It was exactly a year ago that we were in Belgrade, and we liked Belgrade a lot, so we were very curious how Niš was going to be. What a lovely surprise it was! I didn’t really know what to expect from this city, but went with an open mind. We rented an Airbnb very close to the city center. Everything that we needed was within walking distance, exactly how we like it!

The weather couldn’t have been better! In the beginning it was a bit chilly, but we never really had full days of rain or weather where we had to wear our winter jackets.

The last couple of days have been wonderful! Most of the time it was sunny, sometimes a bit overcast (which is nice!) and we were able to wear our shorts for the first time since Croatia last summer! Finally getting a bit of a tan, because we were almost see through, haha! Let me tell you a bit more about this beautiful small city, or is it a town?

Getting around

This is very easy, because a lot is within walking distance, but ordering a taxi is just as easy and cheap! We used one of the local taxi apps and it worked perfectly! Traffic can be a bit mental, and cars do not like to stop for crossings, so always make sure to watch where you’re going. 

What to see?

Well, like in any city, there are a lot of ‘must sees’, but not all of them are as impressive as you expect. Still worth visiting though! We went to Niš Fortress, Skull Tower, Crveni Krst concentration camp, and just by walking around, there is a lot more to see. There’s a beautiful walk down the river and a nice park to hang out. As soon as it’s sunny, you’ll see a lot of people out and about.

We also visited a local vineyard called: Vinski Podrum Malca. It was a bit of a strange experience. I booked a tour through email and we were expected to arrive at 13.00. When we arrived, there was no clear sign where to go, but we were told to go into the restaurant. It was like going back into time. The restaurant had a very 80’s feel. Nobody knew about our reservation, so they said we could have lunch first. Uhm, okay. We’ll have lunch first. We ordered some different dishes, but they came out at different times, spreaded out over 1 hour starting from the first dish. After asking the waiter about our tour, he made a call and someone came over 20 minutes later to show us around. It was a nice tour, but we had better ones. The surroundings are very beautiful, so on a warm day, I still think it’s worth a visit!

Where to eat and drink?

This is of course very personal, and us being vegetarian and non-smokers didn’t make it easy to find something that was to our liking. Everywhere you go, people are smoking inside. That made it hard to enjoy a nice meal or a game of pool, because when walking out, we smelled like an ashtray. Therefore I cooked dinner myself most of the time. If you are a beer lover like us, Ministarstvo Brew Pub is definitely worth a visit, and we had some decent food at The Hub. Ooh, and if you like donuts, I mean really fresh, homemade donuts, go to Homerov Svet. Best donuts we’ve had!!

Prices

It’s not very expensive to go out for a drink or a meal. Like everywhere, you can make it as cheap or expensive as you want. But on average, it’s still a lot cheaper than most Western countries. Buying clothes, shoes, and other items is about the same price as back home. 

Supermarkets

In Serbia you can find supermarket chains like: Idea and Maxi, but also Lidl. Idea is our least favorite because of the quality of fruit and vegetables. We preferred to go to Lidl for a big shopping trip once a week. The quality and variety of fruit, vegetables and other foods are really good. It does get very busy, so the best time to go is when it opens.

We liked Niš a lot and I have a feeling we will come back. It’s less chaotic than Belgrade (we liked it there as well) and very pretty in Spring!

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