Got in on the crazy Air Serbia deal to Israel for as low as $259 or 17K points round-trip? That deal has finally died after sticking around for nearly 6 weeks, but congrats to the thousands of DansDeals readers who nabbed insanely cheap tickets to the holy land!
Those flights have an overnight connection in Belgrade. You can share tips and connect with your fellow travelers in this DDF thread. Post your flights and stopover times in the Wiki there in order to organize minyanim, trips, and more!
Here are some helpful tips from Chabad of Serbia for your connection:
Welcome to Serbia!
Serbia is a safe country, Belgrade is a safe city. The Serbs love Jews, and there is no anti-Semitism. You can walk around the street with a kippa without fear. As in all cities, just beware of pickpockets who can try to take money without you noticing.
Transportation to the city
Private driver:
Reliable English-speaking driver: Mr. Aleks.
Phone number / Whatsapp: + 381-693571234
You have to coordinate with him in advance.
Prices For each direction:
4- car seat: $ 25
7- car seat: $ 40
You can pay him in US dollars.
Taxi:
It is recommended to take a taxi from the airport. the estimated cost for each direction is $18 but you can only pay in local currency – Serbian Dinar. You can convert dollars to local currency at the airport. The conversion rate at the airport is high so it is advisable to convert only the necessary amount for a taxi and to convert the rest in the city. There is a money change location in every corner of the city.
Pay attention! You should only take a taxi from the official station where there is a large taxi sign at the airport. local drivers will offer you a taxi please don’t go with them as they will charge you an excessive price. Again, just go to the official station!
Accommodation
You can feel secure with any hotel on Booking.com or Airbnb.
Chabad apartment:
You can rent our beautiful newly renovated apartment in Chabad House. There are only 2 rooms and each room has 2 beds. Its suitable for a maximum of 4 people. Price for one room: 40 Euro. Price for 2 rooms 80 Euro. For more information and reservations click on this link.
For recommended hotels in the city center close to the Chabad House please click here.
Kosher food:
Please note! Belgrade has no kosher restaurant or shop. even if Google redirects you to “kosher restaurants”, they are not kosher at all!!!
Chabad provides kosher dinners at 7:30pm by reservations only. Please send requests within 2 weeks of your visit. For information and pre-order click here.
Breakfast and lunch can be ordered for groups of 10 or more by sending a request within 2 weeks of your visit.
Minyanim:
Usually there is no Minyan on weekdays, but sometimes when there is a group of guests we make a minyan at the Chabad House for Mincha and Arvit.
We recommend that you send us a message two days in advance to see if there is a chance for a Minyan. Also, if you see a lot of Jews on your flight, you can arrange with them and schedule a prayer time at the Chabad House.
Tour guides:
Belgrade is a beautiful and interesting city with a fascinating Jewish history. there are many Jewish tour guides in Belgrade who will be happy to take you on a tour.
Here is a list of recommended Jewish tour guides.
- Mr. Yoel Simhony – Phone Number +381-60-550-7150. E-mail: office@noatours-
serbia.com - Mr. Amnon Glid – Phone Number +381-69-715-517. E-mail: [email protected]
- Mr. Aleksander Benvenisty – Phone/Whatsapp Number +972-52-331-8689. E-mail: [email protected]
- Mr. Yair Arama – Phone Number +381-69-269-3388. E-mail: [email protected]
You can always reach us by email: [email protected]
Kol tuv and Welcome,
Chabad of Serbia
Dan’s Note: Thanks to Chabad of Serbia for those tips and don’t forget to make a donation so that they can keep up their great work!
Are you stopping over in Serbia? What are your plans for the stopover?
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40 Comments On "PSA: Helpful Tips From Chabad Of Serbia For Your Stopover In Belgrade"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
❤️ This. Ahead of the game helping people.
This is sooo beautiful! Makes me proud to be a Yid!
Very helpful/thoughtful!
So special. Let’s all remember to donate towards them and take interest in their work
Absolutely! Too often people take advantage of Chabad House services without giving back so that they can continue their great work:
https://chabad.rs/donation-english/
just amazing! as always!
Question, are there not ATM machines in the airport? Those usually give a pretty good conversion rate
Agreed. ATMs are the best way to change money into a local currency, especially if you have an ATM card from Fidelity or Schwabb. When I use my Fidelity debit card at ATMs abroad, I almost always get the Spot exchange rate with no fee at all. Pretty sweet.
The upside ! They are usually the worst ..
What about credit card with no foriegn transaction fee? Do they accept cc?
@Dan I heard Hungary is drivable and there are some planning on going roundtrip to Reb Shayale in keristeier during the overnight stopover?
any thoughts?
