Kragujevac rose to fame as the first capital of the modern Serbian nation. Between 1818 and 1841, it witnessed some of the most formative moments in the history of the Balkans, with the declaration of Serbia's constitution and the development of many of the country's key industries. These days, it proudly chronicles that golden era in a series of immersive museums, and also buzzes with student life and a fledgling live-music scene. 

Delve into the historic heart of town, where your Kragujevac tour guide can reveal the elegant 19th-century façades of the Prince Miloš complex. A fusion of Ottoman, Balkan and Hapsburg styles, the circle of buildings there are now a part of the national museum, showcasing the onetime grandeur of the city and its peoples. Peek through the First Gymnasium, Serbia’s first high school and the Prince’s Arsenal, an industrial military complex like nowhere else that is today more popular as a movie set. Splintering into the centre from the north-west is the vast Šumarice memorial park, revealing the darker tale of Kragujevac during WWII, when a bloody massacre at the hands of the Nazis ravaged the local population.