Unique Montenegro Road Trip: The Perfect 5-Day Itinerary
The fact that Montenegro isn’t higher on people’s European bucket list is just a testament to how competitive Europe is. This is an incredibly beautiful country with some of the best scenery you’ll find in the Balkans. It is a mountainous country, right on the coast, slightly larger than Jamaica. This diversity makes it perfect for a Montenegro road trip – almost like a giant theme park where you can drive an hour and enter a different world.
If you’re traveling from Serbia, you won’t notice much of a culture shock. As the last of the republics to formally separate from Serbia, it’s only been on its own since 2006. We made the drive from Belgrade to Kotor and besides the presence of fresh seafood, the food, culture, and language are very similar if not the same.
We traveled to Montenegro during a holiday weekend in Serbia and decided to visit two of the most famous locations: Kotor and Durmitor National Park. We visited in early May, which means the weather varied dramatically between the mountains and the coast. We had great weather by the coast, with little humidity and only a bit of rain, while there were feet of snow and muddy conditions in the mountains.
Check out our full itinerary below for the details of the trip, and some of our favorite meals, activities, and places to stay.
Montenegro Road Trip Itinerary
Day 1-2: Scenic drive from Belgrade to Kotor
Flight options: If you’re coming from Belgrade, you can take a quick 50-minute flight to the city of Tivat in Montenegro, and then drive the additional 30-minutes to Kotor. There are generally multiple flights a day and they range from $150 to $200 roundtrip.
Montenegro road trip options: Since we had our dog with us, the 8-hour drive from Belgrade to Kotor was our best option – and that way we would also have our car to do a full Montenegro road trip. We decided to split the drive into two days and tried our very best to leave Belgrade by 3pm so we could get to our destination of Prijepolje (in Serbia, but very close to the border with Montenegro) before dark. We did not and left by 4:30pm instead. It didn’t help that this was the biggest travel weekend of the year, so the highway had a 2-hour delay and we had to take the back roads.
We stayed in the town of Prijepolje, though not much to report since we just spent the night in an Airbnb rental for 40 Euro and headed out bright and early in the morning.
Looking back, we would recommend leaving Belgrade early enough to make it into Montenegro and stay near the Đurđevića bridge. It’s a more scenic area and you’ll have gone through the border crossing already.
After a fairly painless border crossing (which doesn’t open until 8am apparently) we made it into Montenegro by 8:30am. They asked us a few questions (in Serbian) about whether we had luggage and they checked our dog’s passport, but that was all.
Đurđevića bridge: Since we didn’t have breakfast, the first pleasant looking option was right after Đurđevića bridge. This is when we decided that this would have been a much nicer place to stay. The bridge and the gorge are beautiful. It would have been nice to have woken up early in the morning to check it out, have breakfast and leave for Kotor in a more pleasant state of mind. There’s also plenty to do around the bridge itself. With more time, we could have hiked, ziplined, rafted or there’s even bungee jumping for the thrill seekers. On a good day, you could leave Belgrade in the early afternoon and make it to Đurđevića in less than 6 hours with some decent options for hotels and food.
Rijeka Crnojevica: We followed up breakfast with a drive to Rijeka Crnojevica. This is a very cute little town with a lot of history. The actual village is quite small, and you can see most of it in 10 minutes. There are 3 or 4 places to grab a drink or a bite to eat, but most people seem to visit to take a boat ride around lake Skadar or a picture of the historical 19th century bridge.
We were only passing through, so we took a boat ride with Skadar Lake Boat Cruising and highly recommend it. The view of the lake on the way down to Rijeka Crnojevica will be all the justification you need to rent a boat. The prices for boat rides are reasonable and listed on flyers and charts so you don’t feel you’re being hustled. Just make sure you have cash since they didn’t accept cards. They offer boat rides of 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on how much you want to spend and see. We picked something in the middle, called the “Amazona” boat ride which takes you through a dense patch of growth and narrow waterways.
If you want to spend more time in the area, click here for more guided options.
Day 3-4: Kotor Bay
Kotor is a beautifully preserved medieval town and a must-stop throughout the Montenegro road trip. Like a lot of this region, it was ruled by a variety of kingdoms and empires; however, the longest serving was the Venetian. Therefore, you see a lot of Venetian architecture, and probably contributes to its position as a UNESCO world heritage site. The bay of Kotor is just stunning from all its different angles. We heard somewhere that it’s often called the southernmost fjord or something like that. In fact, it’s a collapsed cave system but still makes for just as impressive views.
