Changes in Belgrade can be hard to keep pace with. With huge amounts of construction, people moving into and out of the city, new restaurants and cafes popping up every month, parts of the city can change dramatically in just 1 year. This is a summary of some changes in the capital of Serbia in 2025.

1. More foreigners

Belgrade has become accustomed to a large increase of foreigners due to the situation in Ukraine, but in 2025, one clear change is the number of people in the city from other regions of the world, specifically Southeast Asia. Many bus drivers and construction workers have been brought in from India and Bangladesh, there are more Africans around the downtown, and in general, Belgrade is demonstrating how welcoming it is to a greater variety of people than in past years.

2. More variety of cuisines

Most likely related to the first change, new additions to Belgrade's restaurant scene bring much-needed variety in order for Belgrade to offer what other large European cities offer. There was very little authentic Asian food in Belgrade a few years ago ("Serbian Asian" was the norm), but now new options are appearing without stop. New unique places that appeared on the map in 2025 include Vietnamese food at Kod Vijetnamca, jazz izakaya Kissa10, many hotpot restaurants like Pink Lover Malatang and Haiyang Hot Pot, and Japanese sake bar Yama. For anyone comparing Belgrade with other top 20 cities in Europe, the food options in Belgrade are finally showing signs of aligning more with what similar big cities offer.

3. Modern cafes in downtown keep multiplying

This is more of a continuing trend than a change, but Belgrade's appetite for high quality coffee does not appear to have found its limit yet. More and more coffeeshops continue opening, in locations from Old Town to Belgrade Waterfront to Vracar and Zemun. Does anyone know if more than 10% of storefronts in downtown Belgrade are cafes?

4. Better international connectivity

The Belgrade airport continues to receive new direct flights, and the trend is not likely to stop anytime soon. In 2025, new direct flights appeared from Belgrade to Tbilisi, Astana, Mykonos, Alghero, Geneva, Florence, and Shanghai. And already in 2026, there will be new direct flights to Toronto, Grenoble, Riga, and Amman will begin, with more options (such as Miami) potentially being announced by Air Serbia later in 2025. The high speed Soko train to Subotica started operating in October 2025, making the completion of the full route to Budapest look closer to the finish line. And finally, there has also been a lot of new highways opening around the country, with large projects like the A2 highway connecting Belgrade to Bar still under construction. All of these changes increase the connections that Serbia has with the outside world, which has the potential to add more diversity to this ever-changing country, but also increases the risk of losing some features that make the country unique.

5. The year of protests

Yes, 2025 will without a doubt be remembered as a year of protests in Serbia. Anyone who has been to Serbia in 2025 is almost guaranteed to have heard about the protests, with some estimates indicating that tourism to Serbia dropped slightly due to the protests. While the protests began in 2024, the size of the protests grew immensely in 2025, and as the 1 year anniversary of the Novi Sad train station collapse nears, they show no sign of slowing down. The summer of 2025 saw some dramatic footage with flares and fireworks being used, but for outsiders, it's complicated to understand exactly what is going on with pro-government protestors, anti-government protestors, and government-sponsored violence inciters.

The blockaded streets, especially the busy street blocked by ćaci outside the parliament building, continue to cause inconvenience to anyone navigating the city.

6. Changing nightlife scene

While Belgrade was previously famous for the centrally located splavovi, those party boats have been moved away from the main downtown area, displacing one of the cultural icons of the city's nightlife. Modern alternatives, like Bife bar, null Social Lab, and the jazz izakaya Kissa10, are offering different vibes to the classic (and usually smoke-filled) kafana culture.

7. Non-stop construction

Changes in a city are always controversial, but what is clear is that the amount of construction in Belgrade (and all of Serbia, for that matter) is not slowing down yet. The incontrovertible proof is in the opening of the high speed train to Subotica (finally!), the expansion plans for Belgrade Waterfront to Ada Ciganlija, and the new apartment buildings popping up in every city. Zlatibor in particular has been seeing large growth with local tourism in recent years, and a new airport will soon be built there.