Arrival

By plane

Belgrade is serviced by Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, about 12 kilometers west of the city center. The national airline is Jat Airways. Other major airlines fly to Belgrade, such as Air France, Swiss and Lufthansa. Discount and no-frills carriers offer modest number of flights. Wizz Air has direct flights from London, Eindhoven, Memmingen, Gothenburg, Malmö, Charleroi, Rome, Stockholm and Dortmund to Belgrade. Germanwings does have a number of less expensive flights to cities across Europe and Norwegian Air is another low cost airline operating to Belgrade. Flyniki also offers low cost flight from and to Vienna. From 15 April 2010 SpanAir started direct flights from Barcelona and Madrid to Belgrade.

Airport transfer - Taxi

If you choose a taxi ride, it is good to know that downtown is some 18km away from the airport. You have several choices, with most desirable named first:

  • Buy a voucher from the dispatch officers in yellow vests before you go through customs control. The vouchers cost RSD 1500 (~€15) to most parts of the city center, Zemun and Novi Beograd, but for distant suburb areas it could cost up to RSD 7500 (~€75). There are reports of problems with this system, such as drivers claiming the voucher is only good for one passenger and that you must pay more for additional passengers, which, of course, is not true.
  • Go left upstairs to the departure section and catch one of the taxis dropping off passengers. They will be happy for the return ride. The cost should be around RSD 1300 (~€13) to the city center, RSD 1500 (~€15) if you take a cab after 23:00.
  • If you take taxi service being offered by drivers in the airport terminal (arrivals) you have most chances to meed dishonest driver. They might try to avoid using their meters, and charge many times the normal fare.

Airport transfer - Bus

Bus line number 72 runs twice an hour (quarter past and quarter to each hour) to Zeleni Venac in the city centre, and costs 120 dinars (~€1.20) if you pay the driver or 80 dinars if you buy the ticket in the shop inside the departure hall that sells food and newspapers. The trip takes around 45 minutes.

A more comfortable city bus option is the A1 minibus, going from the airport to Slavija Square in the city center, stopping at Fontana (Novi Beograd) and the Main Train Station. The buses are comfortable and air-conditioned. The fare is RSD 250 (~€2.50), which is paid on-board; be sure to tell the driver what your destination is before departure. 

Train

The Central Train station is located near the city center. From the station to Republic Square is 1 km (uphill) is about 15 minutes walk. Almost all national and international trains stop here, but a few trains stop at Beograd Novi station, around 3 km west from the city centre.

  • Budapest: 7½h, two daytime and one overnight train Beograd. There is a special offer Budapest Special/Beograd Special, €15 for one-way and €26 for return ticket. You can buy this ticket at MÁV e-shop [7] (at least 7 days in advance, only in Hungarian see Hungary#By_train_2 for English explanation) or at Budapest station. Couchette reservation is €16.40 for 6-berth couchette, but there are reservation-free seats even on the night train. The night train uses to be overcrowded in summer (2005).
  • Vienna: 10½h, a through couchette car attached to night train Beograd. Ticket price begins at €39 in 6-berth couchette (non-refundable, bound to specified train and day). You can book it only at Austrian railway stations.
  • Prague: 15h, EC Avala. Direct one-way ticket is expensive (over €90), but there are considerable discounts for return tickets, especially in CityStar offer.
  • Ljubljana: 9h, two daytime and one overnight train. Discounted Beograd Special ticket, non-refundable and bound to specified train and day, costs €25.
  • Zagreb: 6h, the same trains as from Ljubjana plus one daytime train at morning. Ticket costs about €30, every additional passenger has 50% discount. An additionalRailplus discount is possible.
  • Sarajevo: 8½h, a daytime train departing at 11:35, not shown in international timetables. Ticket costs €17.
  • Podgorica and Bar: 8½h / 9½h one daytime IC Podgorica and one overnight train (three in summer season). The night train arriving at 4:48 arrives at Beograd Novistation. Due to chronic undermaintenance in 1990s there are many sections with slow speed, though the track is currently being refurbished. However the train is still the fastest and cheapest transport mode between Montenegro and Serbia. Price is about €20 plus €3 compulsory seat reservation or €6 couchette reservation.
  • Skopje: 9h, a daytime train Olympus and an overnight train Hellas Express.
  • Sofia: 9h, one daytime and one overnight train. Trains on this route are slightly slower than buses and often delayed, but also cheaper. Ticket cost about €20, and €10 for berth reservation.
  • Bucharest: 12h, an overnight train Bucuresti.

Bus

Belgrade's central bus station is near the central train station, in Karađorđeva street. Whilst coach service to national and international destinations is frequent, departure times are usually reliable, but arrival times may be not. Timetables aren't clearly posted; the timetables that are there are in Serbian only, so ask for information inside the terminal.

Ticket reservations and purchases are made in the terminal building.

When buying a bus ticket, you will also receive a token to enter the platform area, for national travel. For international travel, you will be given a paper stub to present at the platform gate.

Be aware that most coach drivers will charge you a fee for baggage handling in the cargo compartment, though this is not a uniform practice with international travel. Also be aware that drivers rarely speak English or any other foreign language. Inform yourself about your trip prior to departure as much as you can; if in doubt, ask a fellow passenger for assistance.

Coach travel in Serbia is a hit-and-miss experience; whilst there is a huge number of companies to chose from, not all of them have clean, modern coach fleets, particularly for travel within Serbia or to neighbouring Montenegro. Coaches are more often clean and modern when embarking on trips to Croatia and Western Europe.

For international trips to the rest of Europe, Lasta is the Eurolines carrier.

For long trips, drivers usually stop for 15 minutes breaks roughly every two hours, though this isn't by any means guaranteed. Pack appropriately with food and bottled water. When disembarking on breaks in the trip, make sure to either secure your belongings, or take them with you.

When you get off the bus, you'll probably be offered a taxi ride or baggage-carrying by some men. Don't accept any offers, no matter how they may insist. They are all illegal and their only intention is to rip you off.

Car

Coming north from Subotica and Novi Sad, the E-75 highway is recommended, as well as driving to Belgrade from the south. There is also a major road called Ibarska magistrala (Ibar highway, M-22), which provides approach from south-west (direction of Montenegro, for example). From the west, use the E-70 highway (from Zagreb,Ljubljana etc.). Major roads can be used coming east and north-east from Vršac and Zrenjanin.

Highways have toll stations, which are moderately priced. As of summer 2007, there is major roadwork on the E-75 highway north, so expect occasional delays. Serbia's only highways are parts of E-70 and E-75 roads and the highway passes right through Belgrade without a bypass, causing large unavoidable traffic jams on theGazela bridge and at the Mostar junction.