Belgrade

The heart of the city is the Belgrade Fortress, set inside Kalemegdan Park high above the meeting of the two rivers, where the Romans built their camp of Singidunum. From its walls the Victor monument looks out over the confluence towards New Belgrade. From the fortress, the pedestrian street Knez Mihailova leads to Republic Square, past nineteenth-century facades that show the city's turn towards Central Europe after Ottoman rule. Close by is Skadarlija, a cobbled bohemian street of old kafanas where live music still plays over grilled meat and rakija. Dorćol, the old quarter running down to the Danube, keeps traces of its Ottoman and Jewish past, including the Bajrakli Mosque, the last of the city's mosques still standing.

On the Vračar plateau rises the Temple of Saint Sava, one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world, its dome glittering with gold mosaics inside. Across the Sava, Zemun was a Habsburg border town and still feels like a separate place, with riverside restaurants and the Gardoš Tower above its rooftops. Other stops include the Nikola Tesla Museum and the House of Flowers, where Tito is buried.

Tours from Belgrade tend to fall into two groups:

• The city: walks around the fortress, Knez Mihailova, Skadarlija and Dorćol, and longer sightseeing tours that add the Temple of Saint Sava, Zemun and New Belgrade by car. Food and nightlife tours make the most of the kafanas and the clubs moored on the rivers.
• Day trips across Serbia: east along the Danube to Golubac Fortress and the Iron Gates gorge, south to fortified medieval monasteries such as Manasija, to Topola and the royal mausoleum at Oplenac in the Šumadija wine region, or to Niš, birthplace of Constantine the Great. Novi Sad and its Petrovaradin Fortress are an easy trip to the north.

Each tour page lists its exact meeting point, what is included and the languages available on each date.

May, June, September and October are the most pleasant months: warm enough to sit out by the rivers, and good for walking tours and long day trips. July and August are hot, often well above 30 °C, but the city comes alive at night, with open-air bars and the river clubs in full swing. Winters are cold and can bring snow. The city is quieter then, and the museums and kafanas are at their most welcoming.