On the edge of Europe. Western fjords. Majestic Norwegian fjords Europe's southernmost fjord

Boka Kotorska is the most a nice place Montenegro, if in this country it is even legitimate to single out natural attractions as the “best”. From this trip I probably received my strongest impressions in Montenegro. Apparently because there was everything here that I love to feel and see most of all when traveling: old cities, ancient fortresses, views from above, the splash of waves overboard, the color of the water - completely unreal...

First of all, it must be said that the common name “Boko-Kotor Bay” is “butter oil”, because “boka” comes from the Italian name for this area Bocche di Cattaro, which is exactly what the bay means. It would be correct to simply Boka Kotorska or the Bay of Kotor. Well, and about the fjord :)…The bay is very similar to a fjord. But in fact, it is not a fjord at all, but a river canyon plunging into the sea, another canyon of Montenegro, and, as they say, there are them here...

So, Boka Kotorska is the largest bay of the Adriatic, it, in turn, is divided into 4 bays: Hercegnovsky, Tivat, Risan and Kotor. Our one-day trip starts from Kotor. More precisely, from Budva, from where tourists are taken to Kotor by bus. Less than an hour on the road and we are in Kotor.

Of course, the scientists are right, and the name of the city comes from the name of the Roman settlement “Decatera” (narrowed, surrounded), which reflected geographical position Kotor is at the end of a narrow bay surrounded by mountains. But what about cats, of which there are not just a lot, but a lot of them in Kotor? Kotor is a city of cats :)! And maybe its name comes from the word “cat”? :)

I will not describe here the sights of old Kotor, palaces, churches and museums, and we did not go on a guided tour (those readers who are at least a little familiar with the type of my activity will understand why I not only write, but also visit and I didn’t even want to hear about the sights :)).

But we set out on an adventure, deciding that we had just the right amount of time for this.

Of course, we have heard a lot about the Kotor Fortress. And, of course, we knew that it would be difficult to conquer it due to its height in such a short time that was allotted to us in Kotor (1.5 hours). But my love for these bulky architectural forms defeated common sense. And we got stuck.

Boka Kotorska, view from the Kotor Fortress

To say that it is difficult for unprepared citizens to climb to such a height at such a pace is an understatement. I cursed my decision a hundred times as I climbed the steps polished by millions of feet over the centuries. Wearing rubber slippers and dousing himself with water from a bottle. However, it would be a stretch to call these piles of stones steps.

The views of the bay become more and more beautiful as you move up:

Boka Kotorska, view from the Kotor Fortress

View of Old Kotor from the fortress

The question that absolutely all tourists ask in the Kotor Fortress tormented me: what for? Why build THIS at SUCH a height? Where were not only the enemies (which is quite logical), but also the inhabitants themselves unable to climb? The answer came at the top, the entire surface of which was covered with the remains of ancient structures, there were sooo many of them, so the conclusion suggested itself: but the inhabitants did not go down :) Having climbed the fortress once, they lived there, multiplied and died :).

At the Kotor Fortress

All jokes aside, there are actually several fortifications in the fortress complex, and it will take a whole day to inspect them all.

Therefore, I would advise you to spend at least 2 days on Kotor: visit the sights of the Old Town with a tour of Boka Kotorska, and climb the fortress on one separate day. The climb is very difficult, it's true. If you are not a professional trekker, but just a tourist, and, moreover, not in the best physical shape, then you need to climb slowly, in the morning (until 10-11 o’clock the “green” path is in the shadow of a rock), with a bottle of water, in comfortable shoes and frequent stops. At this pace, in 2 - 2.5 hours you can climb to the top without losses and wander there for another whole day among the ruins, if, of course, someone needs it :).

At the Kotor Fortress

Entrance to the fortress is 3 euros. For this money you will “kill yourself” on the climb, curse everything in the world and be consoled by the stunningly beautiful views of the Boka Kotorska from above :)

Boka Kotorska, view from the Kotor Fortress

Having run up to the fortress in an hour and galloped back in half an hour through 2 emergency steps, we, completely happy and with a sense of accomplishment, fell onto the benches of the Budva boat. What also added to our pride was the fact that not a single person from the group that occupied the entire 2-decker bus repeated our adventure :).

From the Bay of Kotor we move to Risansky, where in the waters of the city of Perast there are 2 islands:

natural with the Benedictine Abbey of St. George (12th century)

and the artificial Gospa od Shkrpela (“Virgin Mary on the Reef”) (XV century) with a church revered by all sailors and a museum.

