Fleeing 1000 degrees: two mothers, two daughters, one mountain
- Published
- 5 June 2023
- Reading
- 5 min read
- Where
- Kopaonik, Serbia
Two mothers who'd known each other for years got out of the same car with two daughters meeting for the first time — a day later, nobody could pry them apart.
The city that week resembled an oven set to roast — the asphalt was melting, the air conditioners were on strike, and local meteorology unofficially announced that 1,000 degrees in the shade had been reached (or so it looked from the perspective of anyone waiting for a bus at two in the afternoon).
That week two mothers made a decision that would enter the history of family group chats: Nada and Marija packed their bags, collected their daughters Maša and Isidora, and fled to Kopaonik.
No deliberation and no booking. Three hours of driving later, the mountain met them with a temperature that could finally be said out loud without a sigh — and Maša and Isidora, who had met for the first time in the car that morning, got out as if they had been friends since birth.
„For the first time in two weeks I was breathing, not panting.“
— Nada, on the first morning at 1,700 m
Mornings began with coffee on the terrace for the mothers and elderflower cordial for the girls. Within two days Maša and Isidora had invented a game with a name no adult managed to memorise, and afternoons went on long walks and serious debates, one children's and one mothers', about whether a person ever truly needs to go back to the city. The verdict after day two, unanimous across all four: not just yet.
How much cooler it really is
That isn't an impression but the Serbian Hydrometeorological Service's monthly bulletin for July 2026. The difference is altitude: the Kopaonik weather station sits at about 1,700 metres, and the highest summit, Pančić's Peak, at 2,017. That same July the average low up there was 9.4 °C, so mornings and evenings call for a jacket even in midsummer.
What to do in summer
- The Pančićev Vrh chairlift runs in summer too, up to the mountain's highest point.
- For children: an adventure park, a bobsleigh run, tubing, a zip line, mountain carts and a playground.
- A plastic summer slope, about 900 metres alongside the Krst lift — skis and snowboards even in July.
- A bike park with downhill trails, e-bikes and fitness trails 4.7 kilometres long.
- Guided hikes to Nebeske Stolice, the Heavenly Chairs, and to Jelovarnik waterfall, 71 metres high.
Getting there
By bus from Belgrade the journey takes about five hours. Most departures run in the winter season, so check the summer timetable before you set off. Nada and Marija didn't have to — they drove.
Serbia, in brief
What now
If this sounds like your trip, start here.
- When the city turns into an oven, expect Kopaonik to be about twelve degrees cooler — that was the gap in July 2026.
- Pack a jacket: the average July low at 1,700 m was 9.4 °C.
- In summer check the Pančićev Vrh chairlift and the children's activities before you set off, and the bus only if you aren't driving.
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If this sounds like you, there is also Golija, Devil's Town and Uvac
Kopaonik has no page of its own yet, but the region does. See which of them suits you, then pin what you have already done.
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