Another crazy idea of mine - a short weekend in Serbia... Belgrade is too far from Sofia so decided to go to Nis which is 3 to 4 hours by bus depending on the time on the border. Matpu 96 is the only company that provides transport from Sofia to Serbia, not really my favourite as the buses are not the best and wifi never works. But again is the only one... Buses from Sofia live at 7.30 am and 4 pm and from Nis to Sofia at 3pm.
Nis is not really a very touristic place though they pride themselves on some attractions and monuments. One of them is the Skull Tower, located at the end of the city. The ticket costs 150 Serbian dinars (1€ is 115 dinars as of June 2014) but to be honest it is possible to get inside without tickets as the person at the gate did not even check them but just waved at us to go inside.
Inside this little church the remains of the Skull Tower (Cele Kula) which originally contained 952 skulls of Serbs killed in a battle near Nis but today there are only 58 skulls.
Another place worth a visit is the Nis Fortress on the bank of Nishava river with a lovely park inside.
Or if the weather is too hot to stay in the city, do not hesitate to visit Niska Banja, a suburbian town 5 km from Nis. A great shady park with some nice views over the hills and the city. There is a local bus number 1 which goes to Niska Banja from the center of Nis, it takes about 20 minutes to get there. The ticket is 80 dinars from the city center or 60 dinars from the Skull Tower.
This is something that I found really surprising, the cost of public transportation is relatively high compared to the price of food. And Serbian food is amazing and is absolutely worth the detour. For a sweet tooth try sladka pitka with cherry jam (home-made one), sort of a crêpe (but the dough is dry) with lots of cherry jam inside and some icing sugar. Is delicious and very filling (for 60 dinars only)!
And of course, the Serbian grill: 300 gr of pure meat grilled in front of you and put in a soft grilled bread accompanied by your choice of veggies and sauces (for those who love spicy, try home-made lutenitsa sauce). You can find all varieties of grilled meat: pork stuffed with cheese escalope made from ground pork (Gurmanska), ground pork mixed with veggies, chicken fillets, pieces of chicken fillets wrapped in bacon and all of them are yummy. The price for this type of sandwich goes from 170 to 270 dinars depending on the type of meat and the chain or stall. But frankly one sandwich is enough to fill you for at least half of the day or even the whole day. So if you are a food lover, do not miss on that!
There are of course other types of food available, like pizza or salads (Bulgarian shopska salad is very popular here too).
If you prefer a salty breakfast, try Mekeke - a huge fried bagette (30 dinars) to eat with a yourgurt.
Yes, food is amazingly cheap in Serbia as well as drinks in cafés. A cappucino is 100 dinars, Coke or Fanta is around 120 dinars and a beer is between 120 and 200 dinars but of course, cheaper in groceries.
Amazing thing in Nis is their ad system. Ads are attached to the tree and not just one tree but all the trees! It must definitely work as all the trees in the city are covered with ads :)
Yes, that's how they do it!
Another thing you should know if you are planning to travel to Nis, do it with your car if you have a possibility. Many of the places that might be interesting are outside Nis. I really wanted to see Vronksi Mausoleum inside the Holy Trinity church but it is located outside Nis... reachable with a bus though (as we were told at the hotel) but we didn't make it but I really hope you will!
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