One thing to note, especially if you’re coming with a dog who hates cats: Kotor is apparently famous for cats. They are everywhere and the city has thoroughly embraced their presence with shops and signs in their honor. The fact we did not know this and nearly brought our cat averse dog into the old city of Kotor (think of a small European historical town with narrow cobblestone pedestrian paths) shows just how new we are to this travel thing.
Where to stay in Kotor
Out of the old city: We stayed in a beautiful Airbnb hosted by Ana Marija. It was spacious, with a great shower, nice bed, common room, and a balcony with one of the best views of Kotor. Our only complaint was that the balcony is typically shared by the apartment next door. No one was staying next door during our visit so it wasn’t much of an issue, but it would have been nice to know in advance. The host and her family were incredibly kind as well. They had snacks for us when we arrived and even brought us breakfast one morning.
One thing you may want to keep in mind is that it is a 35-minute walk to the old city of Kotor and the walk isn’t exactly pedestrian friendly. It’s also uphill on the way home and poorly lit at night. You could easily drive up and down to the old city. We made the walk both nights, but it’s not for everyone.
There are certainly other places to stay in Skaljari that are significantly closer to Old Kotor. They would be a bit further down the hill, so the view might not be as impressive.
In the old city: There are plenty of options to stay inside the old city, but prices do go up quite a bit at that point. While you can find great spots in Skaljari for $40 – $50 a night, prices inside the old city can range from $150 – $200. Of course, this is where all the restaurants and bars are, and there is a special magic that comes with staying here. Just note that it is a pedestrian area. There are some parking lots about 5-10 minutes away, but keep in mind you’ll have to carry your luggage into your accommodation.
Dobrota: This is a good option and would be where we would stay if we had a chance to do it over again. If you stay near the coast there are a lot of great options to stay and places to eat. It’s not a bad walk to Kotor and just a short car or bike ride to Perast.
Muo: This is on the other side of the bay and there certainly are a lot of places to stay but not much to do. Depending on where you are it can be a 30 to 40-minute walk to Kotor. In this way it’s a lot like Skaljari except without the view.
Where to Eat in Kotor
Astoria: This was the most frequently recommended restaurant to us by locals. The restaurant is inside the old city, and part of hotel Astoria. It’s sort of a high-end boutique restaurant, with great food with healthy portion sizes. Astoria is a safe bet; can’t go wrong here.
Old Winery Wine Bar: This quickly became our favorite spot – we even went twice in two days! It’s inside the old city, in a quiet little street right in front of a unique cat-inspired shop. It has wonderful outdoor seating with an incredible atmosphere. The owner Nikola knows everything there is to know about wine from Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia, and offers great recommendations based on your preferences. We enjoyed a glass one evening and came back for an actual tasting of 6 different wines. We paired both evenings with a delicious plate of charcuterie and cheeses – many of which come directly from his family’s farm.
Konoba Scala Santa: This wasn’t our first choice, but it was nice, and the staff was incredibly friendly. We chose it mainly because it looked busy, people seemed to be having a good time, and had nice seating outside. We shared a nice fish platter that came with risotto and a few veggie sides. Prices were reasonable and we were pleasantly surprised by the experience.
Konoba Bonaca (Dobrota): Konobar Bonaca is in the Bay of Kotor, but right outside the old city – about a 30-minute walk or 5-minute drive. It has a great set up with an outdoor patio that juts out into the bay. The owner of Old Winery Wine Bar had recommended this spot for dinner, but since it was raining and they have a small indoor area, we chose to postpone our visit to the next day. We had a coffee and a juice before giving our dog Piper her much needed morning walk. However, we were tempted to order breakfast based off some of the plates we saw going to other patrons. For us, this is a must-do spot, if only for a coffee, to enjoy the stunning views of the bay.
Hotel Nauta (Perast): The town of Perast is also on the bay, but about 15 minutes away from the old city of Kotor by car. There are lots of different restaurants right on the water to choose from. We chose Hotel Nauta mainly because they had enough space for us to sit comfortably with our dog, but it did not disappoint! We had some delicious fish, and particularly enjoyed the wine and mussels. Plus, the view is unbeatable.
