The Montenegro Coastline
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
Other Beautiful Coastlines
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