Zlatibor Travel Guide

Zlatibor is placed in the very central part of Serbia, 230km south-west of Belgrade, 300km south-west of Novi Sad, and there's as much from the Adriatic sea.

The main highroad that links Belgrade with the seaside crosses Zlatibor. There are direct bus lines with Novi Sad, Belgrade, Niš...

There's also a possibility to get to Zlatibor by train. The main railway Belgrade-Bar goes through Zlatibor, so you can travel by train to Užice and then take a local bus to the town of Zlatibor. The ride takes 10 minutes.

The center of Zlatibor is full of shops and restaurants. Is like a market.

What to buy: You can buy everything, you have everything (or almost) you can find in a city, but all together in less than 10 min walking.

What to pay: Is a touristic place, don't expext to find something very cheap, things go from average price to expensive.

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If you decide to visit beautiful Uvac Monastery in the region of Zlatibor Mountain (south west of Serbia) you have to be prepared on very dangerous trip. You have to visit this sight because of beautiful hidden and untouched nature. The river is crystal clear and clean and of course because of the old monastery. The road is thin, escarpment, jaggy and bumpy. From the center of Zlatibor Mountain road is just normal, but last 5 km is the very difficult, no asphalt road. Vigilant people are hiking because horse ridding is not in common.

Although Zlatibor and the surrounding areas are famous for their smoked veal and cheese and although I DO strongly recommend you to try them, I would not suggest buying them from the market. They simply cost far more than they are actually worth.

Unique Suggestions: It is much ceaper to buy the local delicacies from one of the surrounding villages, and besides, they would probably be fresher. Locals will be more than happy to indicate which village you should go to if you need to buy something.

Zlatibor is the perfect choice for many outdoor sports, as it has skiing as well as tennis, volleyball and basketball facilities. However, for those who are more on the lazy side (such as muself), I would recommend either a hike or even a slow walk up in the mountains. The quality of the fresh mountain air alone is enough to make you dead tired after a while :)

Equipment: Just some comfy shoes :)

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Favorite thing: One of the historical monuments and nature preserve that you cannot miss is Uvac monastery in the Valley of Uvac River from beginning of 17 century.
From the southern slopes of Zlatibor (near Tornik, Zlatibor highest peak 1.396 m) down by canyon road is the Uvac monastery in the valley near the river Uvac. I front of the monastery is the old grapevine dating from medieval times of Serbia. Having a grapevine in this very difficult climate is unusual, almost phenomenal and it’s just because of micro climate specific for this valley.

Fondest memory: We drive down the canyon by SUV car and it was a really adventure. The other way is walking or horse/donkey ridding. Don't ever try some nice elegant car. Also, you need an experienced driver. The valley is beautiful as well as river of Uvac which is clean and clear, full of fishes, living shells, cancers, snakes... Many of its limestone caves are occasionally flooded and can be reached only by boat.
Text: Dragisa Milosavljevic, historian of arts, director of the National Museum in Uzice / Translation: prof. Ljiljana Kovacevic / One of the most unaccessible medieval monasteries in our country, a real empire of stones and snakes is Uvac Monastery or Vuvac, the name which could be met in some scanty sources. It is situated on the river having the same name, at the foot of the Priboj's Crni Vrh (Black Peak) on the southwestern side and below the slopes of the mountain Zlatibor on the northeast. It is quite certain that a very long time ago a small church was erected on the border between despotism and medieval Bosnia, representing a special barrier against Bogomil heresy and penetrating Islam. Later, economically strengthened fraternity started to restore and widen the modest temple. Therefore, in the first decades of the 17th century, at the time of patriarch Pajsije, it represented the monumental monastery complex with all accessories, lodging houses and good economy. Enlarged and widened temple with rectangular choirs must certainly have found its models in the imperial lauras to which Vuvac was direcltly connected.
More information about Uvac Monastery: http://www.uzice.net/uvac/uvace.htm