What to Do in Kotor
Check out Kotor’s Old City: The old city is one of the best preserved medieval old towns in the Adriatic and it’s located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. It is an incredibly charming little city, with lots of secret alleys, restaurants, and shops to explore. Visit without an agenda or a plan and venture through the old cobblestone streets for some stunning views. Just remember, best to avoid bringing your dog if they dislike cats – they are truly everywhere!
Hike up the Kotor Ladder: Since we discovered Kotor’s love for cats, we decided not to hike the popular path up the Kotor Walls, through San Giovanni Fortress. We quickly learned that there were lots of cats on this path, so instead chose the trail right next to the fortress called the Kotor Ladder. This is a historical trail which used to be the only way to and from the city of Cetinje to Kotor. It’s surprisingly well kept, but not very well advertised so we only saw a couple other people during our walk. The beginning of the trail is right next to the old city. Just follow the Road to Fort of St. Ivan and you can’t miss it. Note that this is not the same trail as the popular Walls of Kotor, so you won’t really be able to easily access the Church of Our Lady of Remedy or the fortress.
The entire hike would take about 5 hours to the top and back, but we decided that wasn’t for us and stopped halfway when we hit the church. If you follow the path to the right, next to the walls, you’ll notice a little illegal entrance into the fortress. There’s a small ladder, which allows you to go into the fortress through a small window. We had our 30kg dog, so we didn’t even try, but for those who don’t want to pay a fee or realize half way through that they are on the wrong trail to reach the fortress, this is the right way to get back on track.
We kept going up instead and stumbled upon a house on the hill that served Rakija, meat, bread, and cheese. The view from here is priceless and the local hospitality is worth the stop.
We’ve also heard some not so tasteful stories of Cruise liners dumping all their trash in Kotor due to weak enforcement of the law and regulations. However, we visited during Covid times, so there were no cruise ships and the water couldn’t have been nicer.
Explore the Bay of Kotor: Locals say the best way to visit the Bay of Kotor is on a bicycle. We didn’t have access to one, so chose to drive around instead, making multiple stops. We started at Dobrota, where we explored St. Matthias Church, a charmingly small and recently remodeled church that makes for a good photo. The walk itself is on the road but it’s nice enough with a few small beaches on the path. Although it was Orthodox Easter Sunday, we had the road to ourselves for the most part.
From there, we drove to Perast and did some more walking and exploring. Perast is a local favorite and another charming medieval village on the bay. It has some of the most picturesque views of the bay and restaurants along this water to get a bite to eat or a coffee.
Day 5-6: Durmitor National Park
You can even choose to take a day tour from Kotor for a hiking excursion in Durmitor. Check out all the details here.
Where to Stay in Durmitor
Razvrsje: We booked an Airbnb at LazarMila apartments. Everything inside the apartment is very nice. A nice bed, sheets, appliances. It’s cool to stay in a steep-pitched chalet as well. The feeling of being in a big triangle was new to us, especially on the top floor where the triangle comes to a point. The balcony wasn’t finished, however. There was a sort of black construction top over it and no chairs or tables available to enjoy the balcony, which was a shame because the view from there was very nice. If you’re planning on visiting, check with the host in advance to make sure it’s ready, because it’s certainly a great spot to enjoy at dusk, watching the sheep come home and the surrounding mountains in the background.
The town of Razvrsje is a great location to stay in overall. There are a lot of newer vacation homes for rent and a good distance between them. It’s a walkable distance to the town of Zabljak (where most of the bars and restaurants are) either on the main road or through a wooded trail that should only be taken in the summer! However, if you’re in Durmitor, you’re probably going to want to have a car to drive to the different hiking locations.
Zabljak: There are many other good and affordable vacation rentals around the town of Zabljak, especially if you don’t have a dog. You can find spots in the downtown area as well if you want to be closer to shops and restaurants. Of course, there are hotels as well, but the prices are pretty much the same, so in a mountainous fairytale like Durmitor, we’d always pick a chalet.
Where to Eat in Durmitor
Lupo D’argento: We had a good dinner here, though it wasn’t too high on our list. The location is right in the center of town, the pizza was decent, and the staff was very kind. The only complaint was that entrance and exit doors to the restaurant were frequently used as a shortcut by pedestrians avoiding the cold, which did not help the dining experience.
