THE BLOG: [ Ссылка ]

The train between Bar (Montenegro) and Belgrade (Serbia) is one of Europe’s great train routes. Stretching 476 km, most of the 11 hour journey is spent crossing the huge mountain range (the Dinaric Alps) that separates the interior of the Balkan peninsula from the thin slice of Montenegro that lies on the coast. It passes through 3 countries: Montenegro, Serbia, as well as a tiny 9km slice of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The train route was a pet project of former Yugoslav dictator Tito who wanted to connect the Yugoslav capital to the coast. It started in 1958 and was concluded in 1976. It is an incredible engineering feat, the route including 254 tunnels and 435 bridges (including Europe’s highest railway bridge near Kolasin). As a passenger you’ll be treated to some incredible views of mountains and river valleys. You’ll also spend a lot of time in tunnels (I read somewhere that 115 km of the route is in tunnels. That’s 25% of the journey!).

There are 2 daily trains in either direction. A morning train leaves both Bar and Belgrade 9am. An evening train leaves Bar at 7 pm and Belgrade at 9 pm. Obviously, if you’re taking the train to enjoy the journey you should be taking it in the morning.


What’s the Bar to Belgrade train like?
The train is the typical Balkan/East European train ie. no frills. Covered by graffiti on the outside, windows have probably never been cleaned. The interior won’t win any points for cleanliness either. Each carriage has toilets at either end which are basic (in our carriage the sinks didn’t work and the door of one of the toilets didn’t fully close). Another thing: if you have issues with cigarette smoke you’ll hate this train. There are non-smoking signs in each carriage but people stand in between carriages – right next to the doors – chain smoking. It doesn’t take long for the carriage to be filled with cigarette smoke.

It’s a shame really, especially if you’ve taken the train to “experience” the journey. I had read somewhere that there was a 1st class compartment. But there was none on this train. The thing is that the condition of the train doesn’t really allow you to fully appreciate the gloriousness of the setting (especially with the dirty windows). Most of the video I shot above was at the end of the carriage, standing by the toilet.

Curious about what you’ll see along the way and how the journey breaks down? We wrote about it in detail here: [ Ссылка ]

#Balkan #Train #Bar #Belgrad

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