Top Things to do in Novi Sad, Serbia

Novi Sad is a unique city in the northern reaches of Serbia with a fantastic array of fun things to do. As one of the European Capital of Culture in 2022, there are enough things to do in and around the city for just about anyone. We were lucky enough to spend a little over a week and a half in Novi Sad. Novi Sad is the second largest in Serbia. Because of a complicated past with the Austro-Hungarian empire, the city center is chock-full of unique and gorgeous architecture. We loved the big city amenities of Novi Sad mixed with the community feel we got from the city. It reminded us in some ways of another favorite city, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

However, Novi Sad is unique and unforgettable in its own charming way. Its worth a visit both to appreciate what it has become today and the at-times complicated and tragic history that got it here.

Petrovaradin Fortress

Petrovaradin Fortress is known as the Gibraltar of the Danube. It is most certainly one of the top things to do in Novi Sad. While this huge fortress was built to protect against the threat of Turkish invaders, it never actually saw combat. In an interesting turn of events, it’s now a fantastic place to explore. Besides the obvious historical interest of it being a huge fortress and all, it is home to tons of art studios and galleries. You can wander around the fortress and peer into workshops to see artists at work. Plus, there are some nice restaurants to grab a bite to eat or a drink with a fantastic view of the Danube and Novi Sad. Not to mention it’s home of the so-called “drunk clock.” Check it out and figure out why. 😉

It’s not hard to spend at least half a day exploring the fortress. Between the art studios, restaurants, views, churches, and more, it’s practically a town in and of itself. We enjoyed drinks both from the terrace at a restaurant overlooking the Danube–then later went to the quirky and eclectic Cafe Dublin to taste some rakia. Be sure to visit the museum to get a historical understanding of the area. And if you’re up for an underground adventure, you can explore the catacombs.

Walk down Zmaj Jovina Street

Walking down the pedestrian streets of Novi Sad is absolutely a thing you must do. There are a few main pedestrian streets filled with umbrella and awning covered tables and chairs. Grab a drink, some food, or a scoop of gelato at one of them and people walk. Or just go exploring. Either way, some highlights include the Name of Mary Catholic Church, the Monument of Svetozar Miletić, the City Administration building, Palazzo del Vescovo, and the Bishop’s Palace. There’s plenty to see (and take pictures of). Definitely take the time to explore streets branching off from this one too. And while this is the main pedestrian street, there are many others in the City Center, full of picturesque architecture, cool bars and restaurants, and more.

Name of Mary Catholic Church

Name of Mary Church is THE church in Novi Sad’s City Center. It’s absolutely something you must do when visiting. Whenever the church doors are open, you can look and explore inside. But the interior is not the only beautiful part of this church. Famous architect György Molnár designed it for free in 1892. Perhaps its most interesting and intriguing design feature is the tiled roof. These colorful tiles are especially gorgeous if you catch the church near sunset. One of the best views is enjoying a gelato from Crna Rovca and checking it out from the Katedral Park.

Explore the Passages

If you’ve already explored the main streets, it’s time to check out the passages between the streets. Each passage is unique. Some play host to cute restaurants and bars. Others contains boutique stores and small culinary shops. It’s fun to zip between the main streets of the City Center and see what you find behind the arches of the passage entrances. You’ll see these passages all over, and if you’re an urban explorer, it’s certainly another fun thing you can to find places off the beaten path.

Hit Up a Hole-in-the-Wall Bar or Restaurant

Novi Sad has a great selection of bars and restaurants. You’ll see plenty of course walking up and down the pedestrian streets. Finely decorated restaurants are certainly at your disposal. You’ll have no shortage of places to enjoy, like Petrus Caffe Gallery Bar, Kombinat, or Kalem by Zak. All good places to eat in Novi Sad. But make sure to check out more of the local scene as well. For example, we recommend Project 72 Creative Local Lab Cuisine for farm-to-table food and locally produced wine and alcohol. Highly recommended for its cool vibe and great food. Grab some local craft brews or rakia from Škripa Pub or if you’re at the fortress, check out Cafe “Dublin.”

Catch Live Music

Novi Sad was full of live music of all genres. On any given day, you’ll find of course the pedestrian streets filled with musicians. From talented violinists to people playing the traditional tambura, music’s everywhere. Plenty of the restaurants and bars up and down the pedestrian areas employ musicians nearly every day of the week, so it’s not hard to find a venue to grab a drink and enjoy. Some of our favorite venues included Bulevar Books. Bookstore and cafe during the day, (sometimes) hopping bar and concert venue at night. We caught a cover band that played all kinds of classic rock hits. Just down the block is Brauhaus Brewery which seemed to lean more towards contemporary and pop music, but we heard genre-spanning music there too. And of course there are a good chance some music festivals are around. See below for more!

