Enjoy beautiful landscapes of central Serbian province, Šumadija, or “Serbian Tuscany.” Learn about Serbia’s turbulent history in the XIX and XX century and the fearless struggle for freedom and progress. Visit the magnificent St. George’s Church and King Peter The First’s House. Finally, enjoy a wine tasting at the Royal Winery.
Details
What’s included?
- Free hotel pick-up and drop-off
- Transport by air-conditioned minivan (4-7 pax) or private sedan car (1-3 pax)
- Professional English-speaking guide
- All fuel costs, parking fees, and road tolls
- Entrance fees to the Royal Complex and Avala TV Tower
- Wine tasting in the Royal Winery
- A bottle of water per person
- Tour organization and 24/7 assistance from a licensed incoming tour operator
Exclusions
- Full traditional Serbian lunch (optional, 1.000-1.800 RSD per person)
- Gratuities (optional)
Price
Private Tour
Aside from offering the comfort of having a vehicle and a guide just for yourself, a private tour will give you more flexibility in choosing your itinerary. This option will also allow you to choose the departure time, length of the trip, and language you want the tour to be conducted.
| 1 pax | 2 pax | 3 pax | 4 pax | 5 pax | 6 pax | 7 pax | Child (2-12yrs) |
| 315€ | 159€ | 109€ | 119€ | 95€ | 79€ | 69€ | 49€ |
DURATION: 12 hours
DEPARTURE TIME: you can choose the departure time; we suggest 09:30
DEPARTURE LOCATION: from your accommodation
LANGUAGE: English
Availability
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
| Private | × | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Tour Reviews
Tour description
This tour offers a fantastic blend of history and natural beauty, as well as a chance to taste some of Serbia’s best wines, all within easy reach of the capital. Our tour starts at your accommodation, and we are heading towards the central Serbian province of Šumadija, Serbia’s scenic heartland. We’ll enjoy the beautiful landscapes and hear stories about the Serbian struggle for independence from the Ottomans at the beginning of the 19th century and the history of the royal dynasty Karadjordjević.
After only 20 minutes, our first stop will be Mount Avala, Belgrade green mountain. Situated less than 20km south of the city center, it is one of Belgrade’s most popular green areas, a perfect spot for recreation, picnic, or just enjoying nature. Entirely covered with wood, it serves as home to many birds and animal species. We drive through green forests until we reach the highest spot of Avala. In the 1930’s Aleksandar I, King of Yugoslavia, decided to destroy a medieval fortress of Žrnov that was situated here to build the largest monument in the kingdom – Monument to the Unknown Hero. For this job, he engaged his court artist, world-renowned sculptor Ivan Mestrovic who indeed created a majestic structure made of black marble with colossal sculptures to resemble Antique tombs. We’ll hear some exciting stories about how it was constructed and the symbolism of the monument.
After that, we go down to the second largest hilltop of Avala, 440m high, where the Avala tower is situated. Built in the 1960s as a TV tower, it was the largest concrete structure and the tallest structure in the entire Balkans. During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, the tower was bombed and destroyed. It was reconstructed according to the same plans and reopened for visitors. The two elevators take us up to 123m with a viewpoint from which you stay breathless: you can see the Central Serbian province of Sumadija and the entire Belgrade, including the two rivers’ confluence in the region of Vojvodina behind. After a short break, we get back into the vehicle, and we continue with our trip.
Half an hour on the scenic route will get us to Topola, a handsome town perched on a hill. Here we will visit the Karadjordje’s Konak and the old church, a place where Djordje Petrović -Karadjordje, one of the most important characters in Serbian history, lived and from where he started the First Serbian Uprising, a war against the Ottoman invaders.
After that, we’ll climb to the Oplenac hill, a beautiful green area covered with wood, where on the highest point, a Royal endowment, the St. George church, is situated.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the church was built as a house of prayer and a mausoleum – a resting place for all the members of the Serbian (later Yugoslav) Royal family of Karadjordjevic. A tall and elegant, Byzantine-style five-dome church is completely covered with white marble from Venčac, a mine in the vicinity of Topola.
But, what leaves you breathless is not the church’s appearance but its interior, a spectacle of colors and light, lavishly decorated marble floors, and colored glass mosaics with the gold plate on the walls. A surface of 3 500m2 is covered with more than 40 million peace of tiles in more than 15 000 shades of different colors representing the most extensive gallery of copies of Serbian medieval fresco paintings in one place. In the left and the right wing of the church, two of the most prominent members of the Royal family are buried: Karadjordje himself, as a founder of the family, and King Petar I, the first crowned ruler.
Under the church, in a crypt decorated in the same manner, there are 40 tombs of the members of the Royal dynasty Karadjordjevic.
Next, we will visit the small museum next to the church, which shows an invaluable collection of the Royal regalias and the personal belongings of the Royal family members.
After free time for walking among the wood and park around the church, we’ll visit the Royal vineyards and old cellar, where we shall see how the production of the vine used to look, and we’ll have a chance to see some of the old equipment utilized in that process.
After our eyes and souls have been fed with beauty, we are heading back to Belgrade.
Itinerary:
- 09:30 Tour start – Travel across Central Serbia
- 10:00 The Monument to the Unknown Hero & Avala TV Tower
- 11:00 – Travel across Central Serbia
- 12:00 Karađorđe’s Konak – ca 30 minutes
- 12:40 St George’s Church – ca. 30 minutes
- 13:10 King Petar The First’s Museum – ca. 30 minutes
- 14:00 lunch break (at own expense) – ca. 60 minutes
- 15:15 The Royal Winery – ca. 30 minutes
- 15:45 Departure for Belgrade
- Ca. 17:00 Arrival in Belgrade. Hotel Drop-off
Pick-up details:
- The default departure time is 09:30. If you want a different departure time, you should contact us and let us know when you would like to start.
- Pick-up from any hotel, Airbnb, a pension that is up to 5 km from Republic Square, or from Belgrade port is free of charge. Additionally, we can pick you up from any address in Belgrade, but if the pick-up location is further than 5 km but less than 10 km from the city center, we will apply a supplement of 10€.
- For pick-up locations further than 10 km from Republic Square, please contact us directly.
- If you want to start your tour at Belgrade airport, you could do that with a supplement of 15€.
General notes:
- Confirmation will be received at the time of booking
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- The child rate applies only when sharing with 2 paying adults
Canceling your tour
We apply very simple rules. If you cancel the tour up to 24 hrs before, you’ll get a 100% refund. If you cancel the tour less than 24 hrs before the trip, you will not receive any refund.
