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Blue Train

Belgrade


One of the few remaining symbols of ex-Yugoslavia, Marshal Tito's Blue Train nowadays serves as a mostly inaccessible museum but can be rented for travel or special occasions like film/video shoots, conferences, exhibitions or weddings. The wagons, from the ceremonial dining room and the Zodiac-inspired bar to Tito’s lounge, office and private rooms, feature Art Deco details, wool carpets and silk and velvet furnishings. The original locomotives are named after famous WWII battles such as Kozara and Sutjeska.

The Blue Train used to take Yugoslavia’s president-for-life, his wife Jovanka and their entourage to Brijuni islands in Croatia, Tito’s favourite summer playground. It was on this train that he hosted VIP visitors from around the world, from Queen Elizabeth II to Haile Selassie, Yasser Arafat, Jawaharlal Nehru… The train is also remembered for Tito’s last journey in 1980, when it transported his coffin from Ljubljana to Belgrade.

The train is stationed at the Topčider Depo, 2km south of Topčider train station, but unless you are willing to throw down a bundle of dinar, it's not available for casual visits.