Car routes in Montenegro. Around Montenegro by car. Full day route Budva – Durmitor
It all started with the fact that once upon a time, 12-13 years ago, or maybe even more, I heard about such a country as Montenegro, then the youngest state, in principle, as it is now. And something hooked me, I began to learn about this country, surfed the Internet, then I still didn’t really understand what I wanted. Just looking Beautiful places in the Internet. Then, at a more conscious age, I realized that I wanted to go there. It was a dream then, which later became a goal. I wanted to fly away in the summer of 2018, but I had to change jobs and there was no vacation until this year.
On this trip, the plans were to travel “a little further” into Eurasia from almost the easternmost point to the westernmost. The idea for this route was conceived after a trip in 2011, when we drove from the Sea of Japan to the North Sea in the Netherlands and Belgium. In the same year we advanced to Atlantic Ocean to Cape Roca in Portugal. So, everything in order.
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But just Turkey was not enough for me. And if you drive around Cherny, then Bulgaria, Romania, and Moldova will also come under attack. Damn, well, then we have to bypass Ukraine, and this includes Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland. And if you go around, it can go west and hit Greece, Montenegro, and then Italy is nearby. And above it is Switzerland. And away we go. And away we go. So much so that there were 17 countries.
After the cold Siberian winter of 2017, a slightly less cold spring has arrived. Everyone immediately wanted to bask in the sea. The ten months that have passed since our last trip to three Transcaucasian countries hinted that it would be high time to go on vacation. Unfortunately, this time we couldn’t get a hot ticket to Thailand. But somehow I really didn’t want to pay 130,000 rubles for a tour for 10 days, in BB format. Therefore, our gaze was turned towards the Western sea resorts. By chance I come across a rather lucrative offer from S7 airlines in Montenegro. After some thought, we decide to spend a couple of vacation weeks in this European country. An air flight from Kemerovo to Tivat and back costs only 69 thousand rubles for two adults and two children (6 and 9 years old). Economy Basic fare without luggage, but with hand luggage 10 kg for each passenger, which is quite enough for the things needed on vacation. For Siberians, considering two flights totaling 8 hours each, this is a very profitable option.
We issued Bulgarian visas, a period of about a week, (70 euros - adult; 35 euros - children; including health insurance), green card (about 30 euros). Having scoured the Internet and taking into account the stories of friends, we reserved apartments on the website booking.com in Zabljak (for 2 days at 35 euros/day), in Kotor (for 3 days at 30 euros/day).
I’ll tell you about a 3-day excursion around Montenegro on a rental Mazda2 in September 2016. I booked the car in advance at a well-known rental company in Budva and received almost what I expected: Mazda2 1.5 MT 2015 without defects, without malfunctions and WITHOUT A SPARE WHEEL. The lack of a spare wheel for our route was an unpleasant surprise. I asked the manager to give me another car, no matter more expensive or cheaper, but with a spare wheel, which he couldn’t do that day, like everything was scheduled. Well, I look with despondency at the small can of chemicals, which was carefully placed in a niche for storage and on the road. All the time of the trip, and especially at night, on a mountain road, this thought was in my head: “Be careful, go around the stones, we are without a spare tire.” The Mazda2 itself drives brilliantly, and after restyling it received a new interesting design and a good level of comfort for a compact car. For convenience, the slide has a built-in “anti-recoil” system. What is the reason that the Mazda2 has not caught on with us?
Brief conclusions: The Balkans are a region that seems specially created for travel. Very beautiful and diverse nature, concentrated in a relatively small area; warm climate and sea; a hellish mixture of cultures and faiths; rich story; tasty and inexpensive (compared to Western Europe) kitchen; a friendly attitude towards Russians and a language that is easy to understand (except for Albania) make a holiday in the Balkans eventful and unforgettable. We will come there again with great pleasure, and perhaps more than once.