Parking in Herceg Novi - one hour. The heat is incredible, and hunger is making itself felt. They didn’t go into the local fortress - it’s clear why :). Lunch at a restaurant, walk along the embankment.

In Herceg Novi

Swimming through the waves and not being able to swim is torture!

We could barely wait to stop at Zhanitsa beach at the entrance to Kotor Bay. From this beach it was proposed to go on a short excursion to the Blue Grotto - a cave that has an underwater passage to the sea, through which sunlight enters it, refracting, turning into a blue glow.

Blue Cave

Water in the Blue Cave

The asking price is 3 euros. 20 minutes by boat there, 20 minutes back. And 20 minutes of swimming and splashing in the Blue Cave. The child liked it, but my goal was still to give my daughter the opportunity to get as many impressions as possible.

Looking ahead, I will say that there are caves with blue water on the island of St. Nicholas right opposite Budva :) You can take a pedal boat and swim there yourself, or take a boat.

On the way to Zhanitsa beach there are several more fortresses:

As for Zanjica beach, the water there is incredibly clean, even though it’s like a tear everywhere in Montenegro... After such a busy day - you’ll be delighted

On the beach Zhanitsa

That's it, it's time to go back. Gorgeous Boat trip in the rays of the setting sun. If you're lucky, you'll see dolphins in the open sea. The ship arrives in Budva at the pier of the Slovenska Plaza hotel. The cost of such an excursion is 17 euros per adult (only for one organizer, for the rest 20 euros), children - as agreed (from 50% to free). Contacts - PM for those interested. This office liked the route with a return by sea to Budva. In other companies, a bus takes you back. In the figure, the red dotted line indicates the route, only in reverse order.

In any country there is a region that lies farthest, where it is most difficult to reach, where there are few people and a lot of nature. Iceland has a lot of nature and few people almost everywhere, but the peninsula in the north-west, which has a complex shape reminiscent of a deer antler or a crab claw, washed on almost all sides by the icy waters of the Denmark Strait, satisfies these requirements to a special extent. Only two roads of poor quality lead here. Here, on the few convenient patches of flat land separating the gloomy table mountains from the sea, only a few thousand people live. Connected to the mainland by a narrow ten-kilometer isthmus, the West Fjords are considered the wildest places in Iceland.

Once upon a time, trolls tried to cut off the Western Fjords from Iceland by breaking a canal through this isthmus from Hunaflói Bay to Breidafjord. Why they needed this is not known for certain, but the attempt failed. The trolls got carried away with their work and, as usual, forgot about the sun. Two of them turned into stones on the western shore of the peninsula, and the troll that was digging from the east froze as a flat rock on the seashore in the village of Drangsnes.

The weather in the Western Fjords is cooler than elsewhere in Iceland. On the passes and in the middle of summer there are huge thick snowfields.

And it was in the Western Fjords that Iceland was called the “Land of Ice”. Norwegian Floki Vilgerdarson was the third Viking to see the island. He went in search of the land discovered shortly before by the Norwegian Noddod and the Swede Gardar. Floki and his men walked along south coast islands, circled the peninsula, later named Reykjanes, and went further north until they liked a place on the northwest coast. Floki decided to spend the winter here, but did not think about food for the livestock and all his animals died from lack of food. In the spring, when the sun began to warm up, Floki climbed the mountain and saw that the surrounding fjords were still covered with ice. In that moment of disappointment, he named the island Iceland.

The peninsula has an extremely rugged coastline. The Western Fjords occupy only ten percent of Iceland's territory, but more than fifty percent of the length of its coastline.

It would seem that it’s just a stone’s throw from that shore, but along the road it’s already a couple of dozen kilometers to the end of the fjord and then back the same amount.

There are no crossings across the fjords; there are too few people here who want to use such a service. All that remains is that it’s boring to drive along the coast, repeating almost every bend.

If the southern part of the Western Fjords is still more or less populated, then the northern Hornstrandir peninsula is a real kingdom wildlife and the most vicious Icelandic predator - the arctic fox.

Having passed the center of the Western Fjords - Isafjordur, the road ends in the town of Bolungarvik. Beyond Bolungarvik, there are only a couple of small farms, and a military radar on the mountain.

Ice Fjord is the most populous place in the Western Fjords. Half the population of the entire peninsula lives here.

The town was once called Airy, which means " sand spit" The old name reflected the essence, Isafjörður is located on a large shallow in the middle of the fjord and is surrounded on three sides by water.

