Montenegro: Kotor, Budva and Durmitor

1. Day 1: Arrive in Kotor

   Tivat Airport to your hotel in Kotor

   • Drive about 15 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Kotor
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Tivat airport (TIV), about 8 km and 15 minutes from Kotor, in time for the evening walk: plan to land by about 4 pm (the exact latest arrival is confirmed with your final itinerary). A driver meets you in arrivals and takes you round the inner bay to a hotel in or just outside Kotor old town, where we stay four nights. Kotor sits at the far end of the Bay of Kotor under a wall of limestone, and the old town and the bay have been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1979. At about 6:30 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing, then walks you through the Sea Gate onto the Square of Arms, past the clock tower and on to the Cathedral of St Tryphon, consecrated in 1166. As the lanes cool, we sit down to a welcome dinner of Bay of Kotor dishes, from black risotto to grilled fish and Vranac red wine.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Tivat airport (TIV)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Evening walk through Kotor old town
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the evening walk

   Activity: About 1 hour on foot on flat, polished stone lanes.

   

2. Day 2: The walls at dawn, then Perast by boat

   Kotor walls to San Giovanni fortress, then by boat to Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks

   • By boat
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kotor
   Day 2 details

   We start at about 6:30 am, the one early start of the trip, because the climb up the Kotor walls is best in the cool and before the cruise passengers arrive. The path zigzags up about 1,350 stone steps past the small Church of Our Lady of Remedy to the fortress of San Giovanni, about 260 m above the town, and from the top the whole inner bay opens below you as the sun reaches the water. Back down by about 8:30, breakfast is at the hotel. At about 10 am a private boat takes the group out along the bay to Perast, a small town of baroque captains' houses that once sent ships across the Adriatic. We land first on Our Lady of the Rocks, an islet built up from rocks and sunken ships, to see its church and museum, then step ashore in Perast for a walk and a sit-down lunch on the waterfront. We are back in Kotor by about 2:30 pm, and the afternoon is free.

   Included

   • Kotor walls and San Giovanni fortress at dawn, ticket included
   • Private boat on the Bay of Kotor
   • Our Lady of the Rocks church and museum
   • Perast walk with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Perast

   Optional experiences

   • Sea kayaking in the bay (price shown at booking)
   • Kotor Maritime Museum

   Easier option: Climb only to the Church of Our Lady of Remedy, about a third of the way up, or skip the walls and join the group at breakfast.

   More active option: Come down the back of the fortress by the old path to the village of Spiljari and the Ladder of Kotor viewpoint, with your guide, about 45 minutes longer.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Kotor

   Activity: About 2 hours on the walls on uneven stone steps with no shade higher up; the boat day is easy.

   

3. Day 3: Up the serpentine to Njegusi and Lovcen

   Kotor up the old road to Njegusi, then the summit of Lovcen and back to Kotor

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kotor
   Day 3 details

   After breakfast we drive out of Kotor on the old Austro-Hungarian road that climbs the mountain behind the town in 25 hairpin bends, with the bay dropping further below at each turn. We stop at a viewpoint near the top while the morning light is still on the water. Over the pass lies Njegusi, a village on a high karst plain where families have smoked pršut ham and made cheese in the mountain air for generations; it is also the birthplace of Petar II Petrovic Njegos, prince-bishop and poet. From there the road winds up into Lovcen National Park to Jezerski vrh, at 1,657 m, where Njegos is buried in a mausoleum reached through a tunnel of 461 steps. From the round viewing platform beyond it you can see the Bay of Kotor, the Adriatic and, on clear days, Lake Skadar and the mountains of Albania. Lunch is a tasting of smoked ham, cheese, bread and wine at a family smokehouse in Njegusi, and we are back in Kotor by mid-afternoon.

   Included

   • The Kotor serpentine road with photo stops
   • Njegusi village
   • Lovcen National Park and the Njegos Mausoleum, entries included
   • Tasting lunch at a family smokehouse in Njegusi

   Easier option: Wait at the café by the car park instead of climbing the 461 steps to the mausoleum.

   More active option: Walk a short stretch of the old path across the Njegusi plain with your guide while the van goes ahead.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Kotor

   Activity: About 1.5 hours on foot, mostly the steps at the mausoleum; the serpentine road can upset those prone to car sickness.

   

4. Day 4: Budva old town and the Sveti Stefan coast

   Kotor to Budva, then Przno and the coast path to the Sveti Stefan viewpoint, and back to Kotor

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Kotor
   Day 4 details

   A gentler day on the open coast. We drive through the Vrmac tunnel to Budva, about 30 minutes, and arrive while the old town is still quiet. Budva's walled town sits on a small headland and was largely rebuilt in stone after the earthquake of 1979. Your guide walks you through its lanes to the churches on the square by the Citadel, and we climb onto the Citadel walls for the view along the beaches and out to the island of Sveti Nikola. Mid-morning the van takes us down the coast to Przno, and we walk the coast path of about 2 km, past the pines and bays that face the Sveti Stefan islet, to the viewpoint above it. The islet, a fishing village joined to the shore by a causeway, is now a private hotel and not open to visitors, but the view from the path is the one in all the pictures. The rest of the day is free: swim at the beach by the causeway, have lunch where you like, then the van takes the group back to Kotor in the late afternoon.