The vacation for June was planned to be relatively long for us - 3 weeks, and therefore it was decided to eliminate this topographical injustice and take a ride through the former federal republics of Yugoslavia. I understood that even 3 weeks would not be enough to more or less thoroughly see all 6 young states formed after the collapse of the SFRY. I definitely wanted to get to know brotherly Serbia, relax for 3-4 days at sea in Montenegro, be sure to visit the mysterious Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then how it goes. At the same time, I would also not want to fly through such transit Schengen countries as Poland, Slovakia and Hungary without stopping.
A little over a month ago I returned from my next trip to Montenegro. The previous time I came there was in the spring of last year, and since that moment certain and quite significant things have happened in this wonderful country, including for Russian tourists changes that I would like to talk about. I believe that this information will be useful to many who intend to visit Montenegro in the near future.
I got the desire to visit Bulgaria after accidentally finding the official tourism portal of this country on the Internet: http://bulgariatravel.org/. This site lists almost all the attractions of Bulgaria with their descriptions, photographs, opening hours, excursion costs, indications GPS coordinates. Many people believe that there is nothing interesting there except the sea. But in Bulgaria there are many caves, waterfalls, thermal springs, rocks, gorges, ancient cities, fortresses, etc. There are enough attractions for more than one trip.
. The first one pleased me with the price, I rented a car for 10 euros per day, and arranged everything literally the day before. True, the car was not very clean, plus, due to an error in the order, they brought me a manual instead of an automatic. The car was quickly changed, but we still had to wait. Overall, the reviews online are good, and the staff are helpful and friendly, so it was a positive experience.The second service is RentalCars - an aggregator where you can find different rental companies. Here the car cost me 30 euros per day. The documents were completed quickly, the car was in good condition, and showed itself well on the road.
You can also rent a car through Ostrovok. Just write to [email protected] , tell us about the details of the trip and indicate your wishes for the car. Specialists will contact you and select a car.
What you need to know when you rent a car
1. The roads are free.
The only place where a toll is charged is through the Sozine tunnel to the city of Bar. But you can also drive around it using a free section.
2. Finding and paying for parking is quite easy.
There are both paid and free parking lots. Prices for paid parking are different everywhere, you need to find out on the spot. Sometimes you can park for the whole day for one euro, and sometimes just an hour costs two.
3. Don't park close to other cars.
The local population’s attitude towards cars is very consumerist: they don’t blow away dust particles and don’t take special care of them. Your car can be scratched simply by opening the door of your own car in the parking lot. If you are afraid of such situations, it is better to take out full insurance from the rental company.
4. Check to see if the rented car has a green card.
This is international insurance that allows you to travel outside the country. Distances in Montenegro are small; in a day it is quite possible to get to neighboring Serbia, Albania or Bosnia. But if the car does not have a green card, you cannot leave Montenegro.
5. Download GoogleMaps and Maps.me.
To confidently move around the country, use two maps at once. The first one sometimes confuses the routes, but you can find almost any place on it. Maps.me calculates routes quite accurately, but sometimes, especially in the outback, it plots the route along dotted roads. In mountainous areas, driving on such roads is difficult, so it is better to drive on the main road.
6. Be careful on serpentines.
Serpentine and narrow mountain roads There are a lot of them in Montenegro, especially in Durmitor, and it is often difficult for two cars to pass each other. Locals drive quite fast even in dangerous places, recklessly on turns and generally very fearless. But don't follow their example: drive slowly and carefully, taking into account unexpected oncoming drivers.
Full day route Budva – Durmitor
I'll tell you about one of my favorite routes. It is beautiful for its atmosphere, places where you can truly relax your soul, enjoy the silence, nature and forget about the oppressive civilization.
A - Budva, B - Moraca Monastery, C - Biogradska Gora Park, D - Djurdjevic Bridge, E - Black Lake in Durmitor
For convenience, we will assume Starting point Budva is one of the most famous tourist cities. I advise you to leave Budva at seven or eight in the morning so that you can easily drive along the half-empty roads, although there will be no traffic jams during the off-season. General route with stops, walks, snacks, photographs and the return journey will take 15-20 hours. The journeys are short and you can return back on the same day. But you can provide an overnight stay in Kolasin or Zabljak and divide the route into two days.
