Serbia

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Flag of Serbia Serbia
Information
Language: Serbian
Capital: Belgrade
Population: 10,350,265
Currency: Serbian Dinar (RSD)
Hitchability: <rating country='rs' />
Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots or BeWelcome
<map lat='44.2373283' lng='20.448' zoom='6' view='0' width='300' height='320' />

Serbia (Serbian: Србија / Srbija), is a country in Southern Europe, located in former Yugoslavia. It contains two autonomous provinces: Vojvodina and Kosovo & Metohija. However, Kosovo declared independence in 2008.

The avarage time of waiting in Serbia is big (2-3h+).It is not easy to hitchhike during the night. Street lights are rare outside of the cities, and even the smaller cities are not so easy to hitch beside.

In Serbia most of the main roads have junctions off towards the cities, so you could be dropped 4 or 5 km away from the nearest place and find yourself having to walk to the next decent junction.

Roads are generally of excellent quality compared to other countries in the region (e.g. Romania or Bulgaria).

Hitchhiking on the motorway is frowned upon, but you won't get into any trouble. Police will only ask you to go off at the next ramp. If you hitchhike on the motorway, it is better to get out at the toll stations, where it is considered normal to hitchhike.

The driving skills of Serbs let you wait almost everywhere, even there where it is pretty dangerous to be picked up (p.e. at the intersection of roads, at the corners, at the very road with no safety spot). They also doesn't see any problem stoping anywhere is possible to drop you. So, basically there is no "bad spot" for hitchhiking in Serbia, however Serbs themselves doesn't really take you easily.

  • According to Rozwal's experience (October 2011) it is very hard to get a ride in the Serbian countryside of Vojvodina. The waiting time is long and the distance covered very little. However, when people are approached directly at small fuel stations at the end of a village they take hitchhikers very eagerly. When hitchhiking in Serbia, according to my experience - it is even more important to try to talk to the drivers than in other countries. Unfortunately, not always is there a place where drivers can be approached personally
platschi hitching towards Serbia

Safety

Hitchhiking along the motorways seems to be no problem during the day. Serbian drivers tend to be friendly. When it's getting dark it is recommended to search for a safe place to stay. While riding through the night, vicious attacks to cars and people on parking areas or along the road seem to happen from time to time. Make sure that you get out at a 24h petrol station or motel along the way.

Cities

Border crossing

Money

When only hitchhiking through Serbia to get to Hungary, Bulgaria or wherever, you can pay at most service stations along the motorway with euro notes or bank card. Sometimes they also offer cash machines to withdraw euro notes. The country itself is quite cheap compared to Hungary or other Western European countries. Drivers will not ask you to pay for the ride.

