Whether you’re planning a city break to Belgrade, a visit to Exit Festival or vacation at the mountains or spas having a SIM card is always useful.

If you’d like to buy a SIM card in Serbia here are a few things you need to know.

Companies

There are 3 most popular mobile network operators in Serbia. These are MTS, Telenor and VIP.

When it comes to the signal, all 3 brands cover more than 90% of Serbia’s territory and they offer 4G mobile network.

In my opinion, Telenor has the most interesting packages, while VIP offers more convenient packages for new users. Note that this applies if you’d like to sign up for a contract. If you’re buying a SIM card that you will use for only a couple of days the difference is not huge at all, which you can read more about below.

How

Buying a SIM card is easy. They can be bought at any kiosk, store or at the official stores of the mentioned brands. I recommend you buy it at the official store because the kiosks sell regular sized SIM card which won’t work with most new phones. You’d need to trim the card to make it micro. Of course this can be a hassle hence I recommend the official store. Offical stores have Multi SIM card which means you get standard, micro and nano card in one package. If you need the card immediately after you land you can buy one easily at any store at the airport. You don’t need a passport or an ID in order to buy a prepaid SIM card.

Costs

These are the prices;

MTS: 300 RSD; initial credit 25 RSD

MTS now also has a special offer for tourists. These are Super Tourist and Tourist SIM card. With Super Tourist SIM card you get 10 GB of internet, 30 minutes for international calls and 120 minutes of mts mobile network calls. The price of this package is 1,800 RSD (15$). Tourist SIM card gives you 3x24h of 4G mobile internet. The price of this package is 600 RSD (5$). Note that some of these options expire after 7 days. You can learn more about this offer by clicking here. WiFi is widespread in Belgrade’s coffee shops and restaurants so if you don’t plan to do a lot of instagramming or to make calls you’ll probably be okay with just a regular sim card too.

Telenor: 200 RSD; initial credit 25 RSD

VIP: 200 RSD; free calls in VIP mobile network for 7 days; 2 GB of internet for 7 days

That’s a pretty sweet deal. But VIP also offers a Visitor SIM which is a great option if you’ll be using internet a lot. For 990 RSD you will get 5GB of Internet and unlimited internet data for Viber. This deal lasts 14 days. You can also make calls with this card but you’ll need to refill it separately for that matter.

I hope this will help you in your selection 😉

Topping up

This is easy. You can top the card from any kiosk or store. You just need to state how much money you’d like to add and give the phone number. Note that this will only be possible if you have a regular sim card. The minimum amount you can add is 200 RSD. If you will get any of the special offers mentioned above or if you’d like to buy extra internet etc. head to the offical store.

You can also top the card with your credit/debit card through their online shops.

Coverage and data speeds

All three brands have a very good coverage and you won’t have any problems unless you are somewhere very close to the border and the signal might be a little bit messy. Using the online shop you can buy internet data and other extra options. Overall, getting a sim card in Serbia is good value for the money.

I hope this post will help you buy a sim card in Serbia. Do you have any questions I could answer? Feel free to comment below.