There aren’t many things more universal than the enjoyment of ice cream in summer. The temperatures in Belgrade can get pretty ambitious during the warmer months, and luckily there are plenty of gelato spots waiting to provide colourful refreshment and sugary highs. These are the finest.
Where else to start? Moritz Eis is Belgrade’s most iconic ice cream outlet, and a great example of the potential benefits of hard work and ambition. What started as one small store is now an international phenomenon, with stores as far away as Romania and Chile (one of those is obviously much further away than the other). Some truly unusual flavours can be devoured here, and the vibrant colours are about as photogenic as food gets.
The name suggests something of outcast (it means ‘Black Sheep’), but Crna Ovca is well and truly at the forefront of Belgrade’s ice cream revolution. Taste is everything here, although the aesthetics aren’t far behind. You can’t really beat home made ice cream created using the freshest of ingredients, especially when there are around 50 different flavours to try and compare. There are usually a lot of people sat outside Crna Ovca, and that is generally because it offers some of the best gelato in town.
Located in Vračar, Luff may be the new kid in town but it promises to stick around for a very long time. Gelato this good deserves to hang around after all, and this is some of the freshest available in the Serbian capital. It also offers a pretty fantastic range of fresh fruit sorbets, including a mulberry that is about as glorious as sorbet gets. If you’ve ever wanted to eat ice cream from a mug, get yourself to Luff.
One of the first companies in the country to take ice cream seriously, Bacio Gelato was founded in 2009 and has been making top quality gelato in the near decade since. It doffs its cap squarely towards traditional Italian gelato as opposed to modern American trends, and is all the better for it. The flavour list is about what you would expect from an ice cream shop, but there is something to be said for perfecting the classics.
Located on the ground floor of Belgrade Art Hotel on Knez Mihailova, Avgustin is a waffle and ice cream bar that dessert lovers are going to have a very difficult time avoiding. The ice cream is freshly prepared every single day, and you don’t need us to tell you how well it goes with equally fresh waffles. If you are in need of a push, just go and try it. Your waistline won’t thank us, but your tastebuds most certainly will.
Another fantastic ice cream option in and around Knez Mihailova is Sapore, an adorable space on Cara Lazara that takes the tradition of gelato making and transforms it into a genuine art form. This is seriously good stuff, and it just goes to show how good ice cream can be when it is treated as a genuine food as opposed to cheap enjoyment. Class, elegance and quality, you could say this is ice cream for adults, but it really is for everyone.
With locations on either side of the rivers, Flor is an Italian export that has done pretty well for itself in Belgrade. Its New Belgrade location is of particular note, as Belgrade’s biggest neighbourhood is often frustratingly low on top quality gelato options. The flavours on offer rotate on a frequent basis, with both classics and a number of unusual options readily available.
There is plenty of top quality designer ice cream throughout Belgrade in the modern age, but sometimes you just want some old fashioned industrial goodness. Knez Mihailova is lined with small freezers full of the stuff, with iconic lollies nestled next to modern competition. We’re particularly fond of a good old Kapri, but you can’t really go wrong here. The old women sat behind the freezers are generally happy for the conversation as well.
These recommendations were updated on July 30, 2018 to keep your travel plans fresh.