There are four roads from Isafjörður. One along the coast to the east, the second through a tunnel to the south, the third - sea and the fourth - air. In bad weather, all four can be closed, and the town is cut off from the rest of the world.

The main material for the exterior decoration of houses in Isafjörður, as indeed elsewhere in Iceland, is profiled iron sheet.

Massive flat mountains surround the fjord and town like a horseshoe.

It is not difficult to climb almost to the very top along the first slope you come across. There are many paths trampled by sheep along the slopes. And the views from there, as usual, are wonderful.

The road from Isafjörður to the south, after crossing a tunnel, climbs into the mountains. At one of the turns a sign suddenly appears walking route with an arrow somewhere up. The route turns out to be passable on four wheels.

At the top there is a large flat area with equipment and a cellular antenna. The technological structure comes with good panoramas of the surrounding area.

The waters of Durafjord glisten under your feet with cold ultramarine. The village under the mountain is called Thingeyri, and the mountain itself is called Sandafell.

Having laid a large loop along the shore of Arnarfjord, the road leads to Dignandi, a waterfall that falls in wide cascades from a hundred-meter cliff.

Rounding Patreksfjord, a broken road, sometimes hidden in the fog and hanging over cliffs, leads to the Latrabjarg Peninsula, probably one of the most remote places in the Western Fjords. But at the same time one of the most popular.

It owes its popularity to the fact that here, at the Bjargtangar lighthouse, is the westernmost edge of Europe, unless, of course, you count Europe and Azores. And the fact that the symbol of Iceland, the Atlantic puffin, nests in huge numbers on local cliffs.

There are many birds here.

They let you get very close to them, you can literally touch them with your hands.

On the way back from Latrabjarg, it’s worth stopping a little at the Egil Olaffson Museum with a monument to the dead fishermen, a dismantled Douglas DC-3, which, judging by the inscription on the board, once belonged to the American fleet, and a bunch of different equipment in the hangar.

You can also slow down at the Gardar ship. It received the honor of being dug into the ground on the beach because it was the first iron ship in Iceland.

Patreksfjörður. Practically the only place in the area where you can find overnight accommodation reasonable price.

By nightfall the wind subsides and the clouds clear a little. There is a ghostly hope that maybe tomorrow the weather will be good.

Today the whole world celebrates Fjord Day. On a holiday dedicated to the natural heritage of all humanity and one of the most beautiful things on Earth, it is impossible not to do at least virtual travel along the most majestic fjords on the planet.

One of two located on the territory of New Zealand national park Fiordland, fjords. Doubtful Sound is especially beautiful during the rainy seasons. It was then and without that great amount local waterfalls increase exponentially, turning this place into one of the most beautiful on Earth.

Stretching from the Jostedalsbreen glacier all the way to the ocean, forming a winding navigable road one hundred and six kilometers long, it is not for nothing that this fjord attracts thousands of tourists every year. At such a vast distance there are many beautiful and picturesque places - from massive glaciers to beautiful waterfalls.

Dotted with towering mountain peaks and verdant with numerous islands, Canada's southernmost fjord is favorite place recreation for citizens. Watching small pleasure yachts cutting through the waves, it’s hard to believe that these lands were once covered with ice.

One of the American national parks, consisting entirely of a huge fjord. Located on Kenai Island in Alaska, this impressive and inspiring testament to the power of nature attracts thousands of eco-tourists. A beautiful, untouched piece of paradise inhabited by many species of birds and northern marine mammals.

One of the many Norwegian fjords that are the honor and pride of this northern country. The place is famous not only for its beautiful winding cliffs, but also for the Cathedral Rock (one of most popular places for base jumping) and the famous pea stone - Kjeragbolten, which is a huge rounded boulder stuck between steep cliffs.

The most significant fjord in South America, on the territory of which it was formed national park, which can only be reached by yacht or tourist plane. In a unique nature reserve, which only the most purposeful guests of Chile have the honor to touch, there are also many highest mountains Patagonia is a tasty morsel for climbers.

The name of this fjord was not taken from the sky - a bushy fog actually hangs over it almost constantly, only emphasizing the unprecedented beauty of these places. In this piece of Alaska, as is usually the case, a nature reserve has been formed, difficult to reach mass tourism- bays Misty fjords too narrow for large ones to fit in cruise ships. But for kayak lovers best place You just can't find one for swimming.

The springiest of Norwegian fjords creates a bizarre, surreal picture in which alpine valleys and pine-covered cliffs are perfectly combined. This picturesque place is glorified by numerous orchards, comfortably located along the banks - during the flowering period, the nature here is unforgettable.