Picnic in Danube Park

If you’re looking for things to do and the weather is nice, go have a picnic in Danube Park. The park has been around since 1895. it’s got a plethora of beautiful trees. Walking around the whole park really doesn’t take too long. It’s not enormous, so you can explore it in a pretty short amount of time. But one of the best things to do here is to organize a picnic. No need to bring your own blanket and basket! You can go to Garnish Cafe where you can buy some of their delicious sandwiches, a bottle of wine, and borrow one of the picnic baskets for the park. It’s a fun way to enjoy some good food and live a little more like a local for the day.

Have a Beach Day

Novi Sad isn’t coastal town. But it has beaches! A good number of them, in fact! If you’re looking for something to in Novi Sad to cool off during the summer, the Danube River has you covered. There are a plethora of beaches available. Some are less popular and as a result, quieter. Štrand is the biggest and most popular beach. It’s located near Liberty Bridge. You can find plenty of places to eat or grab a drink here. There are also umbrellas and chairs for rent. It’s an awesome place to hang out and quite a bit of fun. If you’re more interested in a relaxing beach with fewer people and quieter, check out somewhere like Becarac beach.

Explore the Museums and Art Galleries

Without a doubt, Novi Sadi is filled with things to do related to arts and culture. If you’re interested in art and/or history, the fortress is of course a great place to start. The art studios and galleries are a great way to engage with individual artists. And of course there are plenty more arts, history, and cultural museums in Novi Sad to explore besides the fortress. For example, the Gallery Matica Srpska offers art from the 16th through the 21st centuries. The Museum of Vojvodina has a wonderful collection of artifacts, art, and other exhibits to give you a nice introduction into the history of the region. One key display are the gilded Roman helmets. Be sure to check them out! There’s also the Contemporary Art Museum and the City Museum of Novi Sad.

Walk Along the Danube and Visit Memorial Park

One of my favorite things to in a city is find a cool place to run. Novi Sad is no exception. They have a nice running path that takes you from Dunavac to where the Danube and the Dunav-Tisa-Duna canal meet. This path gives you views of the fortress, Liberty Bridge, and the Monument to the Victims of the Raid. If you only see one part of the path, go to the Monument Park area. If you’re a runner like me, you’ll enjoy running up and down the length of this path with the constantly changing good views.

Catch a Performance at the Serbian National Theater

Instead of being founded in Belgrade, the Serbian National Theater was actually founded and hosts performances in Novi Sad! The venue is comfortable and accessible. We bought $6 tickets to watch a wonderful performance of the Zorba the Greek ballet. If you’re interested in the performing arts, catching a performance here is absolutely a thing you must do in Novi Sad. They generally have performances running all week long. And if you don’t speak Serbian (like us), you can find a plethora of concerts and dance performances, so no language skills are necessary!

Visit the Novi Sad Synagogue (and Catch a Concert)

The Novi Sad Synagogue is a gorgeous work of architecture that cannot be missed in Novi Sad. Architect Baumhorn Lipót designed it, and the synagogue was finished in 1909. Unfortunately, while there were 4,000 Jews in Novi Sad prior to World War II, only 1,000 survived the Holocaust. Only 400 are left in Novi Sad today, and the synagogue is another monument to one of the tragic pieces of Novi Sad’s past. Today, it’s no longer used for religious purposes. Instead, you can visit the place either by dropping by during the day and finding the guard on campus (usually near the southern side of the building) to let you in. Or you can admire its beauty during one of the many concerts put on within the synagogue.

Visit St. George’s Cathedral

This Novi Sad cathedral was finished in 1905. The cathedral represents is a Serbian Orthodox cathedral, so its interior is markedly different than the Name of Mary Church. It’s certainly worth a visit to see the beautiful iconostasis at the back of the nave.

Spend a Day (or more) in Fruška Gora National Park

This National Park stands out from the otherwise mostly flat landscape surrounding it. It’s easily accessible from Novi Sad via bus, making it a wonderful thing to do if you’re a nature lover. You can basically get right off a bus and start hiking. Besides enjoying the gorgeous views and forests, there are a plethora of monasteries to visit. Plus, if you’re into a little rest and relaxation, you might consider spending a night (or two) up at Hotel Fruske Terme to enjoy the spa and pools. We were also lucky enough to attend a festival at the park featuring some fantastic performances–all for free!

Take a Day Trip to a Nearby Town

Thanks to the active bus station and schedules in Novi Sad, it’s relatively easy to explore other nearby towns. First up is nearby Sremski Karlovc. This is the perfect place to visit another picturesque town on the Danube to visit some fantastic wineries. Visit Kovilij to explore the Kovilj Monastery to admire both the monastery and the fantastic food and drinks they make there. Subotica is a must-see for Art Nouveau architecture. Because of its unique location near the border, it blends Serbian and Hungarian architecture. Zrenjanin is another picturesque town with a pretty old town–and some cool palaces and castles to visit!