Budva – Moraca Monastery
The road from the coast to the monastery will take 1.5-2 hours. The path runs through the mountains, and after Podgorica - through river canyons, where you will want to stop every 500 meters and look at everything around.
The Moraca Monastery was founded in 1252, and contemporaries consider it an important monument of the Middle Ages on the Balkan Peninsula. The monastery is located in the canyon of the Tara River, surrounded on all sides by mountains and immersed in lush greenery. For me, this is a kind of place of power: calm and silence reign here, which fill you with energy and completely recharge.
Take a walk around the grounds, look into the garden with rose bushes, and drink water in a small spring. The water is believed to have healing properties, so locals and tourists bottle it and take it with them. There is also a small apiary here and the monastery honey is sold. If you wish, you can chat with the priest and light candles, and after the walk have a cold drink in a small wooden cafe.
Moraca Monastery – Biogradska Gora Park
All the same scenic road, through the city of Kolasin, you will go to national park"Biogradska Gora" If you are already hungry, then stop by Kolasin and have a snack at the Savardak restaurant - a small cozy establishment in the form of a yurt. National food and traditional northern kachamak are prepared here - a hearty dish based on potatoes and corn grits. After this “refueling” you can safely go further and explore National parks and lakes.
The pride of the park is Lake Biograd, locatedin a natural intermountain basin above sea level. This lake is considered the largest among the other six lakes in the park.An hour is enough to explore the place, admire nature and even ride a small boat.
Biogradska Gora Park – Djurdjevic Bridge
The journey from Lake Biograd to the bridge will take about an hour. This is one of the famous tourist places, but that doesn’t make it any less charming. The Djurdzhevich Bridge hovers over the Tara River at an altitude of 172 meters. This is probably the best Observation deck to the canyon and azure mountain river. When you stand in the middle of the bridge on the pedestrian zone and look around, it is completely breathtaking: there is an abyss below you, and around you there are vast expanses and forests stretching into the distance.
Extreme lovers can ride a zipline - fly over the Tara Canyon on a steel rope from one bank of the river to the other. The impressions will last for a long time!If you prefer to quietly contemplate the beauty, sit in a cafe overlooking the bridge and eat dessert.
Djurdzhevich Bridge - Black Lake in Durmitor
The next point is Crno Jezero, or Black Lake. I heard a legend that the lake is called black not because of some dark stories, but because natural features terrain. The lake is surrounded by mountains, clouds often hang over it and the water seems to be almost black - hence the name.
To get to the lake, you will need to buy a ticket to Durmitor Park, which costs about 4 euros. In these places you can already feel the north - the temperature is lower than in the south, and around there are mainly coniferous forests. Be sure to take a warm sweater or even a jacket to make your walk comfortable. On the way to the lake you can buy wild berries. Since Durmitor is one of the most ecologically clean areas in Europe, you can rest assured about the quality of forest delicacies.
When you follow the hiking trail and reach the shore, you will understand why I recommend visiting here. The color of the water is amazing, there are thick spruce trees and tall mountains all around. There are no beaches here and for good reason: if you are not a “walrus”, then swimming is cold even in summer. The water temperature is four to six degrees lower than the air temperature. Assess your strengths. I would recommend swimming in the sea, in warm water, and coming here for nature. Although some tourists do quick swims for show.
You can take a boat and ride around the lake, or have a berry picnic on the shore, eating strawberries and blueberries bought along the way. Nature makes Black Lake of rare beauty ideal place for photo shoots, there is plenty of room to wander around. In addition, there is a walking path around the entire lake; you can walk it in 2-3 hours.
Black Lake is the end point of our route. Now you can return to Budva; the return journey without stops will take approximately 3.5 hours.
Where to stay
If you want to split the route into two days, I recommend stopping in Kolasin or Zabljak.You will just pass Kolasin after the Moraca monastery. There's a lot here wonderful hotels with swimming pools, spas and good cuisine. For example, - a cozy hotel with wooden decoration, located right along the route, so you don’t have to zigzag or go off the route.