Hotel Soa: This was probably our favorite spot of the Durmitor visit. The food was great, traditional Montenegrin with plenty of options cooked “ispod saca” or “under the dome”. This is a traditional style of roasted meat and vegetables, using a shallow metal bell covered in hot ash. Apparently, they have an all-season porch which they had nicely covered but must be removable since all the pictures online show an open porch. The view is quite nice except for the large decrepit Yugoslavia era hotel blocking the right side of the view. They gave us so much food for what was probably 20 or 30 Euro, so we had leftovers for dinner and breakfast.
Restaurant Or’o: We were not wowed by the food, but it was a good traditional Montenegrin meal. The real selling point for this restaurant was that they really seemed to have the best outdoor dining area on the Njegoseva strip (the main road in Zabljak). The terrace is big with lots of space, and we were able to enjoy a lovely afternoon in the sun.
What to Do in Durmitor
Hike up Tara Canyon: We got off to an early start during our first day in Durmitor, especially by Balkan standards, since we wanted to hike around Tara Canyon. It wasn’t exactly easy to find information for trails since hiking isn’t really a pastime in this part of the world. It may be a bit more popular in Montenegro than in some other Balkan countries, but you’ll still find little guidance in the form of signs or trail markers.
We did however find a great app called Komoot which was a lifesaver. It helped us find a good trail in our range of difficulty and time. More importantly, it allowed us to find our way back to the car when we were in 2 feet of snow and all trail markers (if there were any) were hidden from sight.
We did a 2-hour hike which we would highly recommend. It’s a beautiful hike along the ridge of the canyon to a nice viewpoint. In normal conditions, it’s probably easy enough for hikers of all skill levels but on this occasion, large swaths of the trail were covered in feet of snow which made it physically challenging and much tougher to find our way.
Make sure to check the weather forecast if you’re visiting this part of the country, even in the late Spring or early Fall months. While the temperatures were very warm on the coast, Durmitor had just gotten blasted with snow a few days before our visit in early May. Many of the tourists were caught off guard and only had sneakers to hike in, which I’m sure made for a much more unpleasant walk.
Check out Crno Jezero (Black Lake): This beautiful mountain lake is a must see if you’re in Durmitor. It is the Balkan equivalent of Moraine Lake in Alberta or Oeschinen Lake in Switzerland. This is Durmitor’s largest lake and it is quite commercial for a national park, there’s a small fee to enter and an additional charge if you need to park your car.
Apparently, it can get pretty busy in the summer months with crowds for picnicking, canoeing, swimming, and hiking. The crowd was light when we visited in early May and there are some practical reasons for that. This is “mud season” in the mountains and the water was ice cold. It literally had floating ice in some areas. The intermediate trail we took is closer to an expert trail this time of the year with downed trees, snow, ice, and a seasonal waterfall that blocked off half the trail. We were forced to turn around, but it was awesome to see this waterfall up close.
This is a great spot to visit and has a bit for all. There are lots of little hikes you can do, you can sit and picnic near the water and enjoy the stunning views, or there’s even a little cafe to enjoy some drinks. This is absolutely a must-do if you’re in this part of the world.
Explore the town of Zabljak: There are lots of little walks you can take around the different neighborhoods of Zabljak. We ended up finding another hike through the Komoot app, and it would have probably been a lovely hike in late spring, but we found out the hard way that in early spring, this hike can have over 5 feet of snow in some areas. Our feet were soaking wet by the end of it and we somehow ended up with a stray dog that followed us the entire way home. It is a beautiful hike, just make sure you come prepared for snow if you visit any time before May!
We only got the chance to explore a couple hikes during our visit, but highly encourage you to download the app and checkout these or many of the other hikes this incredible park has to offer.
Car Rental Options
If you’re looking to embark on this road trip, we recommend renting a car. Many of the highways have been recently renovated, but some roads tend to be narrow and windy around the countryside
If you’re renting a car in Serbia, there are local rental options that we’ve used before, including Zim Car Rental Beograd. But pick-up options are only offered in Belgrade and they do run out of cars pretty quickly in peak season. For a larger option with more variety, we recommend using Discover Cars. The site is very user-friendly and aggregates all types of vehicles and prices to make sure you find the best deal.
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