Balkans Road Trip Part V: Montenegro & the Adriatic Coast

It’s hard not to be enchanted by the coastline of Montenegro.  It is what I imagine Croatia was 15 years ago, on the cusp of becoming a highly touristed destination, but still a hidden gem.  Montenegro is the only country we visited that is on the Euro, making it pricier than Serbia and Bosnia, but still quite inexpensive as compared to its neighbors Croatia and Italy.  The food is the best of all worlds: excellent Mediterranean fish,  pizzas, pastas, and, of course, bureks.

Bay of Kotor (town of Perast)

Bay of Kotor (town of Perast)

Bay of Kotor (town of Perast)

Highlights:

• The only ‘fjord’ in the Mediterranean, the Bay of Kotor, and all of the little towns along the Bay.
• Don’t miss: make a dinner reservation at Galion Restaurant in Kotor and sit out on the water for the sunset.
• The walled old city of Budva (which is like a mini Dubrovnik) and 3 miles down the Coast, the (now) private island resort of Sveti Stefan, famous as the vacation destination of Elizabeth Taylor and Sofia Loren

Sveti Stefan, private island resort

View of the bay of Kotor from Galion restaurant (town of Kotor)

Word of warning:  Montenegro’s “undiscovered” nature lends it to be a tough place to drive/navigate.  The roads are unmarked, unnamed, sometimes unpaved, un-railguarded on the sides of cliffs, and one lane for two ways of traffic (particularly in Lovcen National Park).

25 Hairpin turns up a mountain later…

Ari & Pierre in the old town of Kotor