Living and studying in Belgrade

Last year I spent about 4-5 months studying in Belgrade. There’s not a lot of information around about what it’s like studying in Serbia, so I thought I’d make a quick post.

Among other things, you can find some pretty awesome graffiti in Belgrade

I did unfortunately have one absolutely awful experience while studying here, but since it’s the kind of thing that could have happened anywhere I will try to ignore it and be as objective as possible.

So, what’s it like studying in Belgrade? In no particular order…

The standard of English is high. Indeed much higher than some other European countries like Spain or Italy. Of course it’s a good idea to learn some basic phrases, numbers, and how to read Cyrillic (Serbian can be written in either Latin or Cyrillic), but you can get by without knowing much more. Only very few people, mostly older people, will be unable to understand you.

Serbia is not in the EU and does not use the Euro. You also cannot buy Serbian dinar outside the country, because it's a restricted currency, so you will have to get some at the airport or train station. There are plenty of places to swap money (look for “Menjačnica”) but those near tourist places may have a bad exchange rate. It is often a better idea to withdraw money from an ATM if your card allows it.

Food and alcohol are cheap. So if you’re from a relatively expensive European country you can really enjoy yourself and go to some excellent restaurants. For the price of a bog-standard meal in London you can do some real fine dining. For 2 or 3 euros you can get a decent meal.

The life of a poor student being paid scholarship in Euro...

The transport is fairly good, and cheap. While Belgrade doesn’t have a metro, it does have a large network of buses and trams that will take you pretty much wherever you want to go. They are unfortunately often overcrowded. This is not generally a problem, but if you need to take a large suitcase, it may be pretty much impossible to get on a bus during rush hour. (Not true for the airport bus 72 which is fine, but in the city centre you should plan accordingly.) If you get a “busplus” card from the newsstand it will cost 250 dinar for the card and 89 dinar for each journey. If you are a student at the university it’s possible to get a student bus pass, I think it’s around 15 euro / month.

The main religion in the Belgrade area is Orthodox Christian. This probably won't impact you that much - there are other places of worship available in this large city - but it affects a few things such as the dates of holidays e.g. Christmas is in January not December.

Everyone smokes. Everyone. Okay, not everyone, but it definitely seems that way. You can still smoke in pubs and clubs as in many European countries, but it’s that much worse for the sheer number of people smoking.

Serbia is not as dangerous as you think. Most people still strongly associate Serbia with war, but that’s been over for a long time now. Unless you’re travelling near Kosovo (not recommended), there’s really nothing to worry about. Yes, it is still a fairly poor country that has not been able to restore all the damage that was done, but it is recovering and becoming more and more popular with young tourists, not only for the cheap beer.

You want historic ruins? We’ve got ruins. There is a chance they’ll fall on your head though.

The university organisation is surprisingly good. The classes are far better-organised than in other countries (I’m looking at you, Italy). I gather that this is partly because they put on special classes for us in English, but I have taken classes in both English and Italian in Italy and they were all pretty shambolic. Also my Serbian friends who have studied in Italy told me when it comes to disorganisation and needless paperwork Belgrade and Novi Sad have nothing on Italy. With respect to exams, they are mostly partly written and partly oral, often with a significant amount of coursework also contributing to your grade.

They aren’t really used to non-white people in Serbia. Especially if you look black or East Asian you will probably be stared at and may have to face some unpleasant comments. Unfortunately this is still the situation in many European countries (again, I’m looking at you, Italy).

Typical friendly Serbian sign

No recycling. This just pains me on a spiritual level.

To apply for a residence permit you have to submit documents in Serbian. That is, you have to fill in forms and write a biography/CV in Serbian. Why…? The university sent someone to help us out, but trying to do this would have been extremely difficult otherwise.

There are plenty of bars and clubs and restaurants… Belgrade doesn’t have all that many sights for tourists. But if you’re living here, there are plenty of things to do of an evening. One fun thing we did was go to an escape room (twice in fact).

Zemun is a more picturesque area where you can have a drink in one of several "floating bars" on boats

So there you have it. Belgrade - not the most popular place to spend a semester abroad, but surprisingly fun, especially if you're on a budget.