it comes to visiting countries where English is not primary language. Hope you find this post useful. Looking forwards for your replies.

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Jets and Other Travel Stuff

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I have had a few requests for travel tips. So I made a page. You can check it out HERE. It's a work in progress, so bear with me and please let me know if there are things you know about and I don't or things I should change, delete or add. I like hints from other travelers. This is what we are all here for.

But, if you don't feel like reading the whole travel page, I am going to give you the short version today.

- I use ORBITZ for most of my travel needs. I don't always use them to book, but I always use them to compare prices. You can get flight, hotel or car through them and sometimes  you get a deal if you book them all together.

- Don't be fooled. I stay in a lot of hostels, which are the cheapest option besides camping. You can find a good hostel in any country (even the US!) for anywhere from 5 dollars to...(in NZ, OZ and the US) 30 dollars a person (due to this, if you are in the US, I recommend Motel 6). You can find worldwide hostels at Hostelz.com or Hostelbookers.com.

- If you are going to book a car in the US, use Priceline! First, go to Orbitz. Find out how much they are charging per day for the cheapest car. Then go to Priceline and bid HALF that! Most of the time, somebody will accept it!

- For international flights, I use Kayak. It's basically similar to Orbitz, but on Orbitz, one of your cities has to be in the US. For Kayak, it can be anywhere. You can also book your car and hotel through them.

- I recommend getting a Frequent Flier number, even if you "think" you will only fly that company once. There are partners, so all you really need is the "Big Three" --- United, Delta, American. They are partners with many international airlines, so you can almost always get credit. Plus, you MAY get a FREE flight out of it. Why not do it? What do you have to lose? (the same goes for hotels and cars. You can see my travel tips page for website links)

- If you have not already checked out these travel related posts (packing etc), do it!

How to Pack Light For a Long Trip
Top 10 Essentials For Your Pack
10 Things You Will Be Glad You Lugged Around
10 Things You Want to Do Before Kicking The Bucket
10 Weird Things We Saw Abroad
10 Reasons Nepal Is Better Than India: A Guest Post

Now let's go somewhere! Where do you want to go?

This is an A-Z blogfest post. J is for Jets! You can see the rest HERE.

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Essential Travel Items

My Paperchase Notebook (source)

I have written a bit about packing before. Last week I wrote about how to pack light. I have also written about 10 things every person should have in their pack for a long trip. For those two as well as additional travel tips, go HERE. Today I want to talk about my essential travel items.

- Wet Wipes: I use the Target brand face wipes. They come in a pack of 60 or a pack of 10. This pack of 10 just came out. Before I would buy the 60 pack and separate them into Ziplocs so I wouldn’t have to carry around 60 at a time. But now Target does it for me. Thanks Target. These are good for everything. Miss a shower, use one! Eat an orange on the bus, use one! Go pee in a questionable toilet, use one! There are so many uses for these things -- you can even use them for their intended purpose and wipe your face!

- My Paperchase Notebook: If you don’t know about this brand, you should. You can find them online or at Borders. The notebook I love the best is a travel notebook with dividers, pockets and one little Ziploc pocket in the back. There is plain paper, lined and grid. It is great for keeping track of my travel notes, budget and keeping stubs and mementos! This is the best notebook EVER.

- Earplugs: Yes, I use these A LOT. On the bus, in hostels and even sometimes when I just want to read my book and my boyfriend is watching TV (in the same room of course). They come in very handy.

- Money Belt: I don’t always wear this, but it is a handy place to keep your extra money and your passport. I do use it a lot, but even when I am not using it, I know where my important things are.

- Gold-ban Antibacterial Lotion: This moisturizes and cleans! And by golly, it doesn’t smell really chemically. It fact, it smells good! And doesn’t leave your hands all dried out like the regular Purell Antibacterial stuff.

- Shampoo: I know, you are thinking, “duh”, but really, shampoo can be used as shampoo, body wash, hand wash AND laundry soap. Really, you should always have some on you. It’s not just for hair.

- Ziploc bags: Can be used to separate laundry, to carry that shampoo I talked about so it doesn’t leak, to carry food if you buy any in bulk or to keep your camera in when you go to a place in the rainy season. Basically I usually bring half a dozen gallon sized ones and half a dozen quart sized ones. One tip, don’t buy the cheap ones. I did that, and they just all ended up splitting open anyway.

Okay, so now you have it, some essential travel items. I am sure I have probably left out several and I am sure that you guys have many more suggestions!

Let me know what I am missing. What do YOU consider an essential travel item?

This post is part of the A-Z Blogfest. E is for Essential. You can see my other “letters” HERE.

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The Whole Pack-age

Source

When traveling, you sometimes go through many different climates, especially when you travel from Northern to Southern hemisphere in a short period. So how do you pack for this? I mean, you get to Europe in the summer time, then you go south and VOILA, it is winter in South Africa. A month later you are hiking in the snowy peaks of the Himalayas. Different countries in the same region have completely different temperatures too. Sometimes it’s as if you go from Massachusetts in the winter to Florida in the summer, all in one week (or day sometimes!) This is especially hard when you are going to be on the road for a long period of time.

