The coast of Montenegro is absolutely full of accommodation options. It’s striking to realize how popular this country actually is among tourists, especially as in many parts of western Europe people can’t even place it on the map! Montenegrins are very used to their tourists and really go out of their way to help you.
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| End of summer celebration, August 31st |
Our first destination was Petrovac (aka Petrovac na Moru), a small town 25kms to the south from Kotor. We chose Petrovac because of a nice hotel we found but might have easily stayed somewhere else also. Petrovac was nice, small and very touristic. It has a good, relatively clean beach with super warm and clear water, and lots of restaurants by the beach. Swimming was a lot of fun but we’d recommend to leave your snorkles at home. Maybe further from the shore it’s cleaner but near the shore the sea floor was filthy with bottles, pipes, plastic bags, deck chairs, basically whatever you can throw in the water was there.
We spent four days in Petrovac, which was enough to reset in between of our more active destinations. We were originally planning to drive in the surrounding areas and drive up to Ulcijn not far from Albanian border or even the capital Podgorica but felt so relaxed and comfortable that driving a car felt like such a burden! The weather was absolutely fantastic all day and night long, not a drop of rain and even nights were warm enough to take a dip in the pool. The incredibly warm breeze will dry you off in no time.
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| Tourists arriving to Kotor |
On the fourth day, in the afternoon, we drove to Kotor and later continued all the way across the mountains to the small town of Pluzine, not far from the Bosnian border. Kotor is a beautiful, super touristic historical town by the bay of Kotor. Kotor was built during the Venetian Period (Republic of Venice) thus has a lot of similarity to Italian architecture. Our original plan was to quickly stroll across the town and shoot some photos but we actually ended up hiking all the way up to Kotor Fortress – about an hour – an hour and a half in total if you’re fast. We were completely unprepared for the hike, wearing sandals and flip flops (and me a Michael Kors bag..) which made it a little uncomfortable but it’s worth it and highly recommended. You can actually buy water and soda on your way up and down from one of the vendors along the walking path. The path is slippery, especially on the way down you might need to take it slow.
As it was a hot day, above 30C we decided to take a dip in the sea before taking off to Pluzine. You have lots of small beaches to choose from, just pick a spot and jump in! The swimming experience in the bay is actually an interesting one! The water in the bay is very warm, I’d say 25C but there’s cooler water pouring in from the mountains which brings in layers of cooler water so you have these pockets of cool water in the warm bay. You can even see the cooler spots with your bare eye. Very cool!
Could be a great idea to stay at one of the B&B’s by the bay, you’ve got plenty of choice and they looked very nice. Also, the scenary is breath taking, wouldn’t mind spending a week enjoying it!
I better end my post here by the bay of Kotor, before continuing the journey to the north east of the country.
To sum it all up, Montenegro is an incredible destination for sun, beach, relaxation, nature and hiking. I believe it’s even great for buying real estate as tourism is growing and the economy is also growing fast after recession. Although, be fast, the prices are getting higher and are currently at the level of South of Spain and Portugal! Otherwise shopping in Montenegro will save your money because there’s not really that much to buy. Food is very good, seafood is recommended as well as everything with meat – Montenegrins really know how to barbeque seafood, meat as well as vegetables. Dishes are simple and very tasty. Try the Srbska salad which is a version of Greek salad, you won’t be disappointed!
All in all, it’s not an expensive but also not particularily cheap destination. Especially coastal areas try (and should) benefit from all the tourists. However, it’s very much worth it and if you dig deep enough you do find great deals. Further inland prices drop and tourist masses get lesser.
