If you are not accostumed to a river city, it might be difficult to appreciate how important are the rivers for a city like Belgrade. Both the Danav (Danube), which separates the city from Vojvodina, and the Sava , which flows along the city and separates from the New Belgrade development of the Tito times, are essential elements of the city landscape and organization. The best way to see the rivers, and the city from the rivers, is to take a boat trip.
Organized boat trips are available in the summer daily at 18:00 from Belgrade port, Karadjordeva 8, at 19:00 from Sportski centar 25 maj , on the Danube banks near Dorcol (++).
Figure 4.1: The Museum of Contemporary Art and the boat restaurants on the Sava
bank in New Beograd
In the evenings, at least in the summer, the river is important for the night life. As an example, the Sava bank in front of Kalemegdan , near the Muzej savreneme umetnosti with many boat restaurants. Along the Sava, in front of Ada Ciganlija , there are many more, and also pubs, night clubs, and all kind of meeting places on boat. More of these on the bank of Danube at Zemum . One of the unwritten rules of the new Serb economy is that anything which is not capable of navigating but still can float if tightly bound to shore is a restaurant. As a single exception, there is a night club on a boat which still is capable of navigating, and actually sails when it is full, to let you dance in the middle of the river.
To swim in the rivers can be recommended only to those who do not care too much for pollution; the best beach is Plaza Lido , on the deserted island of Veliko ratno ostrvo , which can be reached only by boat, to be found in the marina of Zemum.