A more budget-friendly, but equally comfortable option for an overnight stay is a hotel . It is located next to ski resort, so if the road doesn’t tire you too much, go to Ski Centar Kolasin. There is a lift here that will take you to a height of 1450 meters - from there you have a magnificent view of the mountain ranges and forests with centuries-old fir trees.
The second option for an overnight stop is Zabljak. This is a small town with a population of 4200 people, it will be at the very end of the route. So after a walk to the Black Lake, you can easily check into a hotel and relax in the spa or go to a restaurant. From interesting facts: you will sleep onat an altitude of 1456 m, in the highest mountain settlement in the Balkans, and breathe Durmitor air. I can recommend the charming - there are baths, a spa and its own restaurant. Another variant - cottage complex , which is located right on the territory of the Durmitor National Park.
Reminder for travelers on the Budva-Durmitor route
- Decide whether to split the route into two days or not. If you want to stay overnight, book a hotel in Kolasin or Zabljak.
- Take warm clothes - it will be quite cool in Durmitor National Park.
- Do not park close to other cars; a neighbor may scratch your car and drive away, leaving you to negotiate with the rental companies.
- Don't drive recklessly on serpentines, drive carefully and don't speed up.
The editors would like to thank Anastasia Kolesnikova www.akolesnikova.ru for the photographs provided.
I have a long-standing desire to travel around the Balkans by car, but somehow it doesn’t work out all the time, because I want to do it slowly, and often I can’t allocate even a couple of weeks for the trip; more and more often, small forays into the country with overview acquaintance. So this time, having successfully grabbed tickets to Tivat, I decided to take a short ride around Montenegro, at the same time get a taste of the Balkans, which will lead to a more active implementation of my trip through them. I'll start my story with short story, what you need to know when traveling around Montenegro by car, and what difficulties I had with this.
I decided to start my trip right from the airport and all this ultimately resulted in this route:
Before going to Montenegro, I spent a long time choosing where to rent a car, looking through various large companies, but in the end I came across Russian-speaking guys who rent cars in Montenegro. In the end, it was a very right choice, the conditions turned out to be great, the receipt and delivery of the car was fast, and in general I would recommend them to everyone. But so that no one suspects me of being corrupt, I will not put a link, even though they deserve it.
I chose this baby with a one-liter engine and manual transmission gears and only 100 km on the odometer. In principle, I did not have any special problems during my entire road trip, although I should have taken a couple of points into account in advance. Firstly, for a couple of years I only rode manuals, and for the first couple of hours I had a very hard time remembering that there was also a clutch pedal and that I had to change gears myself. At the beginning it caused discomfort, but then the skills returned and already on the first day after returning to Russia I tried to manually switch the automatic transmission, and looked for the third pedal with my foot. Secondly, 1 liter of gasoline engine, although it consumes little, is still too small for quick maneuvering along serpentine roads; the car had a particularly hard time on long climbs when I was driving to the highest mountain settlement in the Balkans - the city of Zabljak. Thirdly, the car was compact, which was convenient when traveling around the city and looking for parking spaces, but on the last day there was bad weather with a strong wind, which noticeably affected my movement along the serpentine along the coast, especially when leaving the mountain or getting into another open area, I even started to get a little nervous about it, but everything went fine. But its small displacement allowed significant savings on fuel.
Briefly, what you should know about the rules traffic. In the city you can drive at a speed of 50 km/h, outside the city - 80, there is no fine for exceeding 9 km. In fact, it is important to pay attention to the signs, because... There are a lot of small villages, so it was not possible to drive particularly long sections of the road at high speed. Again, Montenegro is a hilly country, and only locals ride fast on the serpentines, and the restrictions there are also often less than the maximum permitted speeds.
