There’s no better way to fully understand the Serbian people and their rich history and culture than to visit some of the best museums you can find in Belgrade. In Belgrade, you’ll find many great museums with great collections varying from aviation, to contemporary art, to Tito & Yugoslavia history, all the way to old-timers. In this article, we’ll cover some of the most popular museums in Belgrade. Let’s get into it!
Museum of Contemporary Arts, Belgrade
The Museum of Contemporary Arts in Belgrade is located on a beautiful spot in Ušće park near the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers. Surrounded by the greenery, the museum spans over five levels, with collections of contemporary artists from Yugoslavia’s former countries. The museum is home to galleries, festivals, and exhibitions.
Nikola Tesla Museum, Belgrade
Nikola Tesla is one of Serbia’s most important inventors and electrical engineers. The museum honors his life and work. Nikola Tesla is most known for his design of the modern alternating current electricity system. At the museum, you’ll find out more about his unique life story through videos and many artifacts from his life. The museum is also home to an urn with Tesla’s ashes.
National Museum, Belgrade
One short walk away from the main street in Belgrade, you’ll come across the National Museum. If you want to learn about Serbian art and history from the Paleolithic era to the end of the twentieth century, this is the perfect place to do that.
Aeronautical Museum, Belgrade / Museum of Aviation
NOTE: The Aeronautical Museum is currently not open for visitors because of renovations.
The Museum of Aviation is located in Surčin, right next to the Nikola Tesla Airport. The museum has a collection of Yugoslav aviation, both civilian and military, with some rare planes. It also includes some items from US planes gathered during the 1999 NATO bombing. This museum is typically most interesting to people who are really into aviation.
Ethnographic Museum, Belgrade
Ethnographic Museum is one of the oldest museums in the Balkans and is a guardian of the national culture. This museum is remarkable, not only for what it stores inside but also for the impressive building it’s located in.
The museum has a permanent exhibition, as well as temporary ones. All of them display how Serbs lived over the past few centuries.
The Historical Museum of Serbia
Located in the Nikola Pašić Square, the Historical Museum showcases some of the stories from Serbia’s extremely complex history. Here, you can explore the history of the nation from the medieval kingdom to the Yugoslavian era.
Museum of Illusions, Belgrade
Museum of Illusions is exactly what the name suggests it is! This museum is a great place for children to learn more about vision, how the human brain works, and our perception. After spending some time here, the museum may confuse you, but you’ll have an amazing time! Also, don’t forget to bring your camera, because the museum has multiple perfectly instagrammable spots.
Museum of African Art, Belgrade
This museum is showcasing different and diverse cultures and arts of the African continent. The Museum of African Art has a permanent exhibition of West African art and often hosts temporary exhibitions of different African artifacts. The museum also hosts festivals, lectures, movie screenings, concerts, and workshops, intending to promote cultural relations and diversity. The museum is located slightly outside of the city center, right next to the Egyptian embassy.
Military Museum, Belgrade
Military Museum is located right on the Kalemegdan Fortress and displays the military history of Yugoslavia. The collection consists of uniforms, weapons, documents, photos, flags, and more. A portion of the museum artifacts is located outside, presenting several cannons.
Here, you’ll also find evidence of the recent 1999 bombing by NATO, which includes missiles, bombs, and more.
Museum of Yugoslavia, Belgrade – “Tito’s Museum”
The Museum of Yugoslavia hosts a large collection of Josip Broz Tito’s private belongings, gifts he received from world leaders, propaganda posters, and artifacts. It’s located slightly outside of the city center, surrounded by calm nature. Next to the main museum building, you’ll another one called “House of Flowers”, where Tito was buried.
In the past few years, the museum has sometimes hosted summer afternoon matinees, with a DJ and a bar.
Museum of Science and Technology, Belgrade
The Museum of Science and Technology is located near the city center, in lower Dorćol. The museum spreads over several floors, and the visit can take a couple of hours if you want to dig deep. Here you’ll learn about Serbia’s contributions to technology and science. There’s even a fun room of illusions you can check out.
An interesting thing about this museum is that it didn’t have a single item when it was first opened. Museum’s curators sourced all of the items through donations and gifts.
Automobile Museum, Belgrade
The Automobile Museum in Belgrade is a great story about one man, who was a passionate car collector, Bratislav Petković. The museum displays his collection of cars and archive items about the car development in this area. The Automobile Museum building used to be the first public garage in Belgrade, built in 1929. The museum collection also displays cars of the participants of the first Belgrade car and moto race, held in 1939.
Ivo Andrić Museum
Ivo Andrić is one of the most important writers from Yugoslavia. He’s the only Serbian writer to ever receive a Nobel laureate for literature. The museum is located in the apartment where he lived with his wife, and the collection honors his life and work.
Best Museums in Belgrade: Which one is your favorite?
So, that was a list of some of our favorite museums in Belgrade. Did you visit any of them? Are you planning on visiting some of them? Did we fail to mention your favorite one? Let us know in the comments below!