8-day wine tour Serbia
Most important features
- 8 DAYS – 7 NIGHTS
- Visited countries: Serbia
Short introduction
During this 8-day wine tour through Serbia, you will discover a wine country with centuries of wine history that almost disappeared into the background. During this wine tour through Serbia you will (re) discover several beautiful wine regions with great potential. In addition to a large number of wines that you will taste at the different wineries, there is also a lot to see during this wine tour. The Balkan countries, including Serbia, are home to some beautiful cultural treasures that have been preserved despite the various wars. During this trip you will also have the opportunity to try different traditional dishes during the different lunches and dinners. A nice wine tour for a first acquaintance with a country that is slowly returning to wine.
Highlights
- Glass of wine as a welcome drink at a rooftop bar
- 9 wine tastings
- 1 night in a wine hotel
Program
DAY 1: ARRIVAL BELGRADE – SERBIA (D)
Today you will arrive in the largest city in Serbia, Belgrade. After arrival, you will be transferred from the airport to your hotel. First you check in and then you take an orientation walk along the Knez Mihailova Street towards the Kalemegdan Fortress. On the way you will visit one of the most beautiful rooftop bars in the city for a glass of wine as a welcome drink. After this you are expected for dinner in a wine restaurant.
Serbia has become very much in the background when it comes to wine production, due to the various wars in the Balkans in the 1990s. It has become a very unknown wine country with a long wine history that you will be surprised. The restaurant where you will eat tonight is an excellent opportunity for a first introduction to the Balkan cuisine. The many small plates make your dinner a party with barbecue, the best selection of cheeses and different fruits. Local wines and rakias (Brandy) are of course not lacking. The wine range includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and much more. The rakias you can taste include the Zilavka, Traminac, Prokupac, Vranac. After this you go back to your hotel.
Overnight.
DAY 2: BELGRADE – RAJAC (280 KM) (B, L, D)
Today you will travel to the Negotin wine region, located at the three-country point where Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria converge in the easternmost part of the country. This area is known for its wine tradition that is more than seven centuries old. The Negotin region is known in Serbia for its fertile soil and the ‘pivnice’, true underground cellars excavated for wine storage. Each wine village has tens, if not hundreds, of these cellars built into carved rock, wooden beams and some of each structure buried in the ground to maintain the wine temperature. After this you will travel to the village of Rajac where you will be offered a wine tasting with some traditional dishes. In this small, family-run winery you can taste different types of wine, including the unique red wine Zacinjak. This wine can only be found in this region. After checking in and a short circular walk, you can explore more of these cellars in the village on your own. The village of Rajac is a unique complex of approximately 250 wine cellars built between the 18th and early 20th centuries. Dinner follows. You will have the chance to taste different wines including the Red Tamjanika, White Tamjanika and more.
Overnight.
DAY 3 – RAJAC – NEGOTIN – ROGLJEVO – RAJAC (60 KM) (B, L)
Yesterday you visited the wine region around Negotin. After breakfast, start the morning by seeing the city of Negotin itself. Negotin is a small town with many historical sites and of great historical importance to Serbia. Located in the heart of Negotin, Holy Trinity Church was built in the early 19th century in a neoclassical style with elements of the Neo-Renaissance. It is the most notable landmark of this part of the city. The yellow facade is richly decorated with numerous architectural decorations. The next attraction you will visit is Manastir Bukovo, a Serbian Orthodox monastery from the 14th century. In the afternoon you will drive to the village of Rogljevo, with more than 150 “pivnice” (underground wine cellars) built in the 19th century. Here you will visit a winery run by a French couple who make wines with French style and Serbian flair. The couple moved from Burgundy more than a decade ago, intoxicated by the landscape and richness of the land. The grape varieties they grow include the Gamay, the Tamjanika, the Graševina and the Riesling. In the evening you return to Rajac. Dinner on your own.
Overnight in Rajac.