During all this time, I never came across speed cameras; usually they were typical police officers with hair dryers in their hands. I tried to ride everywhere so that there was nothing to fine me for, but once I was still stopped, but it was because I somehow unsuccessfully weaved on the road right in front of the employees, which aroused their suspicion. They say that the country allows 0.3 ppm of alcohol, which allows you to take a couple of sips of beer at lunch, but I did not abuse this. In general, they stopped me, saying something in local, I, of course, did not understand anything, but handed over a set of documents for the car + international license. It’s interesting that in Montenegro you can safely ride with our Russian license, but I got myself an international one, because my plans for the year include not only trips around Montenegro. However, the inspector did not like the international rights, and he demanded others from me, and as a result, after showing him the domestic ones, I was released with instructions next time not to give anything other than Russian rights. And I even thought that I didn’t need to take them with me.
More of them interesting features Rules in Montenegro include a ban on the use of fog lights, that is, when driving, running lights or low beams must be turned on, and fog lights can only be used for their intended purpose. When entering numerous tunnels, people turn on the lights in unison, which they then turn off in unison.
Otherwise, the rules are similar to ours, you must wear a seat belt and you cannot talk on the phone. One of the peculiarities of driving can be noted that for some reason people here really don’t like to turn on turn signals, except at traffic lights in the city.
WITH free parking There are big problems here, so sometimes I had to park several blocks away from where I needed to go. There are paid parking lots, but it’s one thing when there is a barrier there and a living person charges 0.8 euros for every hour of parking, and another thing when you find yourself in a paid parking lot in Podgorica, where you have to pay using SMS, which can only be sent from local number. In the end, I managed to park everywhere for free.
One of the problems was planning car routes in Montenegro, sitting at your laptop in Tula, it’s very easy to build a route, estimate how many kilometers per day you will travel, how many places you will visit, etc. In fact, the navigator shows the driving time, not taking into account at all that the entire road is serpentine, and there will also be fog and possible rain. As a result, even despite the excellent roads, the distance that you planned to cover in 1 hour, you drive for 2.5 hours, at the cafe you wait half an hour longer for lunch, and then you sit and sadly think about what the next point from the original route is delete. For this reason, I did not get to several places that I had originally planned.
This is probably all that concerns the use of a car in Montenegro, then there will be a standard set of posts from the trip, in which I will also try to tell where I wasted time and money, what I might not have seen, we will visit the abandoned residence of a noble kind of Bisanti, where would we be without this, and, of course, where is another baller hidden in Montenegro 😊
IN this photo review you will find a comprehensive list and map all the sights of Montenegro, which can be seen in summer or winter in 1-2 weeks; the optimal routes for day trips in Montenegro.
The post gives short description, Can click on the name and open an article with a detailed story, photo and information about how to get there And How much does it cost.
Advice. It's crazy in Montenegro beautiful nature, but public transport does not go to many places.
If you do not plan to take a trip to the sights of Montenegro on your own, then I recommend considering the option of purchasing group excursions.
There is a very large selection of one-day tours here. If you need to choose just one or two excursions, then these are the most interesting:
1. Excursion to the Bay of Kotor, 25€ adults and 12€ children
If you don’t plan to take excursions, then below we describe what to see in Montenegro on your own.
The content of the article
If you are interested in the description of a particular day, click on its name to read more about these attractions.
Choice of transport
Due to the compact size of the country, most of the attractions of Montenegro can be visited within day trips from Budva or other resorts.
1. Car rental
IN National parks and the mountains of Montenegro do not have buses, and that’s where all the most interesting things are located. If there are at least two of you, then renting a car + gasoline will cost the same or cheaper than traveling by public transport, especially over long distances.
Map of attractions of Montenegro
Day 1
Kotor – Perast – oyster farm – Boka Bay of Kotor – Bajova kula beach
Day 2
Gorazda Fortress - Mount Lovcen - Njegushi - Cetinje - Lipa Cave
, 24 km from Budva
Price - for free
The most modern and reliable building for its time (1886), well preserved to this day. Partially overgrown with grass, it stands on a mountain between Kotor and Tivat.
, 52 km from Budva
Time for inspection - 30 minutes-1 hour
Things to do? Taste prosciutto and cheese
Njegushi is a village in the mountains near the national. Lovcen Park, where Montenegrin prosciutto is produced. Annual - 16€ /kg, two-year-old - 18€ /kg
, 33 km from Budva
Price - 5€
The cave is located 5 km from Cetinje. One of the largest ennobled caves in Montenegro.
