The Story of Belgrade: From Fortress to the Bohemian Quarter

Belgrade has been ruled by Romans, Byzantines, Hungarians, Ottomans, and Austrians – conquered, destroyed, and rebuilt more than 30 times. On this walking tour, you'll trace the city's layered history from its Celtic origins to its bohemian café culture. You'll also hear how Belgrade became a capital, lost it all, and fought its way back.

The tour starts opposite Captain Miša's Mansion, home to the Rectorate of the University of Belgrade, a building that was meant to be a royal palace but became the Higher School instead. From there, you'll walk through Dorćol, the former Ottoman quarter, past the 18th-century Bajrakli Mosque – the city's only surviving mosque out of the 75 or so that once stood here – and into Kalemegdan Fortress, where a Roman wall, a medieval gate, and an Ottoman fountain sit side by side above the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers.

You'll emerge from the fortress onto Knez Mihailova Street, Belgrade's pedestrian spine, and follow the path the city's bohemians took when their favourite kafana was demolished, all the way down to Skadarlija. The tour ends at Kafana Tri Šešira on Skadarska Street, the oldest kafana in the neighbourhood, where musicians still play every evening and the rakija flows freely.

On this 75-minute tour, you'll have a chance to:

• Visit Ružica Church, whose chandeliers are made from rifle bullets and officers' swords donated after World War I
• Hear how Despot Stefan Lazarević and his wife Jelena lived in a fortress within a fortress, complete with a private library worth more than the palace
• Learn the story of Mehmed Pasha Sokolović, a Serbian boy taken as a Janissary who rose to become Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
• Spot the oldest graffiti in Belgrade – swords carved into the stone of the Inner Stambol Gate by a bored Ottoman guard
• Discover why the Victor Monument, one of Belgrade's most recognisable landmarks, ended up on a fortress wall instead of in the city centre
• Hear about Muja the alligator at Belgrade Zoo, who survived three bombings and is now the world's oldest living alligator

Belgrade rewards those who slow down, look closely, and listen – and perhaps order something grilled at the end. This tour gives you the stories to make sense of everything you see.