Bar To Belgrade Via Train

It’s considered one of the great European rail journey’s but locals couldn’t understand why I would want to take the train from Bar, Montenegro to Belgrade, Serbia. Buses are better and faster. 435 bridges, 254 tunnels, a climb of over 1000 meters into the mountains, and a crossing of the Mala Rijeka bridge which was the highest railway bridge in the world until 2001. If you like riding the rails there’s good reason to fork out 24 Euros for the 12+ hour journey.

I bought my ticket a week in advance but as I was told there’s not reason to. At the beginning I had a 6 seat compartment to myself as we rolled a short distance along the sea before turning east for the mountains and Skadar lake. As for the train condition goes it was ok. The carriages were kind of worn with graffiti on the outside. But the seats were comfortable. The dining car was for smoking and all they served was booze and bad coffee. Only one toilet worked properly. The other toilets leaked when flushed and smelled of rotten urine.

We reached Podgorica in a little over an hour and quite a few people got on but the train still had plenty of empty seats. A guided group of 15 got on. Their guide was from Macedonia and the people were from Western Europe and Canada. I’d get to know a few of them as the journey progressed.

From Podgorica the trains labors slowly over the mountains. The first part is the most scenic. I made sure to lookout for the Mala Rijeka bridge as I thought it was a highlight. Ironically the guided group was oblivious to the significance until hours later I mentioned it and showed them the photos I took.

The train meanders slowly upwards for quite while through numerous tunnels and exposed sections along the mountainsides. Some of the tunnels are several kilometers long. My eyes were focused out the left side window for most of the time until we reached the border with Montenegro where officials boarded the train and swiped everyone’s passport or EU id as we exited the country. After that we continued a couple of more kilometers to the Serbian border where they boarded the train, collected passports, disappeared for awhile and returned. All very easy. Another stamp.

The Mountains mellowed in Serbia and the skies turned cloudy but the countryside still looked pretty nice. The larger towns and cities tend to look a little ugly with old soviet style concrete building and graffiti. The smaller villages show some charm with a much more appealing concrete architecture.

As we neared Belgrade and flatter terrain I assumed the train would speed up but the exact opposite happened as the train had to stop numerous time at road crossing. I joked with other that we should get a group together and get out an push. I think the conductor actually had to stop and manually put down the crossing gate a few times. At least that’s the way it appeared. It was painfully slow at times.

The seemingly big wrinkle in the trip was that the train would not go as far as the Central Station. The reasons were unclear. Construction? A problem with the rails? A Serbian told me, “Politics”. The organized group of 15 and it’s leader were all in a tiff about about. We were told there was a tram right near where we would be dropped that runs to central. The group quickly decided they would have nothing to do with that and insisted to be taxied from there to their hotel. The guide wanted them to take the tram. The group demanded taxis. It all started to seem like a really big deal. The group was getting worked up. I began to wonder if I should be thinking taxi? Problem?

Well, traveling doesn’t always go the way you expect but things always work out. The train dumped us at a small poorly lit station on the outskirts of Belgrade. I hesitated for a moment but simply figured I’d try to find the tram. The saw the organized group of 15 on one side of the road. There were no taxis. A few backpackers and local Serbians stood on the other side of the road were some rails were. I met and talked with a young Belgian couple with backpacks. That’s what you do. Find other backpackers that can speak English and figure it out together what’s going one. Works every time. We needed tram number 3.

About 10 minutes later a tram, more like like a trolley car, appeared out of the darkness with a number 3. A single taxi had just picked up three people in the organized group across the street. Cars are small in this part of the world. I got on the tram with the Belgians, a few other backpackers and Serbians.

The tram was amazingly efficient. Much faster than the train and every bit as fast as a taxi. I chatted with the Belgians and before a I knew it we were at central station. When I got off the tram I met German couple who were also on the train. We were all figuring out where we needed to go to get to our various accommodations. The Belgians needede to walk that way over there and the Germans looked up my hotel on an app to help me get oriented. A short walk later I was where I needed to be for the night. They hotel was expecting me. Piece of cake. Problem? What problem? I had left Bar at 8:20 am and arrived at my location for the night at 10:00 pm. A long but good day. Things always work out.