I am a light packer. I have learned this the hard way. On my first trip abroad, when I went to France for the summer (to do a work exchange), I had no idea what to pack. I didn’t know if the job I would have would require dressing up; I had no idea if the Frenchies would look at me funny if I wore my favorite pair of track pants; I wasn’t sure if they were more formal than us; I didn’t know if the apartment I was subletting would have an alarm clock; I didn’t know if they would have books in English!

So I brought everything.  I brought two, not one but TWO suitcases. Big ones. Back in the day, when I went to France, I was not blessed with a rolling suitcase. One had a little tiny strap, like you would have on a clutch handbag, and four tiny wheels. You wheeled it sideways (on the long side) and to do so you had to hunch way over and slouch backwards, causing you to be old before your time. Often, it would tip over, causing your whole production to come to a stop. My other suitcase did not even have the luxury of wheels, tiny or otherwise. I had to carry it. Have you ever seen Spaceballs? That is what I looked like; I had my industrial strength hair dryer, and I COULD have lived without it.

Now I am smarter. I have realized a few things which make life much, much easier.

- You are not going to the moon. They may not have Target, but you can probably find a store, even in the Heart of Darkness, that sells shampoo. Buy it on the road once you figure out how much you will need.

- Layers, layers, layers! A few tank tops, a couple of long sleeves and one heavier sweater will get you very far.

- Also black is always a good idea. If you have a black long sleeve and black pants, you can go from beach to restaurant in a snap. I have the most awesome pair of black dress pants that I got at Express that kind of look like Yoga pants. They can be used for running or for going clubbing (not that I do that!)

- A thin rainproof jacket (I got one at REI for about 40 dollars) that can fit into a really small package when you are not using it is a key ingredient to your featherweight pack.

- A sarong can be used as a towel, or a beach cover up, or a head wrap, or a skirt.

- Zip-off pants, although not attractive, are great for hiking or other activities, are lightweight so you can wash them in the sink and hang them to dry for the next day and they also double as an extra pair of shorts (or your only pair). Get these in black and you may have just killed two birds with one stone. A word to the wise, the more pockets the better. If you can avoid carrying a purse and instead stuff your pockets with your camera and wallet, you have one less thing to worry about.

- Unless you are doing some REALLY serious hiking, running shoes work for almost everything.

Do you have any travel packing tips? Are you a two suitcases kind of person or a throw a backpack on and go kind of person?

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Bada Bhangal Kangra Valley

Kangra is one of the largely unexplored travel destinations due to its remote location. Bada Bhangal is a tribal village in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh that is latest addition to the trekking circuit. Bada Bhangal is located at the height of 7700 ft above sea level and is can be reached from Bir near Baijnath or from Chamba. Form bir it’s a 3 days trek that includes trekking through hills, along banks of river Ravi

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How to Decide on Your Top Holiday Destination as a First-time Traveler?

What are your top holiday destinations? Perhaps, the answers you’ll get depend on the type of person you’re talking to. If you are talking to classy people, they prefer to go to Paris. To those who want to experience the life in busy streets, they will go in NYC. To those who long for beaches and oceans, they want to visit Hawaii.

Oftentimes, I think the life of a tennis athlete is perfectly nice. These athletes tour around the world just to play tennis. They don’t have any responsibilities to think about. Hotel accommodations, shopping, dine-ins and restaurants etc. these are all paid by their marketing sponsors.

I’m sure several people envy these athletes. The fact they are blessed with plenty of chances to explore each nation or city’s own beauty; they are probably the luckiest people alive (except if they are injured or feeling sick). They can enumerate ten to twelve places if you probably ask them what their top holiday destinations are.

Yet, I wonder what the secret formula of a perfect getaway as a first-time traveler. I was making my blog hopping a while ago and I discovered the success of a perfect getaway is research.

Why Research is Important?

1. By researching, you can evaluate your likes and your dislikes.
2. By researching, you’ll understand the procedures on how to get discounts and special privileges.
3. By researching, you can talk to different travel agents.
4. By researching, your awareness gets sharper (you’ll know what to bring, you’ll know the right techniques in packing etc.).

Yet, things didn’t end there. Some people still have questions related to traveling. So, my next concern is:

How to Choose your Top Holiday Destination if you’re a first-time traveler?

1. Enumerate your reasons why you want to go in that place. Whether you like it or not, traveling is about money. To ensure the satisfaction of your first travel, make sure you’re heading to the right destination of your dreams. Never go in a place just because you see it in commercials. It will be nicer if you list all the possible reasons and drawbacks before making decisions to why you are going there.
2. Be knowledgeable about what mode of traveling you want to take part. There are lots of great places in the world and these days, you can spend it on land or water. I’m sure you don’t want to end up like a confused person in the middle of a cruise ship when all you want to do is tour around the gigantic churches in Italy.
3. Stay in your budget. This is a basic reminder for all the first-time travelers out there. Your budget is like the bread and soul of your vacation. You can’t full feel the thrill of your adventure when all you need to think is how much money I still have in my account. To save money, you need to apply for a vacation packages or if you’re unaware of the term, ask your travel agent about it and he can make the arrangements for you.

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