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Ah, Montenegro. I knew I’d love it. I knew it would be beautiful. But I had no idea that it would have the kind of beauty to knock me off my feet and render me speechless!
The scenery in Montenegro was tantalizing: the Bay of Kotor from every direction, storybook-perfect walled towns, mystical islands, a mountain-edged coastline, Tara Canyon, and especially the fjords throughout the country.
With only just a taste of Montenegro, I’m ready to declare it the most naturally beautiful country in Europe. Here’s what it has going for it:
Montenegro has beautiful coastal towns.
The tiny walled city of Kotor was our base, and we couldn’t have chosen a better location. It was an utterly enchanting place to walk around, with charming architecture, piazzas, and a genuine small-town feel, snug in its city walls.
With the Bay of Kotor on one side and mountains on the other, Kotor is also one of the most spectacularly located towns I’ve ever seen!
Budva is another town on the coast, and it’s the most popular resort in Montenegro. While not as small or as beguiling as Kotor, the old town looks a lot like a mini Dubrovnik, with winding streets, orange roofs, cute boutiques, and those epic mountains that you see all the way down the Dalmatian Coast.
But the beauty of Montenegro extends beyond these popular towns!
Montenegro is home to magical islands.
The Bay of Kotor is beautiful enough with the mountains surrounding the calm blue waters — but from tiny medieval town of Perast, you have the perfect view of a tiny man-made island.
Could you imagine getting married in that little church on your own private island?
If that one’s too small for you, however, Sveti Stefan has a larger and more dazzling island.
Ever since first seeing a picture of Sveti Stefan years ago, I dreamed of visiting it. On our final full day in Montenegro, we took a bus down the coast to see it in person. Though the island is a private resort with restricted access, it was just as beautiful as I imagined.
Montenegro has mountains.
The most spectacular views in all of Montenegro, however, were on the road to Tara Canyon, just north of Durmitor National Park on the Bosnian border. Dave and I decided to go whitewater rafting, and the ride took three hours from Kotor.
That’s a lot of driving for one day, particularly when your driver is a crazy man from Ulcinj who takes hairpin turns and passes on curves, but the beauty on this route was nothing short of astounding. Just look at that fjord!
Our driver graciously humored our obsessive photo-taking and stopped at several viewpoints. God, how could this country be so beautiful?
Montenegro has dramatic canyons.
Bending over the bridge to get a photo of the canyon, my stomach dropped. THIS was what we were rafting through?! Because there are canyons, and then there are CANYONS.
Tara Canyon is the second deepest canyon on Earth — only the Grand Canyon is deeper. The bright turquoise Tara River slices through gray mountains topped with trees and bushes, and it continues that way for miles and miles. A truly awe-inspiring sight.
The rafting trip was a blast — just the right level of rapids (Level IV), cold but not freezing water on a hot day, a few hours of rafting action, and a some stops to get photos.
We paddled; we shrieked; we got splashed; we laughed with our new Chilean, Swedish, and Ukrainian friends. And I spent plenty of the trip spaced out like a zombie, overwhelmed with privilege for getting to experience a place like this.
Montenegro has a showstopper: the Bay of Kotor.
At 5:30 AM on the day of our flight back to England, Dave and I woke up to climb the fortress of Kotor. We climbed briskly and made it to the top in about 30 minutes, just in time to see the rays of sunshine hit the fjord.
I don’t think there’s anything I can say beyond what that photo already shows.
It had never occurred to me to spend more than a few days in Montenegro, but after this trip, I would love to return and see much more of the country, staying at least a week, maybe even two.
There is so much to see here, and as usual, I’ve only scratched the surface.
Great article about Montenegro ! Really looking forward to going there tomorrow. I only have time to see that bay of Kotor, but hoping it`ll blow me away.
Too bad I`m not home in Bergen when you`re visiting,we could have had some more margaritas 🙂
I don`t think your information abot the Tara canyon(or grand Canyon) is right. The Colca canyon in Peru is 4160 metres deep, more than twice as deep as grand canyon.
Grand canyon is`nt even the deepest canyon in USA, that`s Hells canyon in Oregon. Sorry to be pedantic 🙂
As lucky as I am to be born in Montenegro, I have to tell you that it is beautiful! When i was little my favorite thing was to wake up in a cottage, pressed up against the planks with fresh mountain air blowing on my face through the cracks. I hear the rooster sing and the animals walk around. I get up and see my grandma coming in with a bucket of milk pouring it in a pot on the stove. Next to it she is frying pepper fruits stuffed with feta cheese and in the oven a freshly-baked bread. I get up and walk outside, there’s a thick fog covering the landscape, visibility 20-50m, its been raining that night, the grass is still wett and you can smell it in the air. I take a deep breath, then i walk to the spring behind the cottage and wash my face in the icecold water. I’m awake, the day is young, new adventures await, I could pick wild strawberries, mush them together and eat them all in a minute or maybe go hunt for mushrooms, cut them up, dry them, and sell them later on.
This just one of many childhood memories I have from Montenegro. 🙂 hope you enjoyed it and felt like you were there. hugs
That sounds wonderful, Dushko. Thank you for sharing!