Phrasebook

Serbian

  1. Hello - Zdravo
  2. Excuse me... - Izvinite
  3. Do you possibly drive in the direction of ...? - Izvinite da li idete u pravcu ... ?
  4. Could I get a lift to...? - Mogu li dobiti prevoz do...?
  5. - a gasstation / a service area / a parking place? / along the highway - benzinska pumpa / odmorishte / parking / duz autoputa
  6. pay-toll - naplatna rampa
  7. motorway - autoput
  8. Is the lift free? / I can't pay. - Da li je prevoz besplatan? / Ne Mogu da platim.
  9. Do you speak ...? / any other languages / Could you speak slower, please? - Da li govorite...? / neki drugi jezik/ Mozete li govoriti sporije, molim?
  10. yes / no / maybe / no thanks - Da / Ne / Mozda / Ne Hvala..
  11. That’s great / perfect / bad / no problem - Super/ Odlichno / Savrsheno / Loshe / Nema problema
  12. I don't understand. / I don't know. - Ne razumem. / Ne znam.
  13. I'm going to ... / Where are you going to? - Idem do.. / Gde vi idete?
  14. My name is... / What's your name? / I’m from... / Where are you from? - Ja se zovem../ Kako se ti zovesh? Ja sam iz... / Odakle ste vi?
  15. I’m ... years old. / How old are you? - Ja imam ... godina./ Koliko godina ti imash?
  16. I study.... / My subjects are... / I’m in my ... year. / I will become a .... - Studiram.... / Moji predmeti su... / Ja sam u ... godini./ Postacu...
  17. I have a boy-friend/a girl-friend. / I'm married. - Ja imam decka/devojku / Ja sam ozenjen (male) / udata (female)
  18. I’m on holiday. / I visit friends in... / I'm hitchhiking around... - Ja sam na odmoru. / Poseticu prijatelje iz... / Stopiram..
  19. I will stay for... / I’m going back... - Ostajem ... (number) dana (days) / Vracam se ...
  20. Don’t touch me! / Let me out! / Stop! / Help! - Ne diraj me! / Pusti me napolje! / Stop! / U pomoc!
  21. Can you drop me off here? - Mozete li me ostaviti ovde?
  22. Thank you! / Have a nice day/trip! - Hvala (puno)! / Srecan put!
  23. Where can I find ...? - Gde mogu naci...?
  24. - the city centre / a map - centar grada / mapu
  25. - a toilet / a supermarket / a pharmacy / a campsite - toalet / supermarket / apoteku / kamp
  26. - an internetcafe / a cashmachine / a bank / exchange office - internet kafe / bankomat / banku / menjachnicu
  27. - a metrostation / a busstation / a trainstation - metro / autobusku stanicu / zeleznicku stanicu
  28. - the highway to ... / a good hitchhikingspot - autoput do... / dobro mesto za stopiranje
  29. water / (herbal) tea / hot chocolate / coffee - voda / (biljni) chaj / toplu cokoladu / kafu
  30. beer / (red, white) wine / juice - pivo / (crveno, belo) vino / sok
  31. vegetarian / diner / bread / a cheap restaurant - vegeterijansku / veceru / hleb / jeftin restoran
  32. Cheers! / Enjoy your meal! - Ziveli! / Prijatno!
  33. I’m hungry / thirsty / fine / cold / hot / sick - Gladan sam / zedan sam / dobro sam / hladno (mi je)/ vruce (mi je) / bolestan sam
  34. north / east / south / west - sever / istok / jug / zapad
  35. yesterday / today / tomorrow - juče / danas / sutra
  36. zero / one / two / three / four / five / six / seven / eight / nine / ten - nula / jedan / dva / tri / cetiri / pet / sest / sedam / osam / devet / deset
  37. eleven / twelve / thirteen / fourteen / fifteen / sixteen / seventeen / eighteen / nineteen / twenty - jedanaest / dvanaest / trinaest / cetrnaest / petnaest / sesnaest / sedamnaest / osamnaest / devetnaest / dvadeset
  38. twenty-one / thirty - dvadeset-jedan / trideset
  39. hour / day / week / month / kilometre - sat / dan / sedmica / mesec / kilometar
  40. left / right / straight on / before/ after - levo / desno / pravo / pre / posle
  41. this / next / last - ovo / sledece / poslednje
  42. often / seldom / never / long / short - cesto / retko / nikad / dugo / kratko
  43. up / down / over / under - gore / dole / iznad / ispod
  44. How far is it (on foot)? / Where are we? - Koliko je daleko (peshke)? / Gde smo?
  45. How much does it cost? / What time is it? - Koliko kosta? / Koliko je sati?
  46. We are looking for a place to sleep. - Trazimo mesto da prespavamo.
  47. Where can we buy a ticket? - Gde mozemo da kupimo kartu?
  48. Who? / What? / Where? / Why? / When? - ko? / šta? / gde? / zašto / kada?
  49. How? / How much? / How long? / Which? - Kako? / Koliko? / Koliko dugo? / Koji?

The Serbian Travel Club offers a Serbian Phrasebook as well as a special Phrasebook for Hitchhiking.

Personal Experiences

Summer 2022: Long waiting time, don't think that you will pass Serbia by rapidly. I was crossing Serbia from the North Makedonia going to Slovakia. I did not plan to stay in Serbia, just to pass it by. I was lucky 2 times: I was picked up by a guy in Makedonia with whom we passed some distance in Serbia, after I was picked up by Spanish woman only because her GPS was not working and I should use mine to help her find the way to Italy. She took me when I was just walking forward the highway desperate waiting in vain for 2h. Afterwards, I was stopping cars for 2h in the gas station - no one stoped. Overthinking that gas station could be a "bad spot" I found another one in a highway where I was waiting for 2h more in vain. It seems that neither stopping with sing, nor without has the same effect. It was getting dark, so I thought that in the morning will be better. Mistake: I waited for 3h more in the morning, and some guy took me for 10(!) km! It's a joke, right? After waiting another 1h I was taken and this time for 100+ km. Afterwards, 2h of waiting in vain, breakfast, 2h more. 2 guys stopped during that time, but they were going other direction. So, I decided to take a short bus ride between the small cities to change the spot. Was taken till another border-city, and final 15km I did due to taxi-driver who took me "because I look like a stranger", I was not even asking him to stop. So, I did not like hitchhiking in Serbia, and I measure it as a 2nd worse hitchhiking experience in Europe after Turkey. - HHer-Vert

I hitchhiked through the entirety of Serbia (North to South) in a single summer day, but had some trouble too. There was fairly low traffic on the highway and even at the border on that day, so stopping at service stations meant that I could approach at most thirty cars an hour and they were rarely going the right direction. I could see that traffic was much higher towards the other direction, so it was probably seasonal. It is probably advisable to stop at the toll stations instead. In the end I got lucky and found a direct ride to Skopje just short of Belgrad. - Rebew (talk) 19:12, 18 August 2022 (CEST)

Links

Hitchhiker's guide to Serbia

Lana in Serbia (hitchhiking through the Balkans)

Nomadwiki & Trashwiki

Check Nomadwiki for info on accommodation, showers etc. or Trashwiki for dumpsters...and share your wisdom :)