It’s being discussed here:
https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=113380.0
wow! growing up in lakewood all my life, I truly envy the unconditional welcome, and love for every yid. I wish i can be like you all!! chazak veamatz. you chabadnicks are truly amazing. where do you get all this strength from.
One answer the rebbe!!!
Lakewood sure does have mass shortcomings when it comes to that
Sorry, but that was not called for.
Dear Jew, every single one of us is a personal messenger and emissary of Hashem. “I wish I can be like you all!!” you are the same Jew as every Chabad Shliach, we are all charged with the mission of making Hashem feel welcome in this physical world. They, however, are lucky enough to be educated by the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed memory, and inspired by His unconditional love for every Jew. You too can tap into this energy and strength through learning the Rebbe’s Torah on various platforms for example articles, lectures, videos, blogs, etc @ chabad.org. Seforim: kehotonline.com PDF: hebrewbooks.com
Remember: If the Ribono Shel Olam entrusted you with this mission He also gave you the strength and courage to accomplish it!
in fact, @rabbiwithmiles aka @dansdeals is doing his “shlichus” by helping people save money, teaching us to be Ehrlich in our business dealings, showing us to be proud of our Jewish identity wherever we go by wearing a kippah and tzitzit, upkeeping of Kashrus to the fullest extent in every corner of the globe and a whole lot of other things! Kudos to dan for showing us that “every Yid is a shliach” whether you’re a rabbi or an airline geek!
You may be able to get a free hotel room with transportation from to and from the airport (call air serbia)
That is only when booking through Air Serbia themselves. these deals came through their partner Etihad
I spent 2 weeks in Serbia and Montenegro and had a great time. I wore my kippa and tzitzis publicly and people told me “Shalom” and “we love Israel.” Try to learn a few words or phrases in Serbian. People will really appreciate it. Don’t speak in Russian, not appreciated—very different. If you have time to travel around, check out Kotor. Simply amazing. Dormitor was also beautiful. Novisad is also worth checking out. Enjoy!
Is there enough time and where to go during the JFK-TLV 4 hour stopover?
First of all, AMAZING!!
I was getting nervous that you weren’t mentioning to donate until I saw the note all the way at the end.
Also, I would imagine that they are not accustomed to the amount of Yidden that they will be hosting over the next few months and in order to cater to all the needs, maybe people should offer in advance if you can bring a package for them so that they can help you and the next shift of visitors. It is probably worth paying for the extra suitcase if need be. Just imagine if you were the one coming the next week when they run out of…[insert your favorite food here].
But donate either way – they are there for you!
Hatzlacha!
Knowing the Rebbe he wouldn’t have condoned denigrating an entire Jewish community. Especially one that is world renown for it’s level of tzedakah and chesed!
Any ideas for activities for kids?
My son flew through Belgrade on his way to yeshiva in August and the Rabbi and Rebitzin could not have been more helpful and pleasant.
They helped him with directions, a place to relax and dinner.
Truly a beacon of light!!
If you have any questions, they are very responsive via email.
Enjoy your trips and your stopover in Serbia!!
Whenever I travel somewhere unique, I contact Chabad in advance to find out what they need from the US. Try it. Its a nice gesture. Your bags always have room.
Absolutely! I’ve brought everything from a case of raw meat to chocolate bars!
Thank so much Dan! Looking forward to this!
Image we will not be the only ones flying on Sunday morning the 19th of April from TLV to Belgrade for the overnight stay, is there a hotel others will be staying in where we can get meals from the chabad all together to make it easier for them?
I am staying at the Raddison Blu hotel it’s really nice and cheap (been there before)
How about car rental is it right by the airport? is it worth renting if i wanna drive to Hungary or rather taking a Taxi? thanks for everything
Some rentals can’t be taken out of serbia. So be aware.
hi to all! if someone plans to fly back Sunday after shavuos to NY with a stopover in Belgrade may 31 from 10am until june 1 755am and wants to chap arain kerestir in Hungary by car pls let me know. Thanks
Post here:
https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=113380.0
yes im going on that date and would like to go to
FYI – There is no longer an option to order the kosher meal on the Air Serbia website. I just called to request kosher meals, and the agent informed me that there was a “problem” with the kosher meals, and she couldn’t add them to my reservation. She seemed to think that the problem will be sorted out and told me to call back in a few weeks.
Another hotel option would be the Metropol Palace by Marriott or the Belgrade Hilton. Both are luxury hotels under $100 per night and within walking distance to the Chabad
Quick question, by April if the Corona virus has gotten worse and they start cancelling international flights, would we get our money back or since we don’t have travel insurance, do we lose everything? Have five people booked as of now.
Serbia is projected to have more COVID deaths per 100,000 than any other country in the world by sometime in November according to this website: https://covid19.healthdata.org/serbia. There have been major protests against the government’s handling of the crisis.