Glob Metropoliten for Serbia

My wife and I decided, on short notice, to try to get to the Davis Cup tennis finals in Belgrade, Serbia, Nov. 15-17, 2013, and then spend another week or so seeing more of the country.

After a bit of Web surfing, in late September we got in touch with Glob Metropoliten Tours (Lufthansa City Center, Makenzijeva 26, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; phone +381 11/2430899). 

Mirjana Ljubinković, the general manager, immediately sent us information about their package tours of Serbia and other parts of former Yugoslavia, saying they could customize a trip.

To the end of their week-long “Tour of Serbia,” Glob Metropoliten was able to add, for the Davis Cup finals, three extra nights in Belgrade, extra meals, and transport between the tennis arena and our hotel. They even obtained the tennis tickets for us. Ideal!

The trip exceeded our expectations. We had a most enthusiastic and knowledgeable English-speaking guide, Pedja, and two very capable and friendly drivers, Bane and Sasha, for different parts of the trip.

We visited a host of monasteries, churches and fortresses, a rakia (brandy) bar, picturesque small towns, the Nikola Tesla Museum, the estate and mausoleum of Marshal Tito, the Honey Museum, wineries, the Viminacium and Lepenski Vir archaeological sites, the “Old Village” Museum, where traditional Serbian wooden buildings have been transported, the quirky mountain village Küstendorf, built by director Emir Kusturica for the film “Life Is a Miracle,” and much more.

The pace never felt hurried, thanks to Pedja and the drivers. We stayed in fine, 3-star hotels in Belgrade, Silver Lake and Zlatibor, where we had some excellent Serbian cuisine. The hotels were more than satisfactory in all respects, although we could have paid slightly more for 4-star hotels.

Not counting the tennis tickets, the invoice for the two of us for the 11-day, 10-night trip amounted to €3,410 (near $4,660), which included all hotels, transfers, dinners, breakfasts, guide, drivers and admission fees. We spent a bit more for a few meals not included in the package plus snacks, tips and souvenirs. We chose to book our flights, ourselves. 

I enthusiastically recommend Glob Metropoliten Tours.

BOB CUSHMAN

Oak Ridge, TN