Montenegro

On holiday in Montenegro

Montenegro is located on the Adriatic Sea, north of Albania. While representing a small portion of the former Yugoslavia, a trip to Montenegro allows you to admire a wide variety of beauties: the beaches on the coast are ideal for a relaxing holiday, but those who want to find out more about the country can explore its particular nature and the Characteristics Arrocked.
On this page you will find information on how to better organize your travel itinerary in Montenegro, and under photos and detailed descriptions of the most beautiful destinations: Lake Scutari <>, then Budva and the coast , the original Bocche di Cattaro , and finally the mountains of Durmitor and the canyon of Tara .

Travel information

Montenegro is conveniently reachable by ferry from Italy, which allows you to get there directly with your car. You have to make a green paper (for free with your insurance) and then you can create a freedom travel itinerary in Montenegro, but also border in neighboring countries, in particular Bosnia , Croatia and Albania. Alternatively, you can fly and then rent a car, even if this limits the chances of seeing other countries during your vacation for limitations on border passages. You can find the Car at the best prices here .

For a trip to Montenegro better preferred summer, for the excellent climate. You will not meet many Italians, but many Slavs, Germans and Russians, so if you manage to avoid the most messed weeks of July and August ... so much better!
ah, for the ferry from Italy you can choose different routes: o Get directly to Montenegro in Bar from Ancona or Bari, or focus Durres in northern Albania from Bari, or Split to Croatia from Ancona. I made a circular itinerary: Night ferry Bari Durazzo - Car journey northwards through Montenegro/Bosnia/Croatia - Night ferry Split Ancona, in order to exploit every moment of the holiday.

Prices in Montenegro are for now low, but with the explosion of tourism they will surely increase. However, for now there are double rooms for 30 euros per night even in August (we booked from time to time, the night before for the next day, finding spartan places but often also with sea view!).

To eat, the prices are equally cheap: a quintal and a half of cevapi (the typical sausagey meatballs of Montenegro) can cost you 6 euros with contour included (not literally a quintal and a half, but still many to break ).
Another important information for your trip: Montenegro is a safe and friendly country, however, however, do not speak English (or Italian), so you could have some difficulty finding the hotel rooms according to their indications ( At least, to us it happened like this!).

Lake Scutari

The largest lake in Montenegro is Scutari lake, divided almost in half with Albania. This lake must absolutely be part of your travel itinerary in Montenegro, at least for a day trip. Virpazar is a very quiet village that however in the central part of the day, when tourists arrive, turns: everyone will try to sell you a boat ride on Lake Scutari, at 25 euros (customized) or at 10 (group). You can also rent kayaks: we had the sup inflatable and therefore with great disappointment of the most aggressive sellers (but for our immense satisfaction) we did a do-it-yourself excursion, which surely did not allow us to see all the most beautiful destinations of the Lake, but undoubtedly made us enjoy its spectacular nature. He seemed to be in an exotic place, type in Vietnam!

By car, we then reached the panoramic point of Pavlova Strana, which offers an incredible view, perhaps the most beautiful view of our vacation in Montenegro (I say perhaps because there were several others, as you will see soon).

Not far from Pavlova Strana, the small and picturesque village of Rijeka Crnojevica has an old bridge and cows (and from here other excursions leave on the lake).

Budva and the coast

The long coast of Montenegro is rich in beaches and splendid places. In short, Budva is the most important tourist center, but there is much more. First of all, starting from Albania, meet Ulcinj (Ulcigno) and the 12 km long and animated beach beaches of Velika Plaza.

(Given the old Venetian dominations and the strong Italian influence, many locations also have the Italian name, as in Croatia: however, as two names are to be removed for many little-known places it is complicated, the local name can be done more gladly, which is the useful one to For information, read road signs or study maps).
The rest of the Montenegrin coast alternates rocky traits to bays with even very large beaches. It is the case of the bar area, at the shoulders there is also the beautiful old bar.

Proceeding northwest, among the various bays with crystal clear waters there are smaller ones like Kraljicina Plaza and those with countries that become very touristy in summer as a petrovazzo. One of the most famous views of the Montenegrin coast is the one on the island of Santo Stefano (Sveti Stefan), a fundamental destination for a travel itinerary here. Sveti Stefan's old village is unfortunately become an exclusive resort, but you can access the beach on the peninsula and swim under the walls.

