Visiting Serbia in 2016, it's easy to forget that this country only recently emerged from a brutal armed conflict, when it was bombed by NATO and ended up as an international pariah. I took the train from Macedonia to Belgrade, which runs through the Serbian countryside and found a country almost entirely untouched and, for the most part, off the tourism trail.

 

Belgrade

Belgrade is a combination of old socialism and new capitalism. You can still see the buildings devastated by the NATO bombs of 1999 and the mausoleum of former President Tito (the only guy who ever managed to unite Yugoslavia). But while the remnants of ten years of war and sanctions may seem depressing, the city is fast reinventing itself, the streets now filling up with fashionable shops and cafes. The permanently-moored boat nightclubs dotted along the banks of the Sava and Danube rivers are top spots for nightlife.