Montenegro

[Burrow01]

Hi

Anyone been to Montenegro on holiday before?

If so any tips, interesting things to see?

Going in September for 10 days, will have a hire car to get about in

[Burrow01]

It's obviously going to be quiet judging by the lack of replies on here :-)

[Highway Star]

Just got back on Saturday - had a wonderful time and it is a stunning country.

Where are you flying to and picking the car up from? If you are crossing the border from Croatia, let me know as I'd have a handy hint for you...

Whereabouts are you staying or aiming to stay?

We flew into Dubrovnik, had a couple of days there and then picked up the car and headed over into Montenegro for a week. We stayed in an apartment on the Bay of Kotor, just around from Kotor itself.

Places we'd recommend visiting:

Kotor old town and walking up the walls to the fortress above the bay (start early in the day, it was nearly 40 degrees when we were there last week and 1350 steps is a far way!)
Sveti Stefan and Budva (more touristy, but ok for a day out)
Perast (lovely village on Bay of Kotor, good for a lunch right on the water's edge looking out to sea)
If you fancy seeing a bit more of the country, we'd recommend driving from Kotor to Cetinje (the cultural capital) - its about 50km, but will take you two hours. The road leaves Kotor and goes up and over Mount Lovcen, its 25 hairpins and of varying width... The views are amazing, but only if you don't mind heights.

Would avoid Podgorica, the capital, its very much a Communist-era city.

Let me know if you need any restaurant/beach recommendations.

Oh and if driving, keep your lights on at all times in Montenegro. The roads weren't too bad, but can be narrow in some places. Locals and in particular the Serbs, drive with 'verve' so you need to be in a mindset where you can just laugh off any crazy driving...

[Burrow01]

Hi

Thanks for the reply, we are flying into Tivat (via Montenegro Airlines, which sounds like it might be the most adventurous part of the holiday..)

Staying in a house rental in Prcanj, apparently 5mins drive from Kotor

Restaurant / Beach recomnendations would be appreciated

Hopefully it will have cooled down slightly in mid September, but not too much :-)

[Highway Star]

Burrow01 said:

Hi

Thanks for the reply, we are flying into Tivat (via Montenegro Airlines, which sounds like it might be the most adventurous part of the holiday..)

Staying in a house rental in Prcanj, apparently 5mins drive from Kotor

Restaurant / Beach recomnendations would be appreciated

Hopefully it will have cooled down slightly in mid September, but not too much :-)

Just along the road from where we stayed. We were at an apartment in Muo which is between Prcanj and Kotor.

Prcanj is probably more like 10-15 mins in reality from Kotor. The road on that side of the bay is narrow, in many places only wide enough for one car, with either steep walls/ditches on one side and the water on the other, often with no barriers. You have to be sure of the width of your car!

Tivat was ok, but pretty resort-y, especially the new Porto Montenegro super-yacht development with the high number of Russian registered G-wagens and RR Sports...

Restaurants: Galion in Kotor is supposed to be the best in the area and is right by the water. Worth booking a table rather than turning up on spec.

We had a really nice meal at Bastion in Kotor Old Town, by the north gate - really nice fish and lovely atmosphere sat out in the square with no pumping music!

Conte at Perast is also nice with a lovely canopied area right by the water. I think there was a restaurant we were recommended at Prcanj by the bay, but we didn't get around to going there.

We self-catered, so did about half our evening meals in the apartment - there are some small and not so well stocked corner shops at Prcanj and Muo, but the best supermarket is on the road to Budva - go through the tunnel from Kotor and then left at the roundabout. Prices in the supermarkets were pretty good.

We went to the same beach three times, at Przno (Plavi Horizont) on the Lustica Peninsula (about 10km from Kotor, not the other Przno down south of Budva) which was great, especially with kids. 3 Euros to park all day, 4 Euros for a lounger plus parasol and places to get meals/ice creams, drinks plus sandy beach which you can walk out to sea a long way in your depth (many of the beaches are rocky and just straight into deep water). Beaches at Jaz, Budva and Sveti Stefan are more expensive for parking/lounger hire.

Have a great time.

Kotor Bay from the road up to Mt Lovcen National Park


Sunset from the same road looking out towards Tivat


Perast

[Burrow01]

Thats great - thanks for the tips it all sounds pretty good

I thought 5mins might be hopefull to Kotor

Looking for the narrowest hire car I can find .......

[Highway Star]

No worries

If they offer you a Mitsubishi Colt with a CVT gearbox, run for the hills!

[sideways sid]

I've been to Montenegro a few times and completely endorse what HighwayStar said.

