This blog post is part of the “Must read” series for people visiting Belgrade. Find all other blog posts in the “Essential” category HERE.
The water from the water supply system is regularly checked and info about the quality of the water is published online and through news. Even though Serbia has more than a dozen brands of bottled-water, tap water is perfectly safe for drinking. No matter if you are in a hotel, AirBnB or anywhere else, you can freely drink the water from the kitchen or bathroom.
It goes the same way for drinking fountains throughout the city – there are lots of those and the water is safe for drinking.
Bottled water
On the other hand, if you wanna play it safe for whatever reason and drink bottled water, you have a variety of choice as Serbia has “a ton” of springs. Here are the most popular ones:
- “Aqua Viva” is still water from one of the most popular manufacturers “Knjaz Miloš”. Its bubbly counterpart is called as the factory itself – “Knjaz Miloš”.
- “Rosa” is another popular brand of still water (now owned by Coca Cola) and
by my opinion, it’s the only bottled water that has a different taste than the rest. - “Prolom” – still water from the Prolom spa, has a special set of minerals so it’s recommended for the people with urinary issues, but also is consumed by everyone.
- “MG Mivela” – Lots of magnesium in this one, don’t have non-sparkle version it’s just with more or less gas.
- Voda Voda – Square-shaped bottle, easy to recognize
There’s also a ton more – BiVoda, Odmenska, St.John, Aqua Gala … didn’t even know we had so much.
Water in a cafe or a restaurant
If you ask for a glass of water in a cafe or a restaurant, they will usually bring you tap water (or bring it even if you don’t ask for it).
So, if you want a bottled water, you need to ask for it, and on the other hand, if you didn’t ask for bottled water and they bring it anyways, politely ask for a tap water. Don’t take “The water is not drinkable” as an excuse – 99% of the time it is and they just want to sell you bottled water.