Ada Ciganlija

Ada Ciganlija: the lake, the beaches and everything to do

In depth: Ada Ciganlija·Čukarica

Belgrade’s lake island: beaches, an 11 km lakeside path, bike hire, tennis, watersports and dining.

The lake and beach at Ada Ciganlija
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Ada Ciganlija

The back story

Ada Ciganlija sits on the Sava about four kilometres above its meeting with the Danube. Once a true river island, it was declared state land by Prince Miloš Obrenović in 1821, and the playwright Branislav Nušić, taken with its beauty, called it the “Water Flower”.

A rowing eight on Sava Lake, with walkers on the beach
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Andrija12345678

Work to turn it into a recreation centre began in 1957. Embankments closed off the river’s side arm by 1967, creating Sava Lake, which took its final shape in 1978. Much of the island is still woodland, with ash forest and stretches of wild vegetation, and the water and trees keep it noticeably cooler than the city on hot days.

The beaches

About six kilometres of gravel beaches run along Sava Lake, the largest open-air bathing area in Serbia. Trained lifeguards are on duty through the bathing season, the water is tested regularly by the City Institute of Public Health, and the beaches have held the international Blue Flag for water quality and safety for the past 15 years.

The cycle path beside the beach on Ada Ciganlija
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Andrija12345678

Cafés, beach bars and sun loungers line both shores, so it is easy to spend a whole day here, moving between a swim, a shady table and a game of beach volleyball.

Boats moored on the Sava by Ada Ciganlija
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Nikolina Šepić · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Around the lake on foot and by bike

A traffic-free path of 11.2 kilometres runs right around the lake, flat and shared by cyclists, runners, walkers and rollerbladers; an easy circuit by bike takes about an hour. Bikes can be hired all year at three spots: by the roundabout on the New Belgrade side (10:00 to 17:00, closed on Tuesdays), by the big car park on the Makiš side and near Red Shoes, also on the Makiš side.

The “Ada Ciganlija” sign on the Ada Panorama platform
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Nikolina Šepić

All three have bikes for every age, rickshaws for families, repairs and riding lessons. From the path, a footbridge leads to Ada Panorama, an octagonal viewing platform built in 2020, with the illuminated “Ada Ciganlija” sign and a view over the lake and its fountain.

Runners have the Holmer trim trail, a soft sawdust-and-sand track through ash woods near the roundabout, marked every 100 metres, and a floodlit 500-metre tartan loop. The trim park beside it has 24 pieces of outdoor gym equipment, lit in the evenings, and can be used all year.

Water-skiing on the cable at Ada Ciganlija
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Tennis, golf and team sports

Tennis players have eleven courts in two complexes on the lake, including a heated hall with two hard courts and five clay courts outside, open daily from 08:00 to 23:00, plus four more courts near the Round Bath. The 9-hole golf course covers 16 hectares, with a driving range and an academy for beginners.

Shaded tables by the lake at Time Out
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Time Out

Around the lake there are pitches and courts for football, basketball, volleyball and beach volleyball, badminton, baseball and rugby, along with a triathlon centre, mini golf and a yoga park, where free yoga classes are held on Sundays through the summer. A centre for people with disabilities, opened in 2010, has an adapted multi-sport court.

The garden dining room at Vanilla
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Vanilla

On the water

The calm, sheltered lake is ideal for paddling: kayaks, rowing boats, stand-up paddleboards, pedalos and water bikes can be hired in summer, with pedalos by the Round Bath and on the Makiš side. Rowing has deep roots here: the European Rowing Championships were held on the lake in 1932, and clubs still train on the Čukarica arm.

Hire a bike, ride the whole lake, then swim and stay for a long lunch by the water.

On the Makiš side, the Aqua Ski cable park pulls water-skiers and wakeboarders across about 50,000 square metres of water from spring to mid-October, with instructors for beginners. A scuba-diving centre on the right bank has run PADI and CMAS courses since 2008, and the marina in the Čukarica arm has 520 berths.

A zip line through the trees at Adventure Park
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Adventure Park

For thrill-seekers

There is a 55-metre bungee jump over the lake by the Round Bath from May to September, a 15-metre climbing wall with 15 routes run by the Vertikal club, a treetop Adventure Park in the woods, and paintball and laser tag in a forest arena near the main entrance. In winter, an open-air ice rink opened at Kameni grad in December 2025.

A rower on Sava Lake at sunset
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Andrija12345678

Restaurants and beach bars

The Makiš side has most of the places to eat. Time Out is a big beach complex with a restaurant, a garden and 500 sun loungers; Vanilla has run its beach bar since 2009, with a children’s play area next door; Sunset, family-run since 1999, bakes lamb and octopus under the sač; and Smokvica Ada’s garden runs straight onto the beach.

Tables under lanterns at Ada Safari
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Ada Safari

For quieter corners, Na kraj sveta sits at the far end of the New Belgrade side, Verige serves Serbian home cooking on the left bank looking over the woods, and Ada Safari cooks traditional recipes beside its own S-shaped fishing lake near the island’s lower tip.

Getting there

Ada is about 4 km from the centre. City buses run all year, with extra lines from across the city in summer; in summer, boats also run from Block 70 and Block 45 in New Belgrade, and the cycle path along the right bank of the Sava links Ada with Ušće and Belgrade Waterfront.