Mountains, beaches, history – why Belgrade to Bar is one of the best train rides in Europe

The 300-mile line between Serbia and Montenegro, built in Tito’s era, connects city and seaside for a blissful Balkan holiday

It started with a disagreement. Where to go on an early autumn break? I wanted a city and history, my boyfriend wanted coast and stunning scenery. The solution? Two days in the Serbian capital Belgrade, a train ride to Montenegro, and some time on the Adriatic. In the end, the cinematic train journey proved the real star of the show.

Belgrade is an eclectic mix of Habsburg, Ottoman and brutalist architecture with a buzzy nightlife. At the Museum of Yugoslavia we learn that the Belgrade to Montenegro train was one of former communist president-dictator Tito’s proudest projects. The line opened to great fanfare in 1976, after Yugoslavian engineers had spent 20 years burrowing through mountains to reach the Adriatic, carving out 254 tunnels and 435 bridges.