We spent a total of 12 days following the coast of Montenegro from the Bosnian border in the north to the Albanian border in the south. It has some amazing scenery, plenty of things to see, and some of our favourite wild camping spots, but, having just spent two weeks in Bosnia, we didn't feel it had the same 'wow' factor. We think that part of the reason for this is because there are places in Montenegro that certainly felt like you needed to have a lot of money and/or a yacht to enjoy. It was almost like Montenegro was trying to be something it was not, or at least not for the average travellers like ourselves.
Montenegro uses the euro as it's currency and this, we think, also had a bearing on how expensive things are. We no longer felt like we were in the Balkans as everything was much more expensive than we had become accustomed too. This is not to say that it was unaffordable or that things were as expensive as France, for example, but it was certainly a step up from Bosnia.
History of Montenegro
Montenegro, like many of the countries in the Balkan Peninsular, has a rich history that spans centuries. From being a part of the Roman Empire to being under Ottoman rule for 500 years. The first written mention of Montenegro dates to 1096 AD when Stefan Vojislav led a revolt against Byzantine rule. In 1397, Serbian Emperor Dušan appointed his son Stefan Uroš III as ruler of Montenegro. After his death, the country became a subject of disputes between Serbia and Hungary until it became part of Yugoslavia in 1918. Montenegro became an independent state in 2006 and since then it has been working on building its own identity.
Montenegro is mostly mountainous with a coastline on the Adriatic Sea. The country has an area of 13,812 square kilometres and its capital city is Podgorica, supposedly the most boring capital city in Europe!
Herceg Novi
Our first stop was Herceg Novi. We stopped here as we were told at the Bosnian border that we must pay a tourist tax within 24 hours of entering the country (after being fined for not paying it in Bosnia, we made this a priority).
Unfortunately, we had arrived in Herceg Novi too late in the day meaning that the Tourist Office, and the border office at the Police station, were closed. This started to worry us a bit as we had been told that the Montenegrin border police, can be very strict.
As there was nothing we could do, we settled in for the night in a car park overlooking the old town. Later that evening we met a grandmother with her granddaughter and, using Google translate, we had a conversation about our trip, her family, and Albania in general, all ending in her giving us her phone number and offering us a place to stay the next time we were in Herceg Novi. She said would have let us stay that evening, but she had family staying and therefore didn't have room. Either way, it was a lovely welcome to the country!
The next morning we had a short wander round Herceg Novi to buy a sim card and see the old town, which included the Spanish Fortress, the Herceg Novi viewpoint and the Sahat Kuli clock tower, before asking at the tourist office if we could pay our tourist tax. They explained that without an address we were unable to pay, and that any campsite we stay at should register us. Frustrated, and with our 24 hour window quickly closing, we left to go to our next stop.
Bay of Kotor - Perast
The road to Perast from Herceg Novi outlines the Bay of Kotor, and is one of Montenegro's panoramic roads. This route was stunning with the mountains on one side and the bay on the other. It also has many places to pull over so you can enjoy the view!
Perast has a lovely old town with some nice churches, a bell tower, a few palaces and some lovely restaurants on the sea front. Perast is a popular tourist stop as it also offers short boat trips to the Lady of the Rocks and Saint George Island. We stopped on the sea front for a light lunch and an ice cream before jumping back in the van and heading back on ourselves to find a campsite.
When we arrived at a campsite later that day, expecting to pay our tourist tax, the owner told us that we needed to go to the Tourist Office! Although this was frustrating, especially as we had now been in the country for more than 24 hours, he reassured us that the 24 hour time limit didn't matter and as long as we paid the tax before we left, we would be okay. Cue, Roxy stressing for the next 24 hours until we found the Tourist Office in Kotor who registered us (without an address) for the 12 days that we planned to stay.
A quick note on the campsites, particularly those in the Bay of Kotor, they seemed to be very overpriced for what they were offering. We're certainly not looking for 5 star camping, but for €15-€20+ you would expect basic facilities like the ability to fill up with fresh water, grey and black waste emptying facilities and at the very least, a shower with an actual door, not just a curtain! We spent a lot of time looking on Park4Night, trying to find a decent campsite in the area, but we were struggling. The upside of the campsite we chose however, was that we were able to park no more than three feet from the waters edge and it gave us a stunning view across the bay towards Kotor. This made the price seem a little more worth it!
Kotor
Our next stop along the Bay of Kotor was Kotor itself. This is a much larger city with a large old town. The old town is peppered with small souvenir and boutique shops as well as cafes, bars and restaurants. The highlights here were the clock tower and the Orthodox Church. The city is surrounded by an old fortification wall and the entrances are guarded on either side by bastions. The most notable of which is the Gurdic Bastion equipped with a drawbridge and surrounded by a moat. From the edge of Kotor you can also climb the ladder of Kotor. It was a very hot day and so neither of us could face the climb as it consists of hundreds of winding steps up to the top of the mountain overlooking the city.
