October 6, 2019 crconley

Parking in Belgrade

Belgrade, Serbia, Travel

I thought I would offer some advice on parking in Belgrade if you arrive by car.  There are more cars in Belgrade than there are spots for sure which can make it difficult to find a spot so here I have described the parking options, how you can identify where they are and how to utilize them.

The first option for parking in Belgrade is don’t.  If you are not driving into the city then I would recommend not renting a car for your stay.  There are too many options for getting around.  If you are staying downtown 80% of the things a tourist would want to see are within walking distance of the Knez Mihailova street Pedestrian Square.  Cabs are very inexpensive here.  A cab ride from downtown to one of the malls in New Belgrade about 11 kilometers away is 500 dinars or less than $5.00 US.

If you must bring your car into the city the best option is the Hotel parking lot if they have one.  For example, Metropol Palace near where we live has onsite parking.  Other hotels closer to downtown have arrangements.  So, when you make your reservations you should consider if they provide parking for the night and leave your car there and then walk, tram, bus or cab it to your destination.

If you do use your car to get around perhaps you want to explore some of the more out of the way neighborhoods for example around Tito’s grave is the home of many embassies and ambassador’s residence with some interesting sites such as the Aquarium (not really a great spot) and little restaurants to try.  If you are downtown the first option would be the public parking garage.  This is your best bet.  There are blue parking signs throughout the city that direct to you the nearest garage.  On many of the main streets the blue parking signs will have a display showing you which direction go to get to the garage and how many spots are available. Parking is usually a dollar or so an hour.  Take your ticket with you and when you come back and ready to leave either pay at the kiosk or at their office.  There is no attendant at the gate to pay.  During the week it is harder to find because many will be at 0. 

The next option is street parking.  You will need a Serbian cell phone or buy a parking pass at any kiosk on the street selling beer and coke.  If you have an unlocked phone you can purchase a sims card at the airport when you arrive.  I recommend this anyway roaming is high and you can use the data for your google maps.  They are in the process of making it easier to find a spot because now they have the Brown Parking Signs that will tell you how many fee spots and how many handicapped spots are available between that corner and the next busy corner.

Parking is divided into four zones there is a Zone A the most restrictive, but I am not even sure where Zone A is as I have never seen the Purple Zone.  Inside the white lines of the parking spot are some strips of purple or Zone A, red or Zone 1, yellow (looks like orange to me) or Zone 2 and green or Zone 3 paint indicating which zone you are in.

Zone A (Purple): up to 30 minutes
First zone (Red): up to 60 minutes with the possibility of time extension up to 30 minutes.
Second zone (Yellow): up to 120 minutes, with the possibility of time extension up to 60 minutes.
Third zone (Green): up to 180 minutes, with the possibility of time extension up to 120 minutes.

After all the parking time in your zone expires you cannot park in the same zone for 30 minutes.  To pay for parking if you do not have a pass you text your license plate number to 9111 for Zone 1, 9112 for Zone 2 and 9113 for Zone 3.  You will get a text message back in Serbian of course confirming the payment.  Each text message is good for an hour even though technically you could stay in Zone 3 for 5 hours. Typically, it is about 50 cents US for each hour through the extended time for each zone after the initial stay it is three times the regular rate.  Still cheaper than most parking garages. The way the parking pass works is you park your car and find a kiosk that sells beer and coke on the street near your spot and then write the information clearly on the pass and leave it your window.  This seems like a bad option for a lot of reasons and I have never used it though I have a Serbian phone already and have some idea what I am doing.

A couple of notes:  Be careful to make sure it is a real spot.  While you will see Serbs park in some pretty weird place that you know is not a spot don’t take that chance. There are several places especially in front of garage doors that look like a spot but really are not.  The yellow marked spots are for handicapped.  You do not want to get your car towed.  There are four places that the car is towed to, none of them with easy access to the center of the city.  The fines and towing feel will put the charge close to $200 US and you will spend all afternoon trying to find where is your car.

If you are in New Belgrade all the spots on the street are free.  You will see cars parked all over the place on sidewalks, around corners, in yards, in the most unusual places.  Stick with the marked spots and you will be fine.  At the malls the there are parking garages and if the gate is up which is often then no worries at all.  If the gate is down, you typically can park at the mall for three hours for free.  If you plan on staying longer take your parking ticket with you and there is a desk at the front entrance of the mall where you can pay for additional time.   There is no attendant in the parking exit for you to pay.

I hope this is useful information and makes your parking easier in Belgrade.

Prijatno!