This website is a wonderful flight finding search engine that can help you find great deals on flights out of the US and also help find discounted flights in and around Europe for before and/or after the wedding.

Nis Ekspres

Nis Ekspres has many daily buses from Belgrade to Nis. These are fairly comfortable buses and are usually the fastest way to get to Nis from Belgrade. You will have to get to the bus station in Belgrade from the airport if you would like to go directly from the airport to the Nis bus station. If you are staying overnight in Belgrade, your hotel will be able to direct you to the bus station. This page is both in Serbian and English. To translate to English, simply click on the EN button in the top right corner of the page. If you have any issues or questions, feel free to give us a call.

Many of you may wish to rent a car on your trip. This will give you the most flexibility to travel to and from the wedding and around the area. There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing this option. First, most cars in Serbia (and Europe in general) are manual transmission cars. While you are able to find an automatic in some rental agencies, there will likely be limited availability. There are car rental companies in and around the Belgrade airport. There is usually a fee to rent a car in one location and drop it off in another, so if you are planning on flying both in and out of the same airport, it may be useful to rent a car. If you want flexibility in getting to Nis and don't plan on driving back but don't mind paying the drop off fee, then this might also be the choice for you. There are some agencies at the Belgrade airport such as Europcar and Sixt. Outside the airport closer to the center of Belgrade you can also find Hertz, Budget, and a plethora of other companies.

If you plan to drive in Serbia, you will need to obtain an International Driver's Permit (IDP). These are a form of identification that translate your own ID into several different languages. They are not a license themself, so you will need to carry your own driver's license along with the IDP. Several European countries require you to carry an IDP if you will be driving, and others strongly suggest having one if you will be driving. They can be obtained for $15 through AAA by filling out an application and returning it to a AAA office along with two passport sized photos. More information and the application can be found here:

International Driver's Permit Information

Check out the following link for some advice on renting a car in Europe:

Rick Steves: Tips for Booking a Rental Car

Here are some of the many companies that offer rentals from the Belgrade Airport.

Sixt

Europcar

Budget

We appreciate how much it takes to get you to Serbia for the wedding - in time, money and effort. This makes your presence with us even more special, and we are extremely grateful. To make your trip easier, we would like to provide a few travel tips to help you out. Do not hesitate to contact us by email, phone, facebook, or any other method if you have any questions at all about this trip in particular or traveling in Europe generally.

BE FLEXIBLE WITH FLIGHTS

While it is certainly easier to book a flight from your home town (ie Pittsburgh) round trip to and from Belgrade, there are some cheaper options. Currently, the cheapest flights to Belgrade leave from New York and Boston (although this has changed more than once over the past couple of months). It may save a lot of money to either fly, drive, bus, or take a train to one of these locations as opposed to flying out of Pittsburgh or your home town. If you are willing to do this, it could save you some money and cut out a layover or two.

Additionally, consider taking one way flights as opposed to a round trip flight. You may find that while it is expensive to fly round trip from New York to Belgrade or Pittsburgh to Belgrade, it may be much less expensive to fly from Boston to Belgrade and then from Portugal or Ireland or Germany back to the US. Once you are in Europe, there are many inexpensive options to get from country to country - particularly buses and budget airlines. If you are planning on exploring a bit after the wedding or turning your trip into a longer vacation - it might be best to get two separate direct flights than have to go back to Belgrade after traveling.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE TIME CHANGE

Serbia is 6 hours ahead of US Eastern Standard Time - so if it is 2pm in Pittsburgh, it is 8pm in Serbia. It is helpful to remember this when looking at flights. We encourage everyone to come a bit early to Serbia so that you do not risk having a delayed flight that prevents you from getting to the wedding. But if you are going to attempt to time it, make sure you keep in mind that flights leaving the US often do not arrive in Serbia until the next day. So if you book a flight on the 11th, it will usually not get in until the 12th (or some times even the 13th depending on layovers).

CHANGING MONEY

While most of Europe uses the uniform Euro currency, Serbia uses the Dinar. Currently, the dollar is fairly strong against the Dinar. You can get a nice, large beer (.5L) in Nis for about the equivalent of $1.40 (although currency values change frequently). You will not be able to use dollars in Serbia, or, for that matter, anywhere else in Europe. Even if a place would accept dollars, you would likely be given a horrible exchange rate. Most (but not all) places will accept credit cards, but you could get bit by a large international transaction fee if your card has those. It is best to get the currency of the country in which you will be traveling. The best exchange rates often come from bank ATMs. Make sure that you inform your bank before you leave that you will be traveling - and tell them what countries you plan to visit. This way you should not have any problems with the bank freezing your account if a strange transaction in Serbia suddenly appears.