(Ed’s note – this is a long old piece and it’s a busy day here at Gooner Towers. So I haven’t done my usual tidy up (if any is indeed required, I kind of skim read this due to time constraints). This offering was originally posted on the Gooner Forum, but after my piece on Friday about Brice Taton’s murder, I felt it was good to have a wider perspective on the city, so I’m running it on the main part of the site with my thanks to the author for the time taken to put it together)

Hi guys & greetings from a wandering Man Utd fan. My reason for posting is that I wanted to offer a few words ahead of your visit to Belgrade and in response to the article I came across on the main site.

As well as being a Man U fan, I’m also a p/t travel photographer who works out of Belgrade so I can help with any insights or concerns you might have before travelling. First up, the warning that comes with the article is pretty much common sense for any travelling supporter/s and common sense rules apply. If I was travelling to London and we were playing Arsenal, I’d watch myself. Not because Arsenal fans are bad in any way, just that you get idiots wherever you go. We have them up here and if they’re drunk and looking for a fight, any excuse will do.

In general though and with that caveat out of the way, Belgrade is one of the best cities in the world to travel to. The people are some of the friendliest you can come across and if you show respect you shouldn’t have any more problem there than any other city in the world. You’ll probably have a lot less. The murder of Brice Taton was a tragic event, but it was also an unusual one which shocked and saddened the people of Belgrade as much as anyone else. If there is any doubt of that, you can see from the turnout at this year’s commemoration that it’s still something that is remembered with a heavy heart.

The main area of the city is centred around Knez Mihailova and you can find bars and clubs around the streets that run parallel, or alternatively, if you go to the end of the street where the main fortress Kalemegdan is situated and look across the river, the boats that you see are also bars, clubs, and restaurants. There is a decent guide here and the links on the menu bar above can also help you with useful phrases for hello, please, thank you, etc although to be honest, pretty much everyone speaks English so if you struggle, it shouldn’t be a problem. Just make an attempt, be polite, and you’ll get a good response.

If you’re there for the day, it may be a bit too cold for swimming (temps are still in the 70’s at the moment though) but Ada Ciganlija is about £5 from the centre in a taxi and is probably about the closest thing you’ll find to an inner-city beach i:e huge lake, bars & clubs along the side, and lots of people enjoying the summer on bikes & boats. It’s raining today but you can get an idea from the webcam

If you want to do something touristy, then Kalemegdan is a great place to walk around and has a natural history museum and a zoo if you’re taking kids. You can follow the signs to Skadarlija for a nice bohemian street with restaurants and traditional music, or alternatively you could travel across the river to Zemunski Kej where you can walk along the banks of the river where there are more clubs, restaurants, and also boat cruises that will take you around the island and along the main Sava & Danube rivers.

In short, Belgrade is a happy and vibrant city whose people are friendlier than most and like nothing more than a good time. Treat the place and the people with respect, as you expect to be yourself or as if you were on holiday with your family, and there really is no cause for concern above the ordinary.

As a Man U fan I don’t pass by here too often lol, I just came across a link to the article in my Belgrade rss feed, but if there’s anything you want to know, please feel free to leave a question (Ed’s note – on the forum thread this exclusive was taken from) and I’ll try to answer it if I see it. Alternatively if you have Facebook, it’s not my page, but pop across to this page as it is filled with friendly people who will be happy to answer.

A final word about money and you may struggle to get money changed in the UK (Manchester sucks but London’s probably better in that regard) in which case you can change either euros or pounds once you get to the airport. The exchange office or ‘Menjacnica’ is in the arrivals hall to the left when you come through customs, just after the café. There are also cash machines which accept most major cards. A taxi to the city centre will cost you around 1500 dinars or just over a tenner but make sure you get an official taxi rather than the scruffy bloke with an old banger who spotted you on the way out of customs. Any doubt, check the price first or have a word with one of the police officers there who can point you in the right direction and deal with any unofficial taxi drivers touting for gullible tourists.

Cigs? Equivalent 60p to £1.50 depending on your brand
Beer? About £1.50 in a bar/restaurant (go steady on the rakija, the home made stuff is lethal)
Meal out? Around £7-15 pp depending what you have, drinks on top.

Enjoy your time in Belgrade!

(Ed’s note. There follows a subsequent posting on the same thread from Ian with further info…)

The first time I went to Belgrade was a couple of years after we'd bombed the place for 3 months so tbh I expected the worst. What I found was the opposite. People welcomed me like a long lost friend, applauded (literally) my useless attempts at speaking Serbian, and generally made me feel right at home. It was partly that which helped me to decide I wanted to give something back and help change the negative perceptions - my own of course, but also people like my sister who warned me I may get kidnapped and held for ransom lol. Belgrade's as safe or as dangerous as everywhere else.

There's a couple of things I missed that might help

Good afternoon, good day: Dobar dan
Good evening: Dobro vece
Said as one word and as they appear except vece which is more like vecher or vet-ché
Hello: Zdravo - z as in zebra with dra-vo and an a as in car
Good bye: Dovidjenja - dovi followed by jen as in jenny and ja as ya (unless it has a d in front, j is usually pronouned as a y )

Please: molim - as it looks, o is as in box
Thank you: hvala - the h is like the h in loch and more like a breath sound. combined with the v it's like a harsh f so the whole word would be like fal-a

coffee: nescafe

beer: pivo = pee - vo

phone cards and bus tickets are available from the kiosks you'll see everywhere on the main streets as are cigarettes