How to get there?
The places listed above can only be visited as part of a guided tour. Montenegro tour behind 30€ . A more detailed version - Heart of Montenegro- She is standing 50€ , but includes a visit more places
An alternative is to drive your own car or take a taxi.
We traveled by car 8 ocloc'k We visited everything listed above, on the way back we stopped at the beaches of Jaz and near Budva.
There is no public transport to Lovcen National Park. Alternatively, you can take a bus to Cetinje ( 4€, 40 min), and then hire a taxi to take you to Mount Lovcen and bring you back to Cetinje ( 20-25€ for a taxi including waiting).
Day 3
Herceg Novi - Zanjica beach - Blue Cave - Mamula fortress
, 45 km from Budva
The greenest city in Montenegro on the border with Croatia. We see the Savina monastery, three fortresses, Old city and beaches. If you go with group excursion, there will be little time for inspection.
Blue Cave
There are excursions from Herceg Novi that include visiting not only Zanjica beach, but also the Blue Cave (8€). On Zhanitsa beach you can also buy an excursion to the Blue Cave for 3€
You will be taken by boat to the grotto, where you can swim. The only downside is that the place is popular, so there will be other boats and many tourists in the cave.
How to get there?
You can see Herceg Novi, the Blue Cave, Zanjica beach and Tivat as part of a boat trip along the Herceg Novinsky Bay for 45€ . This excursion lasts a full day.
You can also get to Herceg Novi and Zanjica beach on your own by car for 1 hour via ferry crossing in Tivat ( 4.5€ per car, people free).
An alternative option is to come to Herceg Novi by bus ( 5.5-6.5€ per person one way from Budva, 1h15m or 2 hours along the bypass) and buy a boat trip on the spot ( 5€ for Zhanitsa + 6€ behind blue cave and the Mamula fortress).
Day 4
Tivat – Porto Montenegro – Kalardovo beach – Island of Flowers
Tivat, 25 km from Budva
In Tivat you can see the embankment, Botanical Garden, Bucha Palace, parks, city beaches, and most importantly, the Porto Montenegro yacht marina.
Kalardovo beach, 22 km from Budva
South of Tivat there is a small organized beach called Kalardovo (sand and small pebbles). There is a restaurant there, there are swings for children, you can rent sun loungers and umbrellas. If you want to swim in the sea in the Tivat area, you can do it in Kalardovo. At the same time, watch the planes take off (the airport is very close).
From Kalardovo you can go on foot to the Island of Flowers - there are also beaches and the ruins of the monastery of St. Michael.
How to get there?
You can come to Tivat by bus from Budva ( 3-4€ , every half hour, on the way 30 minutes) or by car.
If you don’t have enough time to relax in Montenegro, you can see Tivat and the Porto Montenegro yacht marina on the way to Herceg Novi ( day 3). You can also come to Tivat to the Lido Mar pool for the whole day if the sea is stormy or if you are tired of noisy crowded beaches.
Day 5
Piva Lake - Zabljak - national. Durmitor Park - Djurdzhevich Bridge and canyons of the Tara and Moraca rivers - Ostrog Monastery
Piva Lake, 170 km from Budva
Here we see the lake and the Piva Monastery of the 16th century. Must see in Montenegro.
Zabljak, 187 km from Budva
Zabljak - center mountain tourism Montenegro near Durmitor park. If you travel by bus, you need to buy a ticket to Zabljak. This town has all the infrastructure (housing, cafes).
Djurdjevic Bridge, 201 km from Budva
, 100 km from Budva
Ostrog Monastery (17th century) is the main shrine of Montenegro. Located in a rock at an altitude of 900 m above the sea. The relics of St. Basil are kept here, to which pilgrims come from all over Montenegro. People usually ask for health or children from the relics. The place is really bright and energetically strong.
How to get there?
