Montenegro is an often overlooked country of the eight that comprise southeastern Europe’s Balkan Peninsula and, while I didn’t spent a lot of time there last July, I didn’t need to in order to appreciate its charms.
I crossed into Montenegro, a small country of less than a million people that gained its independence from Serbia in 2006, after spending a couple of nights in Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina — about a 30-minute drive from the border. The country’s name translates into “Black Mountain” in English and, while the peaks surrounding us might not have been overly high, they were visually stunning.
Our bus descended and offered beautiful views of the Bay of Kotor (known locally as Boka), which winds its way inland from the Adriatic Sea. The old town of Kotor is walled, not unlike nearby Dubrovnik, Croatia, but is even more compact. And even though two cruise ships were in the port, it hasn’t yet been overrun by tourists or experienced the price hikes of the gorgeous town that gained increased notoriety through its Game of Thrones association.
A local guide led a 45-minute group walking tour of the old town, talking about its history and showing us some of its more notable structures. To better get my bearings, I walked along the top of the 4.5 kilometres of walls wherever possible, which offered a better perspective and some prime views of the medieval era architecture that has contributed to Kotor being named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Even better vistas could have been had from hiking up a steep hill to the Church of Our Lady of Remedy or even higher to the Castle of St. John, but my time was limited and I had fallen in love with the bay and wanted to get out on the shimmering blue water.
I paid 15 Euros (approximately $22.50 Canadian) for a 90-minute round trip ride on a speed boat that included two disembarkations. The first was a 30-minute stop in the lovely village of Perast, which has 300 people, beautiful old buildings and overlooks the Verige Strait, the narrowest part of the Bay of Kotor. I snapped several photos in my quick walk along the shoreline before it was time to get back on the boat.
It took just a couple of minutes to reach the next destination, Our Lady of the Rocks, the only artificial island in the Adriatic that was created hundreds of years ago by sailors through building on top of rocks and sunken ships. A church of the same name, which was renovated in 1722, offered more photo opportunities — as did the nearby St. George, an even smaller island that’s home to a quaint church that can be seen in my current Facebook cover photo.
The ride back to the Kotor port was exhilarating, where the wind would have been whipping my hair if I had enough for that to happen, while taking in picturesque buildings at the foot of the mountains surrounding the bay.
With 75 minutes remaining until I had to board a bus to Budva, I walked around parts of the old town I hadn’t earlier and discovered a tiny bar called Hoste that brews its own beer. I wish I could say that the bottle of Smilin’ Goat IPA I had made me smile, but the brewmaster told me that it was made five days earlier and hadn’t yet attained its full character. I can attest.
Budva, a town of 20,000 people on the Adriatic, was a 45-minute drive away. After dropping my bags off at the three-star Hotel Park Budva, I walked a couple of hundred metres to the stony Slovenska Beach, and then passed numerous beach clubs full of partying young people in the 20 minutes it took me to reach the old walled part of the town.
While I enjoyed my wander, the architecture wasn’t as interesting as in Kotor or Dubrovnik, and it didn’t take long to take in the sights of the town ruled by the Venetians from 1420 to 1797. But it was a hot early July day and I’d worked up a thirst. Luckily, I ran into my friend Ryan, who was equally parched.
We had a beer in the Old Town Pub and then went just beyond the old town walls to the Akademija Crafthouse brew pub, where we were given three different beers for the price of two on a sunny terrace. My favourite was definitely the Cista Desetka Hefeweizen.
After returning to the hotel and having another beer, I had dinner at the beachside and somewhat upscale Restaurant Pivnica, where a good but not great meal of veal soup, spaghetti with seafood and a pint of beer set me back 16.50 Euros (approximately $24.75 Canadian) as musicians walked by serenading my table.
While the beach was packed with people and sun beds during the day, as the “Budva Riviera” is the centre of Montenegrin tourism, many of the beach clubs were closed at night. But those that were open, as well as other nightclubs set a bit farther back from the water, were pumping out loud Eurodisco dance music that I wanted no part of.
I was able to find a relatively quiet bar on the beach where I could enjoy a nightcap and reflect on my day. It was number six of the 16 I’d spend in the Balkans and, since I’d visited Dubrovnik years earlier and eliminated this return trip from consideration, I quickly came to the conclusion that Kotor had become my favourite destination of the journey.
More people are starting to discover Montenegro, just as they already have Croatia, so I’d recommend getting there soon if any of what I’ve described appeals to you.
If you’d like to get a taste of several countries in this part of the world, I’d recommend TravelTalk’s All About Balkans tour. The regular price is $2,570, but tours from March through November are now on sale for $1,414.
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