The Montenegro Coastline

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wilder-beast migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
10
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
7
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
6
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling food market
4
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
6
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
8
Overall Score
The highest score of nature or culture, + fun factor, + avoid the crowds, + the highest score of world famous or unique. Then turned into a score out of 100. More details at the bottom of the page
70 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
continent
Europe
country
Montenegro
Length of time
3-4 days
Rough cost
Obviously people have different tastes, so this will depend on those tastes, but this is a rough idea of price of the whole experience based on 2 people able to split the accommodation costs and excluding travel there and back
$ 400
Time of year visited
July
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site
123rd/372 This travel experience's ranking compared to all the other experiences on this site
Top 40% SUMMARY RATING: Superb

Summary

You’ll typically read in guide books, “for such a small country, Montenegro punches above its weight”, but that really does Montenegro a disservice.  I’d be a bit more ballsy and go as far as to say Montenegro’s coastline is the most beautiful in the world.  It has the same beautiful clear water and beaches that follow down the Dalmatian Coast from Croatia (if you haven’t been to Croatia- just think very picturesque beaches with crystal clear water); yet with the backdrop of full blown mountains that meet right at the waterfront.  When you throw into the mix the picture perfect terracotta roof islands of the likes of Sveti Stefan and dramatic Kotor Harbour with its medieval maze of lanes and Venetian Palaces, and you really do have one of the most beautiful places in the world

highlights

#1 The views over Kotor's immense Harbour and Old Town

#2 Sitting down for lunch to look over the picture perfect terracotta roofed Sveti Stefan

#3 Enjoying the steep hike up to St John's Fortress for the best views across Kotor Harbour

#4 Making your way through the surprisingly steeply-located Old Town

Travel Tips

  • Focus your time and stay in Kotor Old Town – the beautiful highlight of one of the most beautiful countries in the world.  Be sure to walk the Kotor City Walls and have dinner in the delightful Old Town.  We actually stayed outside of the Old Town and regretted it
  • Walk up to St John’s Fortress for the best views of the harbour – its a bit of a slog up hill with 1350 steps and 260m / 850ft vertical but well worth it
  • Give yourself half a day to visit Sveti Stefan – its only 30mins away and the terracotta roofs covering this small island make it what must be one of the most photogenic places in the world.  Note that the island itself is one hotel (around US$1750 a night) so you annoyingly can’t enter unless you’re a guest, but its nonetheless worth the trip for its views and the nearby pink sand beach.  For views, I’d recommend Pastrovica Dvori’s outside terrace which is further up the hill (try to get a taxi)
  • Part of a 2-3 week itinerary – the Western Balkans are a seriously underrated part of Europe and represent one of the best 2-3 week trips you can do in this part of the world with stunning castles and old towns, and some of the best coastline in the world all compactly housed within 8 countries.  For the 2-3 week itinerary for the highlights and general tips for this part of the world, see this travel entry and where Montenegro fits in –3 week trip around the Balkans States

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Score Detail

Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"?  That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others.  That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score

This overall experience score is calculated by:  take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10).  Then convert into a score out of 100

Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique".  Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides.  So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique".  But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience).  So, both of these scores are standalone