Getting in and visas for Serbia

While you might not need a visa ... Similar to neighbouring Bosnia and Croatia, foreigners are required by law to register themselves with the police station in their district within 24 hours of receiving a Serbian entry stamp at a border crossing or airport. Registration is done automatically by hotel staff upon check-in, however if you are staying with friends in a private dwelling, you must register your presence with the police in the district in which you are staying. You will receive the bottom part of the Foreigner Registration Form to carry with you if registering at a police station, or a printout from hotel reception if staying at a hotel; when exiting the country, you will be required to present it to the Border Police. Sometimes they will not ask for it, and you can keep it as an administrative memento. Never forget, though, that failure to register can result in prosecution and a large fine. City of Subotica, Northern Serbia Getting into Serbia does not constitute a problem for most European nationals. You don't need to obtain a visa for entering. Citizens of USA, Canada and Australia do not need visas either. Citizens of Bosnia need only ID. Check with your nearest Serbian embassy for current and detailed information.

By plane

• Belgrade The main airport of Serbia is Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (BEG), just a few kilometres from downtown Belgrade. Major European airlines fly to Belgrade. Serbian national airline Jat Airways flies to all major cities in Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East. These are the following airlines that fly to Belgrade: Aeroflot (Moscow-Sheremetyevo), Aerosvit Airlines (Kiev-Boryspil, Sofia), Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle), Alitalia (Milan-Malpensa ,Roma), Austrian Airlines (Vienna), British Airways (London-Heathrow), Czech Airlines (Prague), Gazpromavia (Moscow-Vnukovo, Sochi), Germanwings (Cologne/Bonn), Jat Airways (Amsterdam, Athens,Barcelona (starts 2008), Basel/Mulhouse, Banja Luka, Beirut, Berlin-Tegel, Brussels, Cairo, Copenhagen, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Hamburg, Istanbul-Atatürk, Larnaca, Ljubljana, London-Heathrow, Malta, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Monastir, Munich, Ohrid, Oslo (starts summer 2008), Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Podgorica, Prague, Pula (starts summer 2008), Rome-Fiumicino, Sarajevo, Skopje, Stockholm-Arlanda, Stuttgart, Tel Aviv, Thessaloniki (starts summer 2008), Tirana, Tivat, Trieste, Tripoli, Tunis, Vienna, Zürich), Lufthansa (Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich), Montenegro Airlines (Podgorica, Tivat), Norwegian Air Shuttle (Oslo), Olympic Airlines (Athens), Sky Service (Toronto - starts summer 2008), Swiss International Air Lines (Zürich), Tunisair (Djerba, Monastir) and Turkish Airlines (Istanbul-Atatürk).

TIP: If you want go by taxi to the city centre of Belgrade, don't take one of the taxis that are offered by men in and around the airport. They are much too expensive. Just take one that arrives with new travellers. They will be happy if they don't have to go back on their own. The average trip is between 550 and 800 Dinars (January 2005: 1400 Dinars). Some unscrupulous taxi drivers will demand 200 Dinars per piece of luggage carried. Make it clear that you will not pay extra for the transportation of your luggage in the cab. Make sure that the taximeter is switched on. Tarif 1 is the correct one Monday to Saturday from morning till 10 am. Tarif 3 is the 'trick' fare used to scam foreigners out of obscene amounts of money. Or better take one of the several bus lines, check the Belgrade section.{br} You can change money at the airport, but do the most of it in a city. There is an ATM in the luggage collection area which accepts most major banking and credit cards. Belgrade Nikola Tesla International Airport - Terminal 2 (international departures and arrivals

• Niš - Serbia's second international airport is in Niš - Niš Constantine the Great International Airport (INI). It's connected with Zurich as well as some other European cities during the winter months, serving as the airport for the near by ski resorts at Kopaonik. The following airlines operate to and from the airport: Jat Airways (Basel/Mulhouse [starts November 2006], Frankfurt [starts November 2006], Vienna [starts November 2006], Zürich) and Thomsonfly (London - Gatwick Airport [starts December 10, 2006])

• Priština - Serbia's third international airport is Priština International Airport(PRN). The following airlines operate to and from the airport: Adria Airways (Ljubljana), Albanian Airlines (Tirana), Austrian Airlines (Vienna), British Airways (London-Gatwick), Club Air (Verona), Dubrovnik Airline (Dubrovnik), Edelweiss Air (Zurich, Geneva), dba (Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Berlin), Germanwings (Cologne/Bonn, Hamburg, Stuttgart), Hello (Zurich, Geneva), Jat Airways (Belgrade [expected to start late 2006]), LTU International (Dusseldorf, Stuttgart), Kosova Airlines (Zurich, Geneva, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Hannover, Gothenburg-Landvetter), Malév Hungarian Airlines (Budapest), Turkish Airlines (Istanbul-Atatürk). The airport is located about 20 km from the city itself, in the direction of Peć. The only way to get to the city is a taxi. The drivers may ask as much as 30 EUR for the ride, but the normal price is about 15 EUR.

By train

Several international trains from Belgrade to Budapest and Vienna and to Zagreb-Ljubljana-München/Zurich. Usually, they should not be too late (seldom more than 1 hour). The night train to Budapest was very regularly overcrowded in summer 2005 (only 1 sitting car). Furthermore, there are direct (day or night) trains from Belgrade to Skopje - Thessaloniki (Belgrade-Thessaloniki 30 euro/seat+20euro/bed one way at 2 beds compartment). Trains to Sofia and Bucarest however seem to be often very late (several hours). Trains to Macedonia (Greece), Bulgaria and Romania are allegedly reported to be unsafe.

By car

Be sure your Green Card has an uncancelled "YU" or "SCG" box. Coming from Hungary, the Szeged/Horgos border crossing is notorious for its congestion. If crossing the border from Hungary, try the Tompa/Kelebija crossing point, about 20km west.

By bus

Vienna - Buses leave from Sudbahnhopf station almost every day. For destinations south of Belgrade, Zoran Reisen coaches leave at 3pm on Friday, and charge around 45 euros for a one-way trip (as at August 2007). Priština - Bus terminal is located about 2 km from the city center. It serves several connections in Kosovo as well as international ones (Skopje, Belgrade). Buses are fairly cheap - for example, 80 km trip to Skopje, which takes 2-2.5 h is 5 Euro. Hungary - When you take an international bus from Belgrade towards Germany, don't surprised when a collection is held inside the bus for paying the Hungarian border guards a fee to let the bus go faster over the border. This is what you would call a bribe. On your way into Serbia it seems 'cheaper', though the Hungarian border guards will demand all passengers sign a form declaring they 'offered no gift, cash or otherwise, to Hungarian border police' whether they paid a bribe or not.

By boat

There are boat tours, which pass through Belgrade. These are English Trafalgar Tours which cruise along the Danube and have a two day stopover in Belgrade.

By thumb

Sometimes difficult to hitchhike, sometimes easy. Novi Sad seemed hard to get out of. Numberplates have an indication of where the car is coming from (or going to), NS is Novi Sad, BG is Belgrade, etc. Generally, it is easy to hitch-hike through Vojvodina and it's much more difficult to hitch a ride from Belgrade to south, both Macedonia and Montenegro directions.