Varad INN
Boutique hostel-and-café in a Petrovaradin townhouse, with a fig-tree courtyard, a wine bar, and the fortress walls in the back garden.
Varad INN is a boutique hostel-and-café in a 19th-century Petrovaradin townhouse with a fig-tree garden, a wine bar, and the kind of quiet that only exists on the fortress side of the Danube — six minutes on foot from Trg Slobode if you cross the bridge.
Varad INN is the only proper hostel on the Petrovaradin side of the Danube, which makes it geographically interesting and tactically smart. You're in a quiet old district, the fortress walls rise behind the back garden, and to get to the city center you walk the Most Slobode bridge — six minutes, sunset on the way back, free entertainment. The trade-off is you're not in the middle of Stari Grad, so a 4am stumble home from Laze Telečkog will involve a bridge crossing.
The building is a 19th-century townhouse converted into a hybrid hostel-and-coffeehouse. Downstairs is the wine bar and café — open to non-guests too, with espresso, Vojvodinian wine by the glass, and a quiet evening crowd. Out back is the inner courtyard garden with a famous fig tree (it shows up in the reviews) and outdoor furniture for the long Vojvodinian summer evenings. Upstairs, rooms are mostly private with en-suite bathrooms — which is unusual for a hostel and a major reason couples and small families pick it.
Guests describe it as relaxed, quiet, and 'beneath the fortress walls' — that last part is literal. The Petrovaradin Fortress is a five-minute climb from the front door. Most travelers do the Clock Tower and the panorama plateau on day one, then come back at sunset for the photo. The host runs a small operation and is in nearly every review by name.
Pros: quiet, atmospheric, en-suite bathrooms in a hostel, real café and bar on site, the fortress in your back yard. Cons: not in central Novi Sad — bridge crossing required for Stari Grad nightlife, and you'll occasionally be the only guest in low season.
- 01The fig-tree courtyard — guests describe it more than any other feature; it's a real inner-city escape
- 02The on-site wine bar with Vojvodinian Bermet, not a tokenized hostel kiosk
- 03Petrovaradin location — quiet, fortress-walled, 6 min walk to the city via Most Slobode
- 04En-suite private bathrooms in a hostel — couples particularly rate this 10/10
- 9.1 rating from 191 reviews
- Beneath Petrovaradin Fortress walls
- On-site café & wine bar
- Fig-tree garden + courtyard
“Location 10+++, just beneath the fortress walls, near the Danube river. The host is very welcoming and helpful. The place is pet friendly.”
“Really liked the location and the fig tree in the back yard where one was able to chill out. Very peaceful.”
“Outside of the center square yet very walkable to it. You can also take the bus three stops away. Clean and quiet.”
- Petrovaradin Fortress entrance5 min walk
- Most Slobode (bridge to city)6 min walk
- Trg Slobode (across bridge)12 min walk
- Yacht Club Petrovaradin (riverside)8 min walk
- Bus #3 stop to city3 min walk
- Sremski Karlovci (bike path)45 min by bike