Taste Rakia

If you’ve been to another Balkan country (like Bulgaria and Montenegro for us), you may have already come across this infamous spirit. If not (or heck, even if you already have), a fun thing to do in Novi Sad is try some new rakia variations. Some of the best rakia we tasted came from Kovilj Monastery. If you have a chance to visit the monastery, you can buy and taste it directly from them. We really liked the walnut one. If you can’t get out to visit them, see if your bar or restaurant carries their Rakia. In our opinion, it was miles above much of the other standard rakia offerings we tried. Flavorful and smooth, it was a lot better than the typical cheap rakia that tastes like rubbing alcohol.

Taste Serbian Wine

Just like traveling in Bulgaria, we hadn’t had much experience with Serbian wine. But when we did try some, it was fantastic. I mean, of course you can get all kinds of qualities, but it’s not often back in the US I find as nice of a selection as Serbian wines as French or Californian or something. There are some unique grapes in the area too like tamjanika which you’ve got to try while there. You can visit wineries in nearby towns like Sremski Karlovci (which is the best spot from Novi Sad in our opinion) or you can just enjoy the wines at any of the great restaurants around Novi Sad’s town center.

Attend a Festival

Exit summer music festival is by far the most popular festival in Novi Sad. Held in Petrovaradin Fortress, it’s won a plethora of awards. Exit hosts genres from Reggae to Rock, Electronic to Metal. If you’re a music fan, it’s a bucket list item. Plus, the stages are in unique, unforgettable stages around the fortress.

But if you’re not into sweaty bodies jumping around and listening to loud music in the summer heat, rest assured, there’s a festival for you. While we were there, we attended events as part of Vila, the Fairy Festival in Fruška Gora. It wasn’t really about faeries, but hosted women-lead music groups, including ones from Belgrade, Croatia, and the US, along with artists, story tellers, films, plays, dances, and more. It was an awesome experience in a beautiful setting.

In addition, we attended some concerts in Novi Sad as part of the Heroine Festival. Novi Sad also hosted films and artworks in galleries celebrating all kinds of heroines. And then of course, we attended the 3v3 Basketball Ultra Novi Sad Challenger tournament.

Being a cultural capital, there are always things to do if you’re interested in taking part in a festival. Check out Novia Sad’s tourism page here for more information.

Visit the H&M

Yeah, of course you can get all your affordable clothing staples here. But that’s not why we recommend it as a top thing to do in Novi Sad. It’s because of the unique architecture! The building the H&M is located in was once owned by a rich family who decorated it with beautiful murals, frescos, and tiles. You can still see remnants of the decorations nicely preserved at the store. The staircase going up from the ground floor is the highlight. It’s definitely worth popping your head in for a visit. When we did, the security guards were even nice enough to tell us a little about the history and what we were looking at. Super friendly!

Have a coffee and chill (or an alcoholic beverage and party) at the Tram bar

Trčika is a must-do when looking for things to do in Novi Sad. This cool place is located on Kralja Aleksandra Street in the City Center. The cafe consists of a decommissioned tram car and a patio outside. You can sit in the benches inside or enjoy the cool braze in the shade of the awning out front. It’s a cute little cafe serving up coffees, juices, and more. Snack stalls are next door in case you’re interested in grabbing a bite with your drink. At night, it totally transforms. They play party music, colorful lights shine and flash everywhere, and you can feel the bass pounding in your chest down the street. It’s a remarkable contrast and fun to see the place both during the day and at night.

Final Tips

• We highly recommend taking a walking tour of the city with a guide. We took one with Nikola who runs the instagram page, @aroundNoviSad. He was very knowledgeable, friendly, and personalized the tour for us. I even went to a concert later with Nikola. Great dude, and you will not regret spending the day learning about Novi Sad with him. He pointed out a bunch of things we would’ve missed if we’d be on our own!
• Be careful about picking a hotel, AirBnB, or apartment! There are so many great options, BUT the city center can be super noisy on the weekend. We picked a great apartment that was just across from the Name of Mary Catholic Church. Perfect location in theory. But their was a club playing very, very loud music until 4 AM on the weekends and live music being belted out until 11 AM every other night. Then the bells of the church ring early in the morning and the pedestrian street fills with people by like 8/9 AM. We did not sleep much.
• You don’t need a car to get around Novi Sad if you don’t want one. There are good buses that can take you to nearby towns and the national park. These don’t show up on Google Maps, but you can find some helpful information here: https://getbybus.com/en/blog/buses-novi-sad