2016 New Year's in Belgrade

So you're thinking about what to do with your Christmas holidays - you've only got so many days, and all these cities seem to turn into big parties just round this time... how to decide? It so happens that we can do a little bit to help. As a first and very general tip, try to spend December somewhere else - if you're remotely in the region, any pretty city in Central Europe that gets dolled up since early in the month will do. Once you're done with that, head down south and try to spend as much of January in Belgrade as you possibly can - thanks to our slightly different religious calendar and the overlap of various random holidays, this is where the party moves... and stays... until you wake up and it's February, you're 10 kilos overweight, and 20 notches higher on your personal happiness scale.

The actual New Year's Eve celebration usually kicks off in the city's numerous bars or at private parties. You shouldn't worry about getting yourself into either of these - as many a tourist before you has discovered, people here tend to be over-generous on invitations and booze, so as long as you say you're looking, you should do just fine. Once everyone's spirits have been sufficiently lifted (which may or may not include shifting between several bars or flats), the sea of people moves outdoors, to cruise between the parties hosted around music stages scattered around the city center. It's up to your personal fancy whether you choose to wait for the midnight fireworks around one of these or only come out later (possibly missing the highlights of the organized outdoor show, but also avoiding the necessity to duck between firecrackers), but definitely make sure you spend some time on the streets. Waiting for you there will be not only well-known international DJs, rock'n'roll bands, pop stars, reggae gods, and highlights of the Balkan music scene (all part of the city-organized program), but also all forms of spontaneous party-machines, wild creatures waiting to make your Belgrade New Year's a very memorable one. Well, the details of how this goes depend on your personal preferences and company, but the aftermath is usually in a club, where you can either continue to party well into January, or slowly slide down, depending on your saved-up energies.

The thing is, that's not remotely the end of it. You're given a day or two's rest, and then it's re-runs of New Year's, Christmas on January 7th, - so called Serbian New Year's on the 14th (to avoid confusion, the proper secular calendar is the same as elsewhere - this is pretty much an abuse of the ancient Gregorian Christian calendar as an excellent excuse to continue partying), and numerous other holidays in line to get you over-fed, drunk, and happy. And to top it all up, Belgrade Eye are offering you a number of accommodation options to use either as a venue for the celebrations or as your own spot away from the havoc.

If you still decide to travel to Belgrade for exactly on New Year's eve we have to warn you to book your accommodation 2-3 months in advance as this is the time when Belgrade hotels and hostels in Belgrade tend to run out of beds. Cheap Belgrade flights could be even more difficult to snatch. If you do decide to come out of the blue, there's a chance that some Belgrade apartments become available last minute so make sure to check them out.