Šargan Eight Railway, Wooden Town & House on Drina river day trip from Belgrade
Description
Check the three most exciting sights of Western Serbia on this full-day trip from Belgrade by air-conditioned vehicle and with the help of an expert, English-speaking guide to accompany you throughout the day. Explore stunning nature and take a ride on a scenic narrow gauge railroad train. Visit the famous Wooden village built by well-known director Emir Kusturica and admire the Drina, the most beautiful river in Serbia.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Our tour starts from your accommodation, and we head toward Western Serbia, known for its wild and untouched nature, tasty cuisine, and friendly and hospitable people. Two and a half hours ride we’ll spend enjoying the beautiful landscapes and listening to interesting stories about this part of the country.
After a relaxing ride, we’ll arrive just in time for the departure of the famous Šargan Eight scenic train. A unique narrow-gauge railway nowadays serves only for amusement. We will stop at several viewpoints during our ride, from which you can enjoy fabulous views over Mokra Gora. Authentic cars with wooden seats, wood-burning stoves, and characteristic rattling sounds will transport us back to 1925, when this railway was put into operation, establishing a connection between Belgrade and the Adriatic Sea.
After a 1.5-hour ride, we return to the departure station, where we continue our journey to the nearby Mećavnik, also known as Drvengrad (Wooden City). The renowned director Emir Kusturica, a two-time Palme d’Or winner at Cannes, decided to build it during the filming of his movie “Life Is a Miracle.” He chose to convey ruined wooden chalets from the mountain’s slopes, restore them, and equip them with luxurious facilities to form a new settlement. Here, we will make a stop to enjoy a traditional lunch featuring specialties of Western Serbia’s renowned cuisine, irresistibly delicious and piquant (not included). After the meal, we will have some free time for relaxation, and then continue with our tour.
Shortly after, we will reach our next stop, Bajina Bašta, a small town in the foothills of Mt. Tara. Here, we will see the world-famous attraction, “The House on the Drina,” an isolated log cabin situated on a river stone. A photograph of the structure was featured in National Geographic’s ‘Photo of the Day’, and not too long after that, this charming spot became one of the most photographed sights in the Balkans.
Our final stop for the day is one of the most famous viewpoints in the area, “Kapija Podrinja.” From here, you can enjoy a breathtaking view of the surrounding mountains.
Finally, we’ll head back home, riding through the pristine nature of the Povlen mountains. After a ride of around two and a half hours, including one stop, we will arrive in Belgrade in the afternoon. Drop off at your hotels. End of services.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
If you have booked the shared tour option, pick-up will be 15-30 minutes before the departure time. One day before the trip, not before 6 pm, we’ll send you an email with all the pick-up details. If you have booked the private tour option, the default departure time is 9:30. If you would like a different departure time, please contact us to let us know your preferred start time. Pick-up is possible from any hotel, Airbnb, or pension located within a 5 km radius of Republic Square. For pick-up locations more than 5 km from Republic Square, please get in touch with us directly. Important note: Depending on the traffic conditions, location of your hotel/Airbnb, the number and the positions of the pick-up locations on the day of your trip, we may ask you to walk to the closest pick-up point (never more than 7-8 minutes of walking from the place where you're staying). If you would like to start your tour at Belgrade Airport, you can do so with a supplement of 15€ (available only on private tours).
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Confirmation will be received at the time of booking.
- Remember to bring a long-sleeved shirt during summer months, as it could be cold on the Gate of Podrinje.
- The minimum number for a shared tour to operate is three guests.
- At least 16 hours before the trip, we will inform you in case there are not enough guests on tour, and we will offer a choice between: 1) canceling the tour with no fees applied; 2) changing the tour date; 3) moving to another available tour.
Reviews(113)
We had a great day with Jovan! We loved the wooden train ride and seeing so much of Serbia’s beautiful scenery. Jovan provided loads of information about all kinds of things and we felt we learnt a lot about the culture, history, geography and people of Serbia! We also loved the restaurant overlooking the house on the river.