   Included

   • Budva old town with your guide
   • Budva Citadel, entry included
   • Coast walk from Przno to the Sveti Stefan viewpoint

   Optional experiences

   • Beach lounger at Sveti Stefan (paid locally)

   Easier option: Ride with the van from Przno to the Sveti Stefan viewpoint instead of walking.

   More active option: Walk on from the viewpoint along the coast to the beach at Sveti Stefan and swim before the van pick-up.

   Free time: Afternoon free on the coast; evening free in Kotor

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot on flat lanes and an easy coastal path with some steps.

5. Day 5: Into the mountains to Zabljak and the Black Lake

   Kotor via Risan, Grahovo and Niksic to Zabljak, then the Black Lake

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Zabljak
   Day 5 details

   We leave Kotor at about 8:30 am and follow the bay round to Risan, then climb inland over the karst through Grahovo to Niksic, Montenegro's second city, about 1 hour 45 minutes of driving. We stop there for coffee and an early sit-down lunch. From Niksic the road runs north across high pasture and through the Komarnica valley to Savnik and up onto the Durmitor plateau, another hour and three quarters, so the day is about 3.5 hours of driving in two halves. We reach Zabljak, at about 1,450 m one of the highest towns in the Balkans, by mid-afternoon and check in for two nights. Durmitor National Park has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1980. In the late afternoon, when the day-trip coaches have gone, your guide walks the group round the Black Lake, two glacial lakes joined by a narrow neck under dark pine forest, with Meded, the bear-shaped peak, rising behind. The evening is free in town.

   Included

   • Drive through the karst interior with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Niksic
   • Durmitor National Park ticket
   • Black Lake loop walk with your guide

   Easier option: Walk only the first part of the loop to the narrow neck between the two lakes and back, about 30 minutes.

   More active option: Add the forest path from the Black Lake up to the small Zminje lake, about 1.5 hours return with your guide.

   Free time: Evening free in Zabljak

   Activity: The Black Lake loop is about 3.5 km on a mostly flat path of roots and gravel, about 1 hour 15 minutes.

6. Day 6: Durmitor: the Tara canyon rim and the Tara bridge

   Zabljak to the Curevac viewpoint, then the Durdevica Tara bridge and back to Zabljak

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Zabljak
   Day 6 details

   Breakfast, then a short drive east of Zabljak to the start of the walk to Curevac, a grassy ridge at about 1,625 m on the rim of the Tara canyon. The path climbs gently through meadow and pine to the edge, and the view drops away more than 1,000 m to the river, in a canyon that runs about 80 km and is often called the deepest in Europe. We go in the morning, when the light comes along the canyon rather than straight into it and the ridge is quiet. Lunch is a sit-down meal of mountain food back near Zabljak: lamb or veal cooked under the bell, kacamak and fresh cheese. In the afternoon we drive about 30 minutes to the Durdevica Tara bridge, five concrete arches finished in 1940 and about 150 m above the river, to walk across and look down at the green water. The late afternoon is free, and in the evening we meet for a farewell dinner in Zabljak.

   Included

   • Walk to the Curevac viewpoint over the Tara canyon with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch near Zabljak
   • The Durdevica Tara bridge
   • Farewell dinner in Zabljak

   Optional experiences

   • Zipline across the Tara canyon beside the bridge (price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Ride further up the track by van and walk only the last 15 minutes to the viewpoint.

   More active option: Walk the ridge on from Curevac along the canyon rim and back, about 2 hours more with your guide.

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Zabljak

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot to and from Curevac on meadow and forest paths with about 150 m of climb; the bridge walk is flat.

   

7. Day 7: Ostrog monastery and home from Podgorica

   Zabljak via Savnik and Niksic to Ostrog, then Podgorica Airport

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   Day 7 details

   We leave Zabljak at about 8 am and drive back over the plateau and down through Savnik to Niksic, then on to the turn for Ostrog, about two hours. The Upper Monastery of Ostrog is built into a vertical cliff high above the Bjelopavlici plain, white against the grey rock, and was founded in the 17th century by St Basil of Ostrog, whose relics are kept in the cave church. It is the most visited pilgrimage site in Montenegro, for Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim visitors alike, and we arrive before the midday queue. Your guide explains how to visit; dress with covered shoulders and knees. We then drive down to a sit-down lunch on the plain near Danilovgrad and on to Podgorica airport (TGD), about an hour, arriving at about 2:30 pm. Book a flight leaving after about 4:30 pm. If you would like more time, we can add nights in Kotor or Budva before the trip, or arrange a transfer to Tirana for our Albania trip.

   Included

   • Ostrog Upper Monastery with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch near Danilovgrad
   • Drop-off at Podgorica airport (TGD)

   Activity: About 1 hour at Ostrog, with a short walk on steps from the upper car park. Book a flight leaving after about 4:30 pm.

Wildlife and weather: May, June, September and October are the best months: warm on the coast, fresh in the mountains and quieter in Kotor. July and August are hot by the sea and busiest with cruise passengers, which is why the walls are climbed at dawn. Snow can linger in Durmitor until late May, and an early-season departure may swap the high viewpoint for a lower forest walk.

• Kotor4 nights
• Zabljak2 nights