Not far from Sveti Stefan there is Budva, with its palaciers dedicated to tourism, long beaches full of entertainment, but also a picturesque old town surrounded by walls. The village is right on the sea and after admiring the perfectly held narrow alleys one can swim under the historic Venetian fortifications.

After Budva, proceeding towards the west, the coast becomes more wild, with a few points where you can go down to the sea with the car, placed generally less touristy but for this reason to see during your vacation.
One of these points It's RT Veslo, from where you can go to the canoe towards the blue cave, passing in front of a splendid stretch of coast with crystal clear water.

Shortly after the blue cave, the mouths of Kotor open. At the entrance of the fjord, near the town of Rose, there is the Strand von Dobrec, a garage on the sea built for the submarines of the former Jugolavia at the time of the Second World War.

Bouches of Kotor

We therefore arrive at the Kotor fjord, or Kotor, perhaps the most particular feature of Montenegro, certainly the destination around which all the itineraries rotate travel here. This double inlet is rich in natural and architectural beauties.
On the mouths of Kotor there are some picturesque towns with historic centers of medieval origin, such as Kotor/Kotor, Pearast and Castelnuovo (Herceg Novi).

The best way to visit the mouths is to take the coast by car, though also a boat tour, as we will see later. From the street you can admire beautiful villages and beautiful views of the two bays that make up the mouths of Kotor, so narrow bays that look like lakes. It is the most charming bay of the most fascinating bay on which to overlook Kotoro/Kotor.

The historic village of Kotor is a renowned tourist destination and a fundamental stage for a holiday in Montenenegro. It is nice to wander through its narrow streets, as fascinating is the tiring and expensive climb to the Rocca (the ticket costs 8 euros, although it is actually a path). You can also walk on the old walls.
A few kilometers from Kotor there is Perast, which is smaller and quieter, with beautiful palaces on the sea.

From Perast you can take one of the boats that, for 5 euros per person (much more convenient than Kotor), lead to visiting the islets of "Our Lady of the Rocks" and San Giorgio, who are a hundred meters away On the other hand.

In addition to the panoramic excursion, the boats make a 10 minute stop on the tiny but fascinating island of Our Lady of the rocks, on which a small church stands.

To have a panoramic vision of the whole fjord, it is possible to climb to Mount Lovcen, which in the airline is very close to Kotor, but, finding the top at 1700 meters of altitude, requires a good hour. The best views of the mouths of Kotor have from the street, while on the summit of Monte Lovcen stands a mausoleum dedicated to the Bishop Prince writer Petar II Petrović Njegoš, the most important poet in Montenegrin history.

Hence the view just touches the sea, but you can admire the interior of Montenegro and the surrounding mountains. On Mount Lovcen there are numerous trekking itineraries and, in general, for those who have time, the mouths of Kotor are a splendid place to reach the characteristic paths and panoramic points.

Durmitor and the canyon of the Tara

The Montenegrin Paradise of the trekking is the Durmitor National Park, where the Alpine Alpine Laghetti is opened among high mountains. In August it is assaulted by Slavian tourists, but among the many paths it is easy to get out of the most beaten routes and being alone, immersed in nature.
The most tourist place is Lake Nero, also because it is very close to Zabljak , the main holiday center for travelers in the area. Despite the people you can find in high season, the Black Lake is splendid and, despite the name, colorful.

The paths in the Durmitor park are many that mountain enthusiasts can spend weeks to hike here ... obviously, the exciting Italians of our Alps will see in the Durmitor beautiful places, but nothing so extraordinary (if not the prices far lower Compared to those of the Dolomites). Among the most beautiful hiking itineraries, I can quote the Curevac path for a view of the Canyon of the Tara River, and the paths to the various ponds like Lake Jablan (Lake Piccolo).

The best solution to admire the canyon of the Tara River, which is also the most particular natural feature in the area, is to visit the famous bridge that crosses it.

The canyon of Tara is the deepest in Europe and the river is a tourist destination renowned for rafting (although in August the low water greatly reduces the adrenaline of the rapids). The view from the bridge is impressive.

Conclusion

A trip to Montenegro? A great idea! In high season, if you have the way to get out of the beaten itineraries, the better: you can suffer an inflatable kayak, or, what know, a mountain bike. You can avoid, in my opinion, to stay behind the tourist guides and watch 50 beautiful perched villages, in Italy we have equally (and more) beautiful villages. Instead, exploring the least famous places can give great satisfaction. Good trip!
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