The north and northeast of Montenegro are incredibly beautiful, so if you need to choose just one excursion, I recommend visiting the canyons and Durmitor National Park.
This is an extremely intense route, but quite doable. It's better to leave early in the morning.
We went to Durmitor by car and managed to see all the places listed above in one day, 500 km behind 12 hours. To walk around hiking trails Durmitor Park, one day is clearly not enough. It's better to go overnight.
When preparing for the trip, I was guided by the description with some adjustments.
It was planned to go only to the national. Durmitor Park and the Tara River, but in the end we also managed to visit the Ostrog Monastery on the way back. We arrived in Ostrog at 6 pm, when the last sightseeing buses took tourists to resorts. No queues (during the day you can stand in line for an hour or two to see the relics).
Alternative road. If you do not go to Ostrog, you can return along the highway through Kolasin to Podgorica, see the national park along the way Biogradska Gora, the canyon of the Moraca River and walk along suspension bridge over the Moraca river(it is indicated on my map of attractions in the description of day 5, red icons).
All these places, except Ostrog, can be visited within the framework. Look for the name "Canyons" - 40€ or the Grand Canyons - it is more intense and worth 65€ per person.
Ostrog Monastery can be visited on another day by purchasing a tour of the monasteries, it is worth 25€
By public transport you can reach the city of Zabljak. There is one bus from Budva at 8.45, it costs 16€ one way, on the way 5 o'clock. If this bus is not suitable, then we go from Budva to Podgorica and there we take a bus to Zabljak (4 trips per day).
Day 6
Ulcinj – Velika plaza – Ada Boyana island – Bar
, 70 km from Budva
A resort in the south of Montenegro on the border with Albania. Famous sandy beaches and a special atmosphere (energetic Albanian music plays, a completely different contingent of vacationers than on the Budva Riviera)
Bar, 52 km from Budva
The Bar has the Old Bar and the New Bar. In the Old Town (entrance 2€ ) mosque, 17th century fortress, church and cathedral, old olive tree (2000 years old). New Bar - largest port Montenegro and popular resort(questionable choice for beach holiday, but there are enough vacationers).
How to get there?
I wouldn’t choose these places for a vacation, but go to Ulcinj and it’s definitely worth a drive along the surrounding beaches. The landscapes and sea are completely different from those in the north of the country.
If you are traveling by bus ( 7.5€, 2 hours), you will have to walk a lot or spend money on a taxi, because... the distances are long and public transport there is no distance between Ulcinj and the beaches. It’s better to go by car to see the city, the long beach, and the island of Ada Boyana.
Bar can be visited on the way to Ulcinj or on the way back. If you specifically want to go only to Bar, then there are buses from Budva ( 5€, 1 hour). From New Bar to Old 5km. You can walk or take a bus for 1€ .
Day 7
Skadar Lake – Rijeka Crnojevica – Podgorica
Skadar Lake, 43 km from Budva
Lake Skadar is one of the largest bird sanctuaries in Europe. We go to the city of Virpazar, there we take a boat ride on Lake Skadar to the Gmozhur fortress. You can visit other lake monasteries on the islands.
Podgorica, 64 km from Budva
Excursions to Lake Skadar, sold in travel agencies in Montenegro and on the embankment of Budva, do not impress me... They are conducted in a banal manner, without immersion in local life, and yet there are many settlements around the reservoir. And the most offensive thing is that they don’t show the real beauty of the lake. I will try to rectify the situation by describing several routes by car on my own along Lake Skadar. I recommend renting a car in Montenegro at MyRentaCar.com
Today I’ll tell you about the panoramic route Budva - Bar - Ostrosh - Murici - Godinje - Virpazar. It will take all day, plus it requires an experienced driver; in some places there will be narrow serpentines with blind turns. The route along Lake Skadar from Budva on the map. 
If this is your first time in Montenegro, then after seeing everything and its rivieras, go to the old Bar. Here you can feel the oriental flavor in everything - in the dishes, food, serving coffee, in the presence of mosques... not without reason Ottoman Empire She ruled this city for 300 years. 
