Scenic Train from Podgorica to Novi Sad
The train from Bar to Belgrade is commonly referred to as one of Europe’s most spectacular train rides. While we didn’t do the full journey, we did most of it. We boarded the train in the capital city of Podgorica, missing the first hour ride from Bar, which is located at the coast of Montenegro. We then stayed on the journey a bit beyond Belgrade and made our way to Serbia’s second largest city, Novi Sad. The journey actually consists of two separate trains that link the route.
Buying a Ticket for the Train
From what we could find from our research, you must buy the tickets in person at the train station. We chose to purchase them a week early as we were in Podgorica for a few days before our trip up to Durmitor National Park. The bus station we arrived into is very close to the train station. The train was to leave at 10 am and was scheduled to arrive in Novi Sad at 9 pm. It would be a long day, but hopefully a fun journey.
First Train from Podgorica, Montenegro
Chaos Boarding the First Train
The train pulled up to the station about 10 minutes late. Everyone briskly walked over to the train and it became confusing immediately. Our ticket stated that our seats were seats 12 and 15 in car #1. The train employees were directing most of the people away from car #1 to car #2. So we questioningly climbed up the steps to car #2 and tried to pass through the door connecting to our car #1. The workers standing by that entrance told us “the entire car is reserved for them”…. and they didn’t want to address the information on our tickets.
Since we had been denied entrance to car #1, we tried to turn around but a tide of people keep climbing up the steps and cramming into car #2. It seemed impossible to enter into the walkway of the car towards the seats. We finally squeezed into the chaos with our large packs, getting separated from each other in the process. People were standing confused in the aisles and running into each other, with no idea where they should go. It looked like there were too many people for the train, but I think it was just because so many people entered the same door and didn’t know where to go.
Finally we found a couple of free seats towards the back and settled in a cabin with a French couple and one Serbian lady. The train itself was actually pretty comfortable. It had fairly large windows, comfortable seats, and a functional though a bit decrepit bathroom.
Riding through the Dinaric Alps of Montenegro
As the train rolled north of Podgorica, it traveled through increasingly more scenic landscapes. The journey through the Dinaric Alps had impressive sights but also lots of blackout tunnels hiding the beautiful scenes from your eyes. The best views of the whole journey are during the first 2 hours and out the left windows.
We were in the center seats of our cabin and the lady on my left decided to put her feet up on the empty seat opposite her and nap for much of the ride, blocking our exit out of the seats to the hallway with the big windows. However she did get up to stand next to the bathroom and smoke a cigarette, giving me a chance to get to the left window to take in the views and snap some photos.
Second Train through Serbia
Boarding and Crossing the Border
We switched trains in the Montenegrin town of Bijelo Polje, about 2 1/2 hours into the journey. The train into Serbia was very different than our train in Montenegro. It was modern, clean, had plugins available in each seat set, and had functional Wi-Fi. It was a very calm process getting on board and there were more than enough seats available.
On this train an official walks down the aisle and checks each person’s passport and stamps them out of Montenegro before the train leaves the station. I had been concerned that they would check our tourist tax receipts since we hadn’t realized this was something we needed to get when we were in our first stop in Montenegro, so we were missing one. All that worrying was for nothing as nobody asked us for our city tourist tax receipts to cross the border.
About 45 minutes after we boarded, the train left the station. We were over the border and heading north into Serbia in less than 20 minutes. This train traveled much slower than I had expected and slower than the train in Montenegro. We leisurely glided through Serbia for the next 8 hours.
Traveling though Serbia
Southern Serbia is covered in rolling mountains green with trees. A few hours further north on the train and the mountains have become hills. The travel through Serbia isn’t a wow like Montenegro, but it’s still very pretty and enjoyable.
By the time the train is about an hour from Belgrade, the land has mostly flattened. Little towns are now plentiful and fields are scattered between them. The sun soon set and we were in the dark as we passed through Belgrade. The little we saw of Belgrade looked industrial.
Within another hour we reached the train station in Novi Sad. In total the journey took 11 1/2 hours from the time we were supposed to board until we had our feet on the ground in Novi Sad. We were surprised to discover we were on the east side of the river. This is not where we expected the train station in Novi Sad to be. We soon found out this was because the roof collapsed at the normal Novi Sad train station in November of 2024. The roof of the other train station had still not been repaired, so this alternate station is currently where all the trains arrive and depart from. It was still just a short 10-15 minute taxi ride to our accommodation.
Do I Recommend this Train Ride?
The train journey was beautiful and I really enjoyed seeing more of both Montenegro and Serbia. I wish there were less tunnels through the Dinaric Alps and that more of the journey had scenery as impressive as that area. It was a really long train ride, so you need to be ready for a long day. I would recommend the journey to anyone who really likes trains and wants to see some of the countryside in these two countries. If the stunning scenery is your top reason for this trip, it may be worthwhile to start in Bar to have a bit more Montenegrin landscapes included.