Montenegro is a pint-sized country which some people have barely heard of, have trouble finding on a map or can tell you little about it. This partly included me. My knowledge of the place was basic apart from knowing where to find it on a map and knowing it was in Yugoslavia. Being a small place, I did Montenegro first for four days then spent a week in Albania.
Warning: Albania is not for the faint hearted! If you are scared of driving abroad do not go, there. The drivers are the worst I have seen in Europe and possibly even worse than Tunisian drivers. On top of this the road conditions are worse than in third world Asia! More about my trip to Albania another time.
In 3.5 days, I finished off all the major sites of the country and I research well. Others may take five days since I drive long days and walk quickly. Montenegro is beautiful with a wide variety of things to see. It seemed like a Yugoslavian version of Spain with prickly pear cactuses and locally made olive oil.
Montenegro seems to think it is in the EU like Macedonia. The Euro is the main currency and the EU flag is dotted around. Driving conditions and road quality was decent – a lot better than bordering Albania. English was spoken and the people were nice, and not scammy. It is fairly priced also. The people seemed more Western in mentality than those of the ex-USSR.
A few years ago, I flew to the hard to pronounce capital, Podgorica and hired a Fiat 500XL which was also allowed to cross borders. When I landed, I skipped the capital and saw a few sites before bedding in lovely Kotor. A non 4x4 will cut it though if you are venturing into Albania – a tank is needed, no jokes due to the quality of the “roads”. Once or twice a 4x4 would have made the ride nicer due to extreme snow at altitude.
What is there to see? Churches, ruined castles/villages, olive groves, cactuses, forts, nice stray cats, ex-capital city with cool relics, cave churches, waterfalls, Ottoman bridges, some commi bloc flat blocks, lovely lakes, fortified towns, rock carvings/paintings and Venetian buildings.
Day #1
- Ostrog for Ostrog Cave Monastery
- Quick glimpse of Perast on the Bay of Kotor
- Night in Kotor, which is a lovely, fortified town
Day #2
- Fortifications & Kotor town
- Lipci for rock art
- Risan on the Bay of Kotor for Roman mosaics, Venetian buildings & old buildings
- Sopot spring/waterfall
- Our Lady of The Rocks manmade island with church on
- Perast again for the fortress of St. Cross
- Lepetane for bay view
- Prčanj a small town on the Bay of Kotor for a church
- Back to Kotor to look at the spring and spend the night
Day #3
- Budva for old town, fortifications & ballerina statue
- Glimpse of Sveti Stefan which is a private mini knock off of Dubrovnik
- Quick stop at Bar for St. John’s Church & Stara Maslina which is a very old olive tree
- Stari Bar for ruined town, fortress & locally made olive oil
- Night in Cetinje
Day #4
- Cetinje a former royal capital with old embassies of non-existent countries/empires
- Njegos Mausoleum on the hill with tonnes of snow
- Niagara Falls near Podgorica
- Podgorica for an Ottoman bridge (Ribnica Bridge), old town, covered market, clock tower, Roman Doclea ruins, Medun fort, Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ & Millennium bridge
Would I return? I have the rule that if I have finished the country fully, I don’t return. That is not to say it was not a great trip! Recommended for a few days or part of a larger multi-country trip.
Bar Municipality
Budva Municipality
Cetinje Municipality
Danilovgrad Municipality
Tivat Municipality
Podgorica Municipality
Kotor Municipality