DAY 4 – RAJAC – POTRKANJE – NIS (145 KM) (B, L, D)
In the morning you will leave for the second largest Serbian city of Nis. But first you make a stop in Potrkanje to taste some wines at the first winery of the day. This winery has been run by the same family for generations, including a number of famous winemakers in their own country. Wine is a true tradition here. Carefully selected grape varieties are grown on a total area of 15 hectares. You can find here the Vranac, the Cabernet Sauvignon, the Muscat Hamburg, the Chardonnay, the Rain Riesling and the Sauvignon Blanc. You arrive in Nis in the afternoon. First a panoramic tour follows and you will see various sights of the city. After this, you will visit a unique wine site that represents an age-old gathering of the different wine routes that intersect here. The site extends over approximately 2 hectares of land and is located between the Malcanska River and the Nis-Svrljig road. The visit gives you a true wine journey through time. Dinner.
Overnight in Nis.
DAY 5 – NIS – OPLENAC – TOPOLA (180 KM) (B, L, D)
After breakfast, drive this morning to the central part of Serbia to visit the Shumadija region and the once royal city of Topola. You travel through a hilly part of Topola to the St. George Church. It is also known as Oplenac, a mausoleum of the Serbian and Yugoslav royal house of Karadjordjevich. The Church of Oplenac was founded by King Peter I of Yugoslavia. Many members of the royal family are buried in the crypt below this church or in the cemetery. In the afternoon you will visit a winery with a magical view over the royal vineyards. Here you will have lunch and wine tasting. After checking in at the hotel, take a short walk around the city. Tonight, dinner is at another winery where you will taste delicious wines from the Oplenac region and traditional dishes.
Overnight in Topola.
DAY 6 – TOPOLA – SREMSKI KARLOVCI – NOVI SAD (165 KM) (B, L)
Today you will leave Topola and travel to a famous winery for a wine tasting in authentic wine cellars with a traditional brunch. You will visit the local Honey Museum. Here is a short lecture on the quality of life when using honey products. Then you have free time for shopping or just relaxing. In the afternoon you will leave for Novi Sad, the capital of the Serbian province of Vojvodina. You will walk along the Dunavska (Danube) and Zmaj Jovina Street, the main walking zones of the city. You will see the town hall, the Freedom Square, the Mary Church, Katolicka porta, the house of Mileva Einstein – the wife of Albert Einstein. The walk ends at the Petrovaradin fortress built by the Austrians in the 17th and 18th centuries as a defensive wall against the invasion of the Turks. Because of its location they call it the “Gibraltar of the Danube”. Today the fort is known for the most prestigious European music festival “Exit”.
Overnight in Novi Sad.
DAY 7 – NOVI SAD – FRUSKA GORA – BELGRADE (144 KM) (B, L, D)
In the morning, after breakfast, you leave Novi Sad and travel to the region and the Fruska Gora National Park of the same name. Here are more than 30 wineries in the area. You will visit one of these wineries founded in 2006. In Fruska Gora you will follow in the footsteps of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus who planted the first vines in Fruška Gora. The vines at the winery you will visit include Cabernet Sauvignon and Kadarka. After this you will visit another winery where grape varieties mainly consist of the Rhine Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay, Portugieser, Merlot, Cabernet or the sweet Bermet. You will finish this trip at a wine restaurant in Belgrade with a fantastic selection of wines.
DAY 8 – BELGRADE – BELGRADE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (20 KM) (B)
After breakfast, and depending on your flight times, you will receive a transfer to the airport for your flight back home… or an extension of your trip to one of the other beautiful surrounding wine countries such as Croatia or Bulgaria for example. Ask us about the possibilities for a free, customized quote.
Included / Excluded
What’s included / not included in this wine tour ?
Included
- 9 wine tastings
- Flights
- Transfer airport – hotel – airport
- 7 nights in a standard double room in good quality hotels
- Meals where indicated (B = breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner)
- Transport as described in the program
Excluded
- Specialized wine guide
- Single room surcharge
- Experienced English-speaking guide unless otherwise stated, other languages on request
- Personal expenses
- Entrance fees to the listed sights
- Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks unless explicitly stated
- Meals other than stated in the program
- Tips
- Cancellation and travel insurance (we can arrange this for you if desired)
- Taxes to be paid locally, such as the tourist tax
- Everything that is not reported under the heading including
Request a quote for this wine tour and we can work with you to determine what will and will not be included. The choice is yours.
All flights (international and domestic), hotels and rental car are always subject to availability until the time of final booking with signing the sales file. The booking is made and recorded after receipt of the deposit on our bank account.
Prices are always subject to change and are signed until the sales file without notice and / or evidence. The reasons, which are not exhaustive, can be seasonality and availability.