I would add that:
Tivat has been improved over the last couple of years and has lots of very smart bars on the sea front to attract those from Porto Montenegro. Worth a visit in the evening.
Budva is further down the coast and is more British, which you may view as good or bad!
I found Cetinje uninspiring and would suggest travelling further inland to Lake Skadar if you feel like exploring.
It is not uncommon to get pulled over for speeding. Keep EUR5 handy for the Police and they may waive the EUR30 fine.

[Highway Star]

sideways sid said:

I found Cetinje uninspiring and would suggest travelling further inland to Lake Skadar if you feel like exploring.

I know why you say that, it was very quiet and not very holiday-ish. We went to the National Museum - we were the only people there and got a guided tour from the curator as he had nothing else to do. They had to turn on the lights in the National Gallery for us.

Next time, we'll go further afield, we just miscalculated quite how long it would take us to get around going from the coast into the interior and to be honest, didn't fancy driving down the Ladder of Cattaro road in the dark, or more to the point, having to meet something coming the other way in the dark and reverse back up it!

[sideways sid]

BTW, I usually fly into DBV - what's your tip for travelling in from Croatia?

[Highway Star]

sideways sid said:

BTW, I usually fly into DBV - what's your tip for travelling in from Croatia?

It was more about returning into Croatia from Montenegro. When we drove down from Dubrovnik and crossed the border at the main crossing on the Trans-Adriatic road (Debeli Brnej or something like that), there was the mother of all queues in the neutral zone between Croatia and Montenegro - it would have taken at least 2-3 hours to cross into Croatia. Some friends of ours were also holidaying in Croatia at the same time as us, came down to Montenegro for the day and took them ages crossing back.

When we came back, we found another crossing on the map. As you leave Herceg Novi and go through Igalo, there is a left hand turn signposted for Njivice, but doesn't mention the border. Take that road and it takes you around the bottom of the peninsula and into Croatia there at a tiny border point. We crossed on Saturday afternoon and were the only car on the road. You've then got a really nice drive for about 10km until the road meets back up with the main road, not too far from DBV airport.

If you were to use it to cross from Croatia to Montenegro, you'd need to leave the main road on a road signposted for Molunat.

Don't know if this is a well known thing or not, but it certainly saved us a load of hassle.

[sideways sid]

Ah, the mythical Back Door into Montenegro!

Many thanks for the tip. I believe it has shorter opening hours but well worth a try on my next visit at end of October.

[Highway Star]

They might have even finished the road for the 10km up to border by then!

[sideways sid]

Yes, I bet the Hire Car Companies love it!

"Sir, I know your plane takes off in 10 minutes but there are some stone chips underneath the car..."

[Fourmotion]

We went a few years ago, flew into Tivat and was transferred to Kolasin.

We went for the hiking, biking, general outdoors stuff. It's a stunning place, rather barren of population and tourist areas. The terrain is hilly but untouched, and it is breathtaking in parts.

We ended up eating out just once, at the one restuarant. The rest of the time we ate in the hotel, simply because there was nothing else. But that worked fine for us, up early for brekkie, spend the day outside, come back and crash in the evening.

National Parks cover most of the area. We walked for hours without seeing another person. We did a white water rafting day down the Tara. The guides didn't speak any English and only took beer and a bottle of rakia (weird spirit) for the trip. The river was the supply of water, and it's possibly the nicest water I've ever drank. Cold, fresh and clear.

If you like the outdoors then the North is the place to head, but you won't have any hot weather.

ETA: we took a 1 hour taxi ride that cost less than £1. In a Mk 1 Golf!

[DBSV8]

been a few times , stayed at Svetti Stefan , great holiday , hired a car , boat went up the coast

enjoy

[Burrow01]

DBSV8 said:

been a few times , stayed at Svetti Stefan , great holiday , hired a car , boat went up the coast

enjoy

Looks great - do you mean you hired a boat? Motor or sailing?

[DBSV8]

Burrow01 said:

Looks great - do you mean you hired a boat? Motor or sailing?

we hired a motor boat ( speed boat ) , headed out from Budva , it was fairly reasonable rate as was Eurocar . definitely reccommend visit to Kotor and make sure you climb up the mountain , breath taking views.

Svetti Stefan was a great base the whole peninsular is a hotel , with individual apartments , we had a great sea view on the north side next to the apartment rented by a mr Stallone ..never saw him though

[Fishtigua]

Has anyone been to Porto Montenegro Marina complex recently? It was a real building site, dusty as hell, last I saw. Has it all been finished yet?

http://www.portomontenegro.com/destination/gallery

[Highway Star]

Its pretty much finished in places, building continues in others. Restaurants and shops now open and quite a few LARGE boats there along with plenty of RRSs, X5s, G-Wagens on Russian plates.