If there was ever a place that looked like a real life fairly tale, Montenegro would be a contender. It was one of the first things I had read about the country. Rolling hills, sparkling lakes, quaint towns…everything I read said it was a storybook setting. And I love to read so I was pretty enthusiastic about taking a Montenegro road trip and seeing for myself.
At the time, my husband and I were on a road trip through Croatia, traveling down the country and island hopping along the way. We figured we would want to spend quite a bit of time in Dubrovnik, so we planned our trip leaving several days at the end so we could spend our time there. Don’t get me wrong, we LOVED Croatia, but after spending some time in Dubrovnik, we were ready to explore somewhere else. The fact that our Air Bnb had no air conditioning and was located at the top of about 14 flights of stairs probably had something to do with it. Dubrovnik hills are no joke. Nor is the hot summer sun in July when you have to walk up 14 flights of stairs.
We hadn’t really planned on going elsewhere, so our plans for this little Montenegro road trip were made last minute. We took a separate day trip to Mostar, Bosnia before heading down to Montenegro. The last minute research wasn’t easy and it was hard to figure out what the main towns were. However, a few places kept popping up on several lists of things to do and luckily they were all along the south western side of the country.
Where to Go
We only had about three days and two nights to do any exploring in Montenegro, which isn’t long at all. The two towns that had caught our eye were Kotor and Budva, and happened to be near the coast. There were of course many other places that we would have liked to explore but with limited time, we decided to stay as close to the coast as possible.
Dubrovnik to Kotor is about a two hour drive, so we took off early in the morning to try and maximize our day.
Kotor, Montenegro
The first stop we made on our Montenegro road trip was to Kotor. The first pictures I think I ever saw from Montenegro were pictures of the town of Kotor. It’s like a Disney movie turned into a real life setting or a postcard. Whatever you decide it looks like, it’s unreal.
The town of Kotor sits on the water’s edge of the Bay of Kotor and is surrounded by steep mountains and gorgeous scenery. It’s a small town of about 13,500, but you can see why people would want to come here. The streets coming into the Old Town were pretty crowded and I was even more surprised when we drove by a massive cruise ship. As you can see, the bay isn’t that large but evidently it’s a cruise stop and honestly it would be a fun one.
Explore the Old Town
As soon as you drive up, you’ll see the Old Town right by the side of the road. We were able to park just after that and walk right up. The town is adorable. Reminiscent of the stone cities we found all over Croatia. There are outdoor cafes and narrow stone alleyways to explore.
There’s lots of things to do within the city. Explore the old churches, get lost in the alleyways, eat at a cafe. It’s a beautiful place because it sits right next to mountains that loom over the buildings.
Climb the Wall of Kotor
The city is surrounded by fortifications that date back to the 9th century. You can see them surrounding the city when you come in.
The interesting part is that the walls go right up the steep mountain behind the city. You may have noticed it in some of the pictures above.
The wall leads up to St. John’s Fortress and it overlooks the entire Bay of Kotor. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to stop in this little town. I found it fascinating that there’s this wall that winds up the steep mountain like the Great Wall of China. The best part is that you can climb it. You can find ways up to the wall near the north and south entrances and you’re likely to find it just by wandering the streets towards the mountain. At some point, the path turned into stairs and up we went.
It’s no easy hike though. There are about 1,350 steps to the top. Again, the stairs and heat in July. No.
We hiked for awhile and ended up stopping at the church. It was just too hot to do in the middle of the day.
I think the church was only about half way up. The entire hike would have been about 2-2.5 hrs round trip. We kept convincing ourselves that the view would be more or less the same the higher we got. It was insanely beautiful but it was midday and we were struggling. I do think that if we had more time, it’s probably worth going all the way to the top. You’ll see remnants of St. John’s Fortress and get to explore the castle ruins. It would also just give you the full perspective of the fortress from the top.
I was also trying to hike in cheap, plastic sandals and didn’t want to murder my feet entirely. Don’t ask me why I didn’t have proper shoes on. I can’t tell you.
Even if you only have a short time or only go a short ways up, it’s worth it.
