Serbia’s second city is no less boisterous than its big brother down the meandering Danube, while its pretty face and returning student population of more than 50,000 add a unique, tight-knit charm that sets it apart from the sprawling Balkan capitals all around.
Take a stroll around this one’s grandiose old town, weaving through the web of cobbled streets and open squares. Here guests are treated to a montage of Serbian Orthodox and Catholic churches, all mixing with a smattering of interesting Habsburg municipal buildings and the buzz of modern-day Novi Sad; it’s international wine bars; student-led karaoke sessions; chic and stylish cocktail joints down Dunavska Street culminating in the green expanses of the Danube Park.
But, as any Novi Sad tour guide will tell you, the city’s real must see is the formidable mound of the Petrovaradin Fortress. Unconquerable and impenetrable, it’s hailed as the ‘Gibraltar on the Danube’ for its long history of steadfast resolve against invading armies, while today it’s perhaps best known as the site of Serbia’s largest open air festival, EXIT, in July each year.