Great experience enjoying the nature of the mountainous region in western Serbia. The journey on the Šargan Eight Railway was wonderful; it was truly magical to visit Emir Kusturica’s Wooden Town, and a real pleasure to have lunch with views of the House on the Drina River. On top of that, our guide, Mr. Jovan, did an excellent job and made the day even more interesting. Thank you very much for the experience. Highly recommended!
Jovan was an excellent driver and guide. He arrived promptly at 0740 as scheduled. There were eight guests. Jovan imparted a lot of historical and cultural knowledge during the drives but also played music. He also added his own humor. We had sufficient time at each stop. It was a long but rewarding day.
Urus our guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining giving lots of local insight during the lengthy drive. The trip was close to 12 hours and to be honest is quite a long time in a minivan for what you see. The mountain railway is entertaining enough but not that spectacular if you have been on similar journeys say in the alps. The wooden village was interesting but again not really worth a trip all the way from Belgrade in our opinion. To be clear, I’m not complaining because the tour was exactly as described with an excellent guide. We stoped for lunch at a local restaurant beside the last stop on the railway, the food was basic but well prepared and inexpensive. The house in the river is a nice novelty sight and the mountain view point at 1400m on the journey back was very impressive. Overall a well organised trip and good value for money however I’d save these attractions for when you are in the area rather than make a special effort from Belgrade.
Thank you for taking the time to share your detailed feedback. We’re glad you enjoyed the tour's organization and had a great experience with Uros as your guide. We understand that the length of the journey can feel different depending on personal preferences, which is why we always provide the full itinerary and travel times in the tour description so guests can choose the experience that suits them best. This tour is designed as a full-day trip to discover some of Serbia’s most unique places, with the journey itself being part of the experience. We appreciate your comments and are happy that, overall, you found the tour valuable and well organized.
Had the pleasure to explore Serbia western region with Victor Tours (the operator offering this tour) and everything went smooth. Our operator Marko was definitely prepared about the whole historic and cultural backgrounds of the places we stopped at. The small group I took the tour with was composed by young guys like me and this helped a lot to have something to talk about and share since the trip is quite long even by car. The train ride was fun and the landscapes it allowed me to see were the cherry on top. The guide also let us decide if we wanted to stay longer for photos at Wooden Town or rather move to Drina House and lunch around there. The whole experience has been absolutely great, from the pickup to the end and we arrived just in time for Belgrade sunset, which I value as an extra pro to recommend this tour.
Thank you for sharing your experience! We’re glad you enjoyed the journey and that Marko helped make the day interesting and comfortable. We appreciate your kind words about the organization and hope to have the chance to show you more of Serbia in the future!
Marko was our tour guide and driver and he was fantastic! Highly recommend this tour if you want an easy tour to check out some really cool sites. The train was pretty cool, but I didn’t love the seat assignments as it was free for all and people like to save their seats. But please note you can walk the cabins and find any empty seats you want!
Long day but great sites - Sarah train, the wooden house, the views along the way. The river house - in the eve, you can’t view it clearly as you look straight in to the sun. Could be due to the time of the year.
Thank you for sharing your impressions. We’re glad you enjoyed the variety of sites along the way and appreciated the unique stops. Kind regards, Victor Tours Tea,
This trip is highly recommended, Jovan is a fantastic guide that for the day trip. The drive is long but he makes it fun, in between the time that he introduces the places he has a good song list to play. If u have a day to spend this is a must do trip.
We’re glad you had a great time with us. Thanks for joining the trip! Kind regards, Victor Tours Team
Very good trip, fantastic scenery. The railway trip is the highlight. Lunch in the wooden village restaurant is very good & reasonabky priced. It is a long day.
Small group but great fun with Alex and Marco. Full of information jokes stories and we all got along great The tour was informative and in a comfy van, loads of room The train trip went through the countryside and offered great views as did all the other attractions
Thanks for being part of our tour! We're really happy you had fun and enjoyed the experience. Looking forward to welcoming you on more adventures, Kind regards, Victor Tours Team