Budva, Montenegro
From Kotor, we went on to Budva, which is only about a 30-minute drive. Budva is another town we had seen mentioned in a lot of articles. It has a medieval town, sandy beaches and is known for it’s nightlife. It’s a bit bigger of a town than Kotor but not by too much. The population is about 18,000 here.
While Kotor is a bit more touristy, Budva seems to be more of a vacation destination city. A little bit more fun for younger people.
Hit the Beach
We had done quite a bit of exploring in Dubrovnik, Mostar and then Kotor so we were ready to have a little bit of fun and relax. There are several beach options here but we ended up walking to one that was close to the place we were staying. It also happened to be the ‘party beach’. It was on the Budva Riviera, also known as Jazz Beach, I believe.
Apparently Madonna and The Rolling Stones have performed on Jazz Beach so it has a reputation as sort of a festival spot. We had met two British guys at the place we were staying who met us at the beach for some beers. Let me just say, it was definitely a beach bar scene. The music was blaring and the beers were plentiful. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that this was probably one of the top 5 drunkest moments of my life. British blokes know how to drink and at some point we were straw-pedoing beers. (I learned what that was that very day.) Our waitress also told us she had never sold that many beers in one setting, so there’s that.
Even if you don’t try to drink the beach club out of beers, it’s a fun scene to be in. The music was clubby and loud, so if you aren’t going for that vibe, I’d probably try a different beach.
Enjoy the Nightlife
After drinking at the beach all day, I should have just tucked myself in bed. But as I said before, Budva is known for being a bit more lively and having a nightlife scene. We had heard about a club called Top Hill that was apparently THE place to go. It’s located on Topliš Hill and is a massive open air nightclub that has a capacity of 5,000. I don’t know what I expected but it brought me back to LIV Miami nights.
They had dancing robots and confetti galore. I just did not know a country like Montenegro had clubs like this.
I also think this place might only be open during the summer, so you might want to check before heading up the hill.
Explore the Old town of Budva
This was a bit of a fail for us. Budva actually has a little Old Town as well that sits on the edge of the water. The Old Town Beach is a little cove right by it with views of the old city walls. We stayed in a different area and since we’d gone to a different beach the previous day, didn’t actually make it here during our Montenegro road trip.
We had also been exploring stone cities and old towns all through Croatia so we wanted to mix it up a bit.
Take a boat ride
We instead opted for taking a boat ride around the Montenegro coast. I think our B&B helped us to arrange it, if I recall. Our boat tour left from Budva and just took us around the shoreline to some different snorkel spots. We also went around Sveti Stefan as well.
Sveti Stefan
Another place I had seen in a lot of pictures online were of Sveti Stefan. It’s just down the way from Budva so we added it as a stop on our Montenegro road trip. The drive is only about 5 miles from Budva or about 15 minutes. It’s another place that sort of has fairytale vibes. There’s a stone resort on an island with a walkway leading up to the entrance with beaches on both sides of the walkway.
It’s a little more ritzy here as well. The lawns were manicured nicely and we weren’t sure if anyone could use the beaches. One side of the walkway leading to the island was a much nicer looking beach, but hardly anyone was on it.
The other side of the walkway was much more crowded and the beach had more pebbles than sand. So I assumed that maybe the nicer side was reserved for guests of the resort.
Which brings me to the resort. When I had originally seen these pictures, I thought it might be a cute old town on the island that you could explore. It is not. You actually aren’t allowed on the island unless you are a guest of the resort, which is understandable. But I just thought it might be a town instead, so I was a little disappointed.
We didn’t have much more time on our Montenegro road trip, so we didn’t stay too long here. It was neat to see but there wasn’t much to do here besides sort of look around. We could have spent some time at the beach here as well but I think there are better beaches to hang out at.
After Sveti Stefan, we started the drive back to Dubrovnik. It was a packed few days but definitely worth exploring this beautiful country. I know we only touched the surface of Montenegro but it isn’t far from Dubrovnik. And exploring the coastline is doable even if you have a short amount of time like we did.
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