"Montenegro" Republic of Montenegro by peterdhduncan

Montenegro 2005 - Our First Visit

Montenegro is a country about which we knew very little until a few months before we first visited it in 2005, although we had spent a day in Dubrovnik just to the north of it in Croatia many years ago, and were thinking of making a return visit there. However, when I started exploring information about Dubrovnik and the area around it, I began to learn about the stunning beauty of Montenegro, both on its coast and in its mountains, as well as about the friendliness of its people and its very reasonable prices, and decided that we ought to experience the country for ourselves!

As a result, and after a lot more research, on the last Saturday in August we flew out from Heathrow to Tivat airport on the weekly JAT Airlines flight (direct flights now by Montenegro Airlines). We were collected from there by a member of the family which owns the apartment in Perast on the shore of the Boka Kotorska at which we were to stay for the first week of our fortnight exploring the country.

We spent our first full day in Perast; the following day, we took the bus into Kotor; and then we hired a car for four days:

The Church of St Luke, Kotor

Exploring Montenegro By Car

Day 1: We travelled westwards round the bay, enjoying the magnificent views, to Herceg Novi, and visited Savina Monastery on the return journey.

Day 2: We drove past Kotor and up the steep and narrow 'Ladder of Cattaro' road with its 32 hairpin bends and spectacular views to Mount Lovcen, and then on to Cetinje. We returned to the 'Ladder of Cattaro' by the serpentine road around the north side of Lovcen National Park, passing through Njegusi, which is famous as the birth place of the Montenegrin ruler, Petar Petrovic Njegos, and for its smoked ham and cheese. We finished our day with a meal at the Stari Mlini Restaurant at Ljuta.

Day 3: We travelled round the bay past Kotor to the shore opposite to Perast, where the road is narrow, with the bay on one side of it and the mountain rising up steeply on the other. We stopped off briefly to explore Prcanj, and for a lunchtime drink at Tivat, and then travelled on to Przno on the Lustica Peninsula, where we spent the afternoon. On our return journey, we stopped off at Bjelila for a meal at the Villa Kristina Restaurant.

Day 4: We drove southwards down the coast as far as Petrovac, then turned inland, driving up into the mountains along a road which has several hairpin bends, but is wider than the 'Ladder of Cattaro' road, although it had little traffic on it. We then drove on to Lake Skadar, where we spent most of the day. We finished the day with a meal at the Catovica Mlini Restaurant in Morinj.

(For a large scale map showing the bay and the places that we visited from Perast (apart from Lake Skadar which is further south) click here.)

Petrovac

The following day we were collected by an Adriatic Express driver and taken to Przno south of Budva where we were to stay for our second week. From there we were able to enjoy a very pleasant walk through Milocer to Sveti Stefan. We also travelled down to Petrovac for a day by taxi-bus, and visited Budva twice: the first time a Serbian family that we had met previously took us there in their car in the evening, and the second time we went by bus for a day.

Our final full day in Montenegro was spent on a trip to the Bosnian border to raft on the Tara river organised by Adriatic Express, and the following day, their driver took us back to Tivat airport for the flight home.

Our full album of Montenegro 2005 photos can be viewed at Webshots (Montenegro 2005).

See also:
'Montenegro Revisited 2006'
'Perast and Excursions from Perast - 2007'
'Exploring the Mountains of Montenegro - 2007'
'Prcanj and Excursions from Prcanj 2008'

Our photos from our 2008 trip to Montenegro can be seen at tripNtale(Montenegro 2008).

Special Commendations:

Boka Bay Bed & Breakfast at Perast
Bianca Resort and Spa Hotel at Kolasin
Restoran Jezero by Skadar Lake
Bar Old Town (Stari Bar)
Pržno on the Luštica Peninsula

Some Useful Websites:
montenegro.com
montenegro.travel
montenegrosmiles.com
montenet.org
turizamcg.com
visit-montenegro.com