Ankara vs Belgrade

Turkey · Middle East

Ankara

is Kavaklıdere
Serbia · Europe

Belgrade

is Savamala

Kavaklıdere is comfortable in a way Savamala refuses to be. Ankara's district runs on pavement tables, patisseries and embassy staff finishing a coffee before walking back to work; even the bar strip on Bestekar is two blocks of fasıl, not a warehouse party. Savamala is riverside sheds on Karađorđeva turned into galleries and bars that open after midnight and stay loud until the Sava goes grey. One district was laid out around a park with Viennese swans; the other was left to artists when the freight moved out. Pick Kavaklıdere if you want to sit and watch a city go about its day. Pick Savamala if you want the city to keep you up.

The Brooklyn of

Ankara is Kavaklıdere.

Kavaklıdere is where Ankara goes to sit down. Tuesday afternoon, Tunalı Hilmi Caddesi fills with embassy staff, students and civil servants moving between patisseries and pavement tables, while families watch the swans at Kuğulu Park. Saturday night moves one street over to Bestekar Caddesi and Tunus Caddesi, two dozen bars in two blocks, fasıl music coming out of the meyhanes. Turkey's first private winery opened here in 1929.

Kuğulu Park was laid out in 1958 on the poplar-and-stream land that named the district, and the swans on its pond were gifts from Vienna.
The Brooklyn of

Belgrade is Savamala.

Savamala is where Belgrade's creative energy landed after the warehouses emptied out. Old riverside buildings on Karađorđeva became bars, galleries, and restaurants that don't open until the rest of the city is asleep. The Sava River runs alongside it all. Things get loud on weekends, and nobody apologizes for it.

Inside an 1884 warehouse on Braće Krsmanović, KC GRAD stages approximately 200 music events a year, filling Savamala's nights with independent artists from Serbia, the region, and the world.
The numbers

At a glance.

Ankara Belgrade
Region Middle East Europe
Country Turkey Serbia
Neighborhood Kavaklıdere Savamala
Currency TRY RSD
Language Turkish Serbian
Cost level $$ Moderate $$ Moderate
Best months May and September May, June and September
Local time - UTC+2
Plug EU plug EU plug
Emergency 112 192 police, 194 ambulance, 112 also works
Vibe overlap

What they share, and what they don't.

Both

Live musicNightlife

Ankara only

Coffee cultureLaid-backNatural wineWalkable

Belgrade only

Street artGalleriesGrittyWaterfront
The verdict

It depends on the weekend.

Ankara Daytime coffee on Tunalı Hilmi, swans in Kuğulu Park, and a bar street you can walk home from.

Belgrade Late nights in converted warehouses by the Sava, with around 200 gigs a year at KC GRAD alone.

Read Ankara in full → Read Belgrade in full →
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