The most famous and impressive fjord in Greenland, mostly covered by relatively small glaciers. The fjord located near the city of the same name is famous as the place with the highest speed of iceberg movement in the world. The ice masses moving through the local waters change the appearance of Ilulissat every day, creating stunning views.

"King of the Fjords", the largest such natural formation in Europe and the second largest in the world. The royal size, combined with the royal luxury of the local views, fully justifies the unofficial nickname of the Sognefjord.

A large Icelandic bay, on the shores of which the picturesque town of Isafjordur is located. Dotted with many smaller fjords, it manages to make an impression even despite its impressive width. Living in one of the farms located on the islands of Isafjord is not a dream for a modern romantic?

The iconic landmark of Norway, cutting a good seventeen kilometers into the interior of the country, is the most visited of such natural wonders in this part of the world. Comfort and unforgettable experience tourists are guaranteed a walk on the water cruise ship- not exceeding three hundred meters in width, Nereus goes up the cliffs for more than one and a half kilometers.

Doubtful Sound's older brother and largest fjord south island New Zealand is the most popular tourist place- easy access to these places and their primeval beauty do their job. Forested mountain peaks rising from the dark waters will not leave anyone indifferent.

Another jewel in the Norwegian crown. Geiranger is beautiful at any time of the year, but is especially charming in the spring, when the melting snow cover that has lain on the cliffs all winter turns into hundreds of waterfalls. Citizens of the town of the same name can claim without a twinge of conscience that they live in paradise on Earth.

The largest and deepest, this Greenlandic granddaddy of all fjords amazes not only with its size, but also with the amazing combination of gloomy gray rocks, many of which are decorated with glaciers, and snow-white icebergs floating in its waters.

Flaws: -

The boat tour starts at ancient city Kotor is in the southeastern part of the fjord. The city of Kotor is a center of maritime economy, culture, education, but above all tourism. It is famous for the ancient Genoese fortress, the walls of which go 5 kilometers into the mountains, and the height of the fortress walls in some places reaches 20 meters.

The fortress (St. Ivan) is located on the slope of a mountain, 1426 steps lead to it. The narrowest street in the world, according to local guides, is located in Kotor and is called “Let me pass.” The street is so narrow that two people can hardly pass each other (although I definitely remember an equally narrow street in Prague).

From Kotor our path lies to the sea gate of the Bay of Kotor. Here we see a reliable castle in the form of fortresses of the Austrian period, one of them on the island “Mamula” named after the Austrian governor. The fortresses reliably closed the entrance to the bay from the Adriatic Sea.
Not far from the island, swimming was offered (for those who knew how to swim) and descent into the water from the side of the ship. The water is clean, transparent, and has an amazing bright blue color. After swimming - lunch (there were two menus to choose from: fish and meat).

Sailing along the shores of Boca Kotor Bay impressive in variety natural wonders and architecture of various historical periods(this tasty piece of land changed its rulers quite often). The small cozy coastal towns of Lepetani, Herceg Novi, Prcanj, Muo, Verige, Perast demonstrate a well-preserved Mediterranean style of architecture and tell the story of the reign of the Byzantine Republic and the Ottomans. In the city of Herceg Novi you can see the Sakhat Kula fortress, erected during the period of Turkish rule. In some places along the coast there are memories of the base of the Soviet fleet.
You will also sail past the docks of the ship repair yard in the city of Bijela.
The sailors of the cities of Perast, Kotor, Prchnja and Dobrota in the 12th-14th centuries created a naval union and a school of excellence under Captain Mark Martinovich.

Near the city of Perast there are 2 islands: one natural, the other man-made.
The island of St. Juraj, created by nature, with the church of the same name, cemetery and the oldest Benedictine abbey of the 12th century. The artificial island is Our Lady of the Cliff with a temple - the cherished sanctuary of seafarers. In addition to icons and beautiful paintings, the walls of the cathedral are decorated with gold and silver plates - gifts from sailors (a little bit from pirates) after successfully completed voyages. According to legend, it was at this place that an icon of the Virgin Mary appeared to sailors from the sea, which is why it was at this place that an island with a church was created. The bay near the city of Perast was well fortified, as evidenced by the defense structures that have survived to this day.

In general, you will see the amazing beauty and power of the place, sailing along the Bay of Kotor (Boka Kator Bay, Boko Kotorska - I saw several variations of the name). Good luck! Have a nice walk!

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