Serbia (Bradt Travel Guides) [Paperback]

While other and widely known publishers of travel literature hesitated to launch a guidebook on Serbia, people at the Bradt took advantage of being the first company to print such a guide in English, which by itself represents a policy that should be respected. The book is authored by Laurence Mitchell, and this is his first contribution to the Bradt guides. It is undoubtedly one of the most significant moments in the development of tourism in Serbia today. Good connoisseurs know very well how difficult and complicated Serbia is, or what might be the problems that the author had to solve while collecting data and checking out the situation on the spot. What is the outcome of such an effort?

First of all, the Bradt's Serbia is an amazingly informative, surprisingly accurate and incredibly honest book. The whole text is well structured and consists of 9 chapters, including background information on geography, history (by the way, the complicated, eventful and turbulent history of the Serbian nation has excellently been explained), Art and architecture, literature, even cinema and music. The author made use of additional 'boxes' throughout his book in order to focus the reader's attention on some more detailed explanations, such as biographies of various historical personalities, important events, local customs, offbeat attractions and sights, and the like. After paging through this book one almost feels intimately knowledgeable with Serbia's history, the people and culture.

Laurence Mitchell has shown remarkable insight into many aspects and literally all geographical regions of this country, offering to his readers and travelers alike not only a lot of valuable and practical information but also his sincere comments on some subject themes.

Here are just two examples that could illustrate his charming style of writing. Depicting a local town hotel somewhere in the countryside, he writes: 'You cannot fail to notice this 3 star monstrosity in the centre of town... The carpets range from threadbare to completely worn out, and the eccentric and numerous light fittings, have clearly seen better days - I counted 13 in my room, 7 of which worked.' In case of the largest Belgrade's open-air market, Mitchell comments: "...Every imaginable type of food produce is sold here: vast piles of seasonal fruit, heaving mound peppers, rounds of cheese, hams, wooden tubs of 'kajmak', and enough garlic to dispatch any vampire straight back to Transylvania..."

There is a large section on Belgrade, as well as several sections on different regions of Serbia, including the southern province of Kosovo. Laurence Mitchell explains honestly both the past and the present-day situation in that southern province, starting his description with the following comment: "Kosovo - if you are Albanian, Kosovo-Metohija if you are a Serb - even the name is a political issue. This troubled province remains at the heart of Serbian thinking and is a place of great spiritual importance for many Orthodox Serbs." On the other hand, we can see some other guidebooks (such as the famous Blue Guide), that cover "Albania and Kosovo" as a travel destination.

Keeping in mind the fact that Serbia is literally unknown to most of today's travelers and its customs unfamiliar to Brits or Americans, Laurence Mitchell decided to supply his readers (apart from general information and those relating to the cities, towns, natural and cultural resources), with plenty of practical tips on local tourism-related and other service or product providers including accommodation facilities, restaurants, coffee-shops, internet cafes, car rental, tourist offices and similar services (always with their address, phone numbers, web site URL, email).

Twenty six well-drawn and vivid maps and plans attached to the text serve as both an illustration and information. The pictures are excellent and packed into 8 color pages, but in my opinion any guidebook should have more extensive photo material. In fact, a few additional black and white pictures scattered throughout the text (especially those of Belgrade's cosmopolitan face - Republic Square, pedestrian zone, open-air cafes) would have done the job. And, this would be my only criticism of the otherwise superb Mitchell's book. There are, of course, some errors in the book, but that was inevitably caused by such extensive and "all-in" approach. A well-informed reader will notice as well that most prices given for various local products and services are already outdated.

Laurence Mitchell acknowledges that Serbia is not an ideally developed tourist place and points out on a widely spread and erroneous viewpoint of many abroad which still prevails over the factual situation in the country. It is for this that he writes in his 'Introduction': "Hopefully, I have rectified this situation to some extent with the publication of this guide. Serbia should get the recognition - and visitors - it deserves. Please visit Serbia, you know it makes sense."

This book can be read on the coffee table at home, on the plane or train to Serbia, or (more effectively and with the best results) on the spot when you are about to explore the varied and somewhat contrasted facets of this Balkan country. Buy the book and accept the challenge it has to offer: visit Serbia and discover offbeat travel attractions you never knew existed!

I have recently spent six weeks travelling around Serbia, and I quite simply couldn't have done it, or had so much fun doing it, without this guide. It's background information section is well-researched and accurate, especially when it comes to the history of a country still demonised and misunderstood. The guides to each region of Serbia, and of the cities to visit and what to do and see, are amazingly accurate and insightful; and his directions to hard to reach monasteries, churches and castles are unfaillingly accurate. If you are thinking of visiting this fantastic, and almost unknown, country, then this guide is the only one that provides you with all the information you will need to see and do all you want. I really can't stress enough how useful this guide was to me, and how will written and researched it is. The author's enthusiasm for Serbia is evident on every page, and I used it not only as a travel guide, but also for reading at leisure.
This is the best travel guide I have used for any country, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

I used this guide for travel in Serbia last year and found it extremely useful: a good balance of practical information and interesting background detail. I particularly liked the separate boxes that covered a wide range of Serbian topics from Tito to Turbo-folk. The author's obvious enthusiasm for the country is also worth mentioning, although he is not afraid of stern criticism where he feels it is appropriate.

Unfortunately,guidebooks inevitably go out of date quickly.In the case of the Serbia travel guide, the reason why there are no listings for Belgrade's hostels is that these had not been opened when the book was published.Most of the hostels did not open for business until summer 2005 or 2006, AFTER the book was published (I should know, as I stayed in some of them). In fact, the Lonely Planet 'Best of Belgrade' guide does not list these either and was not published until June 2006!

According to Amazon, a new edition of the Bradt guide will be available this summer so perhaps this matter will be addressed then. In the meantime, I heartily commend this edition of the guide.