Having spent a few hours in Kotor we then made our way to the Plavi Horizonti car park where we spent the night, after spending a couple of hours people watching on the beach. The following morning was spent driving along the headland in search of a route to the Blue Cave and the Submarine Bunker. Unfortunately we were unable to find a route to either that did not include a very long and hot hike, and so we decided to leave these for the time being and come back to them in a couple of days (we never did make it back!).
Porto Montenegro
Porto Montenegro was our next stop on our Montenegro adventure. It is described as one of the most prestigious marinas on the Adriatic Sea; it certainly lives up to that title.
It has clearly had a lot of investment as the seafront is dominated by luxury apartment blocks, designer shops and very expensive restaurants. We certainly felt out of place turning up in our van and having not showered properly for a couple of days. Nevertheless we had a nice walk along the promenade, admiring the mega yachts moored up in the marina, and even enjoyed viewing the submarines parked up outside the Naval Heritage museum. We thankfully found somewhere more affordable to eat, which as it turned out, seemed to be quite popular with the locals and other tourists who, like us, were not in a position to afford the top end prices at the marina restaurants.
Despite clearly having had a lot of money spent on the area, it seemed to be a bit of a ghost town. We were surprised by this as we were visiting at the end of May, not exactly the 'off season'. We concluded that the mega rich tourists, who would likely be arriving on their super yachts, were not on their holidays yet.
Cetinje
Following Porto Montenegro we made our way to Camp Oaza Lipa just outside Cetinje. This campsite was situated in the hills, overlooking Lake Skadar. The view was absolutely stunning. The campsite itself also had a great bar and restaurant where they served very filling, and cheap, meals. We particularly enjoyed the breakfast.
At this campsite we met a lovely couple (@two_lives_living_it) who were travelling to Turkey in a Land Rover defender. We spent most of our first evening swapping tales of driving across Europe with them, and certainly made the most of the cheap bar.
The campsite was perfectly situated between the Lipa Cave entrance and ticket office. Lipa cave monument is a 1.6 mile deep cave lined with otherworldly stalagmites and stalactites. We joined a tour with a very friendly and interesting tour guide, who guided us through the cave chambers and halls explaining the layout and names for all the cave ornaments. These included ornaments such as the Snake, the Cityscape, the Castle and the Crocodile. All named by locals to aid with navigation through the cave. We would highly recommend the Lipa Cave tour, if only to escape the heat outside!
Cetinje itself has a number of reasonably interesting historical landmarks and the city has done a great job of providing information points throughout, to guide you through the history of the former Royal Capital of Montenegro. We wouldn't recommend a long stop in Cetinje itself, but if you are visiting Lipa cave it is worth a short visit. One thing we did do here is visit the local hospital to finally get the stich removed from Charlies leg!
Podgorica
Before heading to Podgorica we made our way to Montenegro's Niagara Falls on the outskirts of the city. This is a very picturesque waterfall and canyon where you can climb along the rocks to get a great view of the waterfall. There is also a lovely restaurant there that has some very interesting décor inside and sits directly on the waters edge.
As we have already mentioned, Podgorica is described as the most boring capital city in Europe. It certainly lived up to that name for us. Even the tour guide at Lipa Cave questioned why we were going there! There were a few interesting monuments and attractions to see, however nothing blew us away. For us it felt like a lot of money had been spent on improving the city with modern and far reaching parks with great cycle networks and wide roads, however there was barely anyone around. We were there on a Sunday, however, most restaurants were either closed, or practically empty, and the streets themselves were not only empty of cars, but also empty of pedestrians. Even on a Sunday elsewhere in the country, there are lots of people around. It was quite eerie.
Budva
The coastal town of Budva is known for its sandy beaches and nightlife. Although we did not spend the night in Budva, it definitely looked like it would have a good nightlife. The beach, which must be well over 1km long is lined with night clubs, bars and restaurants. One particular nightclub (or day club it seemed) played extremely loud music for the youngsters enjoying the pool bar throughout the day (we realise this makes us sound 100 years old!).
Aside from the bar scene, Budva has a lovely old town on the northern tip of the town. It is the perfect place to get lost in the narrow pedestrian streets enjoying the shops, cafes and sights. Budva has a great fortress that you can explore for only a few euros, as well as some Roman ruins and old city walls.
Just along the coast from Budva is the private island of Sveti Stefan. This island is owned by a hotel group and it is very expensive to visit if you are not a hotel guest. Our research suggested that it would cost a minimum of €20 per person for a guided tour (you are not able to visit the island unaccompanied), or the alternative option is to reserve a table at the hotel restaurant, which we understand is quite expensive (minimum of €50 and way out of our budget). In our opinion, the view from the mainland is actually more than enough.
We managed to find a great wild camping spot a short distance from Sveti Stefan island, that not only had a great view of the island, and the sunset behind it, but also had access to a beach for a swim. This was up there with one of our favourite wild camping spots in Montenegro. We actually ended up staying here for two nights and enjoyed our first BBQ in a long time as the sun set over the island.