Entrance to the old Bar behind the fortress walls is paid - 2 euros. Today the city is uninhabited and is a museum under open air. When you click a photo, the gallery opens
Be sure to take a ride to the Bar embankment, it is wide and pleasant for walking. And in the evenings there are gorgeous sunsets.
On the embankment stands the palace of King Nikola. But instead of a boring museum, I would advise you to sit down for coffee and cake and enjoy the sea breeze. From Bar we take the bypass road heading towards the Albanian border. Along the way there are picturesque villages with gardens and vegetable gardens. We treated ourselves to ripe pomegranates hanging over the road.
We passed the village with beautiful name Vladimir, who local population in Albanian they call it completely differently and turn towards the Panorama restaurant. We didn’t have lunch there, the cake filled us up until the evening :) But I advise you - the cuisine is national, there are homemade cheeses and olives, magnificent views of Albania, Montenegro, Great Ulcinj Beach and villages 
The road is narrow, but paved. It will take you straight to the air border of two countries. The point is indicated on the map Viewpoint Štegvaš— in front of me I can see almost in full Lake Skadar with small islands. And behind you there is a view of green fields and the sea coast.
There is a huge poster right there - “a panoramic route between two picturesque shores.” I'm in the photo above in the upper rightmost current. Then we will go left along the lake, towards Virpazar. I’ll warn you right away - the road is not for the faint of heart :) If you don’t have experience driving along narrow serpentines, then it’s better to take a driver, a guide, or limit yourself to a boat excursion
On the other side are Albanian settlements. 1/3 of the lake belongs to the neighboring country
Our next stop is the settlement Ostrosh with an ethnic Albanian population. I read news about it 3 years ago that residents are gradually leaving here, there is no running water, no new road is being built, no Internet, doctors come occasionally, there are 4 times fewer children in school than in Yugoslav times... Eh, it’s a pity, so beautiful the edge disappears, and how delicious the chestnuts are here! Subscribe to Instagram - VisitKraja if you like villages and nature like this.
Came up to us local, said that the chestnut forests are divided into plots between residents. Here they are grilled, and I often see them sold raw in supermarkets. Just keep in mind that not all chestnuts in the world are edible :) By the way, in the Bay of Kotor in Stoliv you can now pick them, in November there will be a festival in honor of chestnuts
At the end of October, real autumn came here, considering that we are at some altitude above sea level, and even in a humid area, the nature is completely different than at sea. The photo shows a reddened persimmon tree. After a month, it will completely shed its foliage, leaving orange fruits. In Montenegrin, persimmon is “Japanese yabuko”
We drove for about an hour through a chestnut forest; there were a lot of mushrooms in it, but I didn’t dare pick them. Here you can find chestnut trees that are 500-1000 years old.
Everything is good with fruits, honey, chestnuts in this region! And I’ve eaten goat cheese from Ostrosha in different restaurants - it’s incredible! In that region you can also see the remains of an ancient Orthodox Church — Prechista Krajinska 10th century built
And a narrow asphalt path leads up the hill to 12 wells; if you don’t know the exact location, you won’t be able to find it. People live above a huge water surface Lake Skadar, but the village lived for a long time without water, they went to the hill to get it... To this day, 2 wells are used for their intended purpose
Above the village of Murici, part of our company purchased homemade specialties from our grandmother. The road curves all the time. Panoramas of the lake open every other time. But the villages are also interesting to look at. You can go down to Murici, there is a beach, restaurants, a campsite for tents, you can go by boat or kayak to neighboring islands, visit the medieval Beshka Monastery
Next interesting point route - village Godinier , famous for its private wineries
I'll show you summer photos from this place. Godinje is divided into the lower settlement, which appeared after the 1979 earthquake, and the upper old one. I advise everyone to go up the hill, walk along the stone stairs, look into the abandoned houses
The houses were built end to end; through the tunnels, people could get to the other end of the village without going outside and thus escape from the Turks, for example.
The tunnels remain cool at about +20 even in summer; barrels of wine and vegetables were usually stored there