How to book tickets on Serbian Trains?

Parichay MehtaJanuary 19, 2023

Another country has been added to our list of ‘visited countries’ and that’s Serbia. We visited Novi Sad and Belgrade, explored lots of attractions, ate at amazing restaurants and cafes, and of course, traveled by Serbian Railways. Serbians Trains have their own positives and negatives but let us help you figure this process out (because we have been through it).

So far we figured that there are three options via which you can book tickets for Serbian Trains. There is no easy or difficult way because all the options have their positives and negatives.

Option 1 – Book Via Serbian Railways Website

We always look for this option while planning our trips. Booking online makes things so much easier because you can book it in advance, pay for it through your regular Credit/Debit card, and get done with it.

First, the official website – SrbijaVoz

Once you go to the homepage, you will see that there is an option to change the language to English but it doesn’t work. You can access it via Google Chrome so that the translation is easier, but sometimes it just breaks down during the translation.

Out of the two options on the left, the first one will take you to the ticket booking page and the second one will show you the public transport timetable. Click on the first box and it will open a new tab leading to the booking process.

Now that this page is opened, things might look easier. “Jedan smer” means one-way so if you are looking for that journey, then let that option be. If you are looking for a return journey, click on the second option called “Povratno putovanje”.

Then put your stations in the next space. “Stanica OD” is “From” and “Stanica DO” is “To”. So if you are looking to book a ticket from Novi Sad to Belgrade, put Novi Sad in Stanica OD and Belgrade or Beograd in Stanica DO. Make sure to check what are the cities called in Serbian.

Via is used only if there are no direct trains. The option will be open if there are no direct trains.

In “Datum putovanja I razred”, put the intended date of traveling. Below that, there is a choice of selecting a class. Select “1. rezred” for 1st class and “2. rezred” for 2nd class. In Broj Putnika, choose the number of people. Sadly, there is no way of choosing adults and kids separately.

Once you are done with all this, click on “Traži” and go to the next step.

After clicking, an extension page will appear right below these options. Here, you can check out train numbers, departure and arrival timings, journey timings, and prices. The prices indicated here are for the entire party. So if you have chosen 2 adults, it will show you the price for 2 adults combined.

Important terms to remember here:
“Broj voza” – Train number
“Polazak” – Departure (Date and time)
“Dolazak” – Arrival (Date and time)
“Cena” – Total price
“Putuje” – Journey time

Once you have chosen the train, click on “izaberi”, go down to the end of the timetable and click on “Dalje”. This will open a new page where you can put your personal data.

Keep “Redovna Cena” as it is unless you have some pass that offers discounts. In the next field, put your full name (according to the passport) and then your date of birth. “Datum Rođenja” means the date of birth. “Dan” is the date, “Mesec” is the month and “Godina” is the year. Once you are done, click on “Dalje” located towards the end of the page.

Now if you have an account with them, you can use the left side to log in and book tickets. If you are like us, without an account with them, you will have to register with them first. Put your details as shown in the screenshot. If you want to receive promotions messages from Serbian trains, click on the checkbox of “Zelim da primam promo poruke” (I’d leave it though). If you want to receive information about your journeys, then click on the checkbox of the second option “Zelim da primam info poruke”.

They will then send you a confirmation mail to register your account. Once done, you will be asked to pay via your card and confirm your tickets.

The only caveat here is that a lot of banks and card companies consider Serbia as a “high-risk” nation and block card transactions. It happened with us on multiple instances while traveling, hence we decided to book the tickets once we are in Serbia as the frequency of Serbian trains is amazing.

Option 2 – Book Serbian Trains Via Kiosks

This option is only available once you are actually in the country. There are kiosks installed at the train stations through which you can book your tickets. Fortunately, the kiosks have a language option where you can choose “English” as the option for the whole transaction.

Here, you can simply choose your destination, date, time, and number of people and pay the exact amount only by card. Again, if your card is not working in Serbia or if the kiosk is not functioning well, this option is not going to work. Sadly, the kiosks that we went to, weren’t functioning properly and kept giving error messages in the last step of the transaction.

Option 3 – Buy Tickets From The Ticket Counter

The good old way. You can simply stand in line (hardly any) and buy tickets directly from the counter at train stations. Since the first two options did not work for us, we had to go for the third option. You can simply walk up to one of the counters, tell them where you want to go, use your fingers to show how many tickets, pay directly, and get done.

You might find out that people sitting at these counters don’t speak English so you should make sure that you know what your destination is called in Serbian. Once you get the ticket, cross-check and use Google Translate to find out if all the information is correct. If you got the wrong ticket and still boarded the train, you might be fined heavily. The ticket checker will not allow the “I don’t know Serbian so…” excuse.