Lake Skadar
Before heading to Lake Skadar we stayed the night just outside a town called Sutomore. This was another one of our favourite wild camping spots in Montenegro. It was a little bit of a tricky drive to reach the spot as we not only had to dodge the trees, but the "road" was littered with deep pot holes and steep slopes. Thankfully we made it without any issues, and the view and beaches close by were beautiful.
After leaving our beautiful camping spot, we stopped at the Old Olive Tree.
This tree is believed to be over 2,000 years old, one of the oldest olive trees in the world. One side of the tree has been completely burnt out due to a lightning strike, but it still grows strong and is certainly worth a stop for 10 minutes.
Lake Skadar is located in the south of Montenegro and forms part of the border between Montenegro and Albania. Some believe the lake resembles the shape of a dolphin with two thirds of the lake in Montenegro and the nose of the dolphin, or one third, in Albania. It is the largest lake in Southern Europe with a surface area that fluctuates through the seasons between 370 km2 (140 sq mi) and 530 km2 (200 sq mi).
When arriving at the car park, near the information centre, we were immediately bombarded with requests to go on a boat tour by the locals. This is something that we wanted to do, so we weren't too bothered by them at first. After pointing us to the car park, the boat tour operator then followed us down the road to continue trying to get us onto their boat. They were very persistent. The price we were initially offered was €35 per person for a 2 hour tour, which we immediately turned down. We then explained that we only wanted to go for 1 hour, to which we were told the next 1 hour tour wouldn't be leaving for a long time. After explaining that the price was too high for us, we started to walk towards the national park entrance. There we were greeted by another gentlemen who then offered us a 1 hour tour for €30 total. It turned out that it was the same boat tour we were initially offered, somehow the price dropped dramatically in the 5 minutes it took us to walk from the car park!
The tour itself was reasonably interesting and the guide shared some relatively interesting information about the lake and the wildlife. We had been told that we could swim in the lake during the tour, however after seeing a snake swim in front of the boat, we quickly decided we were no longer keen on this idea. During the tour we saw many birds, meandered through a beautiful area covered with lily pads and lotus flowers, and we even saw a cat swimming! Well, we think it was a cat. It swam out from the shore in the distance, saw the boat and quickly turned around. We both are convinced it was a cat, however when googling the wildlife found in and around the lake, we could not find any record of aquatic cats!
Following the tour we made our way past the information point and soon found out that there lots of boat tour options and that we had stupidly been pushed into taking the first offer. Rookie mistake. We chose not to find out the cost of the tours being offered by other boat owners, so hopefully we weren't too badly ripped off.
Ulcinj
Before heading to Ulcinj and then subsequently crossing the border into Albania, we spent a couple of nights on the coast at a campsite on the beach. We used this opportunity to get all our laundry done and even managed to get the kayak out on a couple of occasions to explore the rocky coastline and film some fish underwater. Although the water was crystal clear, we had no idea what we were filming under the water as it was difficult to see from the kayak. At one point we were joking about watching the underwater footage back and seeing a diver waving at us. Only a few minutes later we kayaked over a diver. Needless to say, we quickly pointed the camera in their direction and hoped that they'd give us a wave! Unfortunately the camera decided at this point that we needed to do an update and the footage was lost. What's the quote?.. the best footage is always the one that got deleted? something like that, I'm sure!
Ulcinj was our final stop before crossing the border. We spent the morning wandering around the old town, which unfortunately for us was up a very steep hill. This meant we once again got extremely hot and had to spend a couple of hours in a bar trying too cool down. This turned out to be good timing as the one way road out of the town was blocked with standstill traffic for nearly 45 minutes. As it turns out, Ulcinj is a very popular destination for Kosovans. A barman (from Kosovo) explained to us that Kosovans aren't able to go to many countries without a visa, Montenegro being one of them, and Ulcinj is therefore a perfect holiday destination for them.
Final thoughts
Overall, we enjoyed our time in Montenegro, but it isn't a country we would be rushing back to. There are certainly some interesting things to see and do but, for us, it's not as interesting as some of the other Balkan countries that we have visited. It's certainly got a great coastline and stunning beaches, but it seems to lack some of the character that the other Balkan countries have. Since leaving Montenegro we have come to the conclusion that we may have 'old town fatigue'; we have now seen so many old towns that they aren't as exciting or interesting as they were at the beginning, which may be why we didn't enjoy Montenegro as much.
If you are travelling around the Balkan Peninsular, we think it is worth a visit. If you're in a van, a drive around the Bay of Kotor and a few cocktails on the beach at Budva might be all you need. If you're looking for a holiday spent solely on the beach, I would say it's a great choice and there are many, many beaches to choose from. Maybe we just missed all of the super fun parts of the country!
Having said we wouldn't rush back, we are actually hoping to go back to Montenegro at some point. One of the things we were most looking forward to doing was white water rafting in Tara Canyon (in the north of the country). However due to the injury on Charlie's leg, and not being able to get it wet, we had to skip it this time. Hopefully we will get the chance to pop in and do this on our way back to the UK.
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