ĐERDAP NATIONAL PARK

If you travel along the Danube River towards Romania, where it forms the border, you should definitely stop at the magnificent Ðerdap Gorge, one of the great natural monuments of the country. Its national park, covers 63 000 ha and 100 km length. It is formed by four successive gorges that rise to 800 m in height, interspersed with three deep ravines. The Danube widens as you go deeper into these massifs of northeastern Serbia, ending at the famous Iron Gates, an important aqueduct in Roman times and today an impressive dam, where it reaches 147 m wide and 77 m deep. This is why Ðerdap is the longest natural river gorge in Europe! Among the many treasures of the long national park, which climbs up to the peaks along the Danube around the village of Maldanpek at an altitude of 570 m, are its 1,100 plant species and wild animals, such as bears, foxes, wolves, jackals and eagles. Along the way you will find the archaeological remains of Lepenski Vir (8000 years old) and the Roman monuments of the Table and Trajan's Road. The route from Belgrade is very beautiful: after a 3-hour drive through the towns of Smederevo and Golubac, you arrive in Veliko Gradište along the Danube. For 80 km, we follow gorges and massifs more and more breathtaking!

On the first floor of the park building, an exhibition shows the natural wealth of the park with the help of videos and stuffed animals. The park covers an area of 63,000 hectares and includes the mountains, up to 800 m in altitude, which make up the Ðerdap gorge, and the ensemble includes three gorges, two canyons and three valleys. The richness of its flora and fauna, its forests and caves, as well as its geological evolution, which is among the most interesting in Europe, are worth the trip: 50 different forests and 150 species of birds, among others, share a preserved wild space. You will find in the park a number of large mammals that you can approach with a guide. These visits, à la carte, will be negotiated at the park office in Donji Milanovac. Count 1 000 dinars per person, for a small group for a day, starting from the center. In addition, there are also refuges in the park, on the heights. A guide can take you there. The Ploće hut, which has two rooms with two beds, costs 1,100 dinars. From there, the best view of the Danube.