Just stumbled across this article again and concur with everything you say. We first visited in Oct 2005 and by May 2006 we’d sold all our worldly goods, bought a Ford transit van, which we then drove here from the UK. The dream was to establish a clothing optional resort somewhere in this paradise. Eight years on and the dream is a reality. Follow the website link for the blog of our story if your interest has been piqued. Anyways, I got to wondering if a) you ever did make a return visit and b) if you were able to stay long enough to appreciate more of the culture, attitudes and values held by the vast majority of it’s nationals. For sure it is the most beautiful country in Europe we’ve ever visited but part of that beauty for us is the importance placed on the extended family, neighborliness (spelling?), generosity and hospitality. Values that, in our humble opinion, have long since disappeared in our homeland. Like any country that relies on tourism for it’s income those values can get blurred in the tourist centers but it is still at the heart of the nation. Which makes me wonder if the commenter Cat is on the same planet as us let alone in the same country, maybe it’s a Karma thing 🙂 In conclusion, thanks for a great article and spreading the word. Two years on and a lot has changed, mostly for the better and we still agree it’s the most beautiful country in Europe. My only fear is that it may not stay that way for too many more years to come. So, to everyone reading this, move Montenegro up your list of must see destinations before you miss out. And Kate, feel free to look us up if you’re ever here again.
Steve, I can’t tell you how amused I am by the name of your resort! It is beyond perfect!!!
Thank you Katie. I live in Montenegro and there are many places to visit in Montenegro. I work as a tour guide so if you decide to come,and visit Montenegro you can contact me,i would be pleased to shoe you our beautiful,country.
Thank you for the beautiful (and truthful ;)) post!
Greeting from Monte
Hi Kate.
You’re absolutely right,Montenegro is the most beautiful country in Europe.
Now that you’ve seen the beautiful adriatic coast,the inland is a must on your next trip.From lake Skadar alongside the Albanian border all the way to Plav/Gucinje,you will be fascinated with the natural beauty .
I can put you in contact with someone local to guide you.
She loves traveling too.
Ulqin aka Ulcinj, to bad you didn’t go there you missed out on miles of beautiful sandy beaches and beautiful old town. There are many other beaches in the area that are beautiful and lake is a must just like 100 churches not to far from there
I’d love to check out the beaches in Ulcinj! Next time for sure!
Kate, I had to leave this link for you, all the scenery that you have seen with ethno music from the same land. Especially the first one – the views made me week in my knees…
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL66170348CA8D4C17
Hugs
Gordana
Wish the people of Montenegro are same as the country – beautiful!!!
Very unfriendly and nationalists…
Went there from US couple of times and both times had a bad experience starting from customs at the Podgorica airport and second time from customs at the Tivat airport – as soon as they see that US passport their facial expression changes.
At the old town of Budva was robbed on the middle of the night and when we called the cops they told us to go to the Embassy.
I reather stick with Croatia or Albania…
No heard feelings – just speaking the truth
i see only the people from US complaining here ,maybe it’s about you :/
Montenegro ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️the best place in the art !!!You forgot ULCINJ Bar !!
I have to disagree on this one since you asked. lol.I lean toward Croatia. The coast and Plitvice Lakes National Park are stunning. I definitely can see Montenegro in the running though. I find Croatia and Montenegro very similar for obvious reasons. My opinion may be different had I not visited Croatia first. lol. I know you did a trip last year to Croatia. How do you think they stack up to one another?
Very similar. I adore Croatia and it’s always been one of my favorite countries, and Croatia has more tourism infrastructure and a few more things to do, but I think Montenegro has the edge with beauty!
I’ve heard wonderful things about Montenegro. I won’t be able to go this summer, but is there another time during the year you’d recommend? Is it really crowded in the summer?
I’d try to hit it up from spring to fall if you can. Coastal areas are very popular in summer.
This is the second travel post I’ve read about Montenegro, it looks beautiful. But I was just wondering how it measures up in comparison to other Balkan countries like Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbia -both in terms of beauty/interesting things to see and affordability for backpackers?
I haven’t been to Serbia, but I would say that Montenegro is more expensive and more beautiful than Bosnia, and similarly priced and to Croatia (excluding expensive Dubrovnik) and similarly beautiful (but has the edge on Croatia).
You are right, Montenegro is beautiful. We were there 2 years ago. Luckily we are from Slovenia, so it is pretty close for us to reach it. Lots of things to do there and we will defenitely go to Montenegro again!
p.s. Love your photos!
I love Montenegro, next time you should visit Bigova, it’s near the Kotor.
Ulqin has one of the best beaches in the world.
Lovely people and lovely Albanian language is spoken there.
Worth a visit ULQIN
I’m myself from montenegro and I can honestly say that it’s one of the most beautiful places. You have durmitor, žalba and the coasts are nice like cetinje.. I’m myself from sutomore and it’s more for local people but it’s also a nice one. So you so definitely visit it starting from north to the south
No Žalba, Žabljak, please. Žalba means claim/reclamation, and Žabljak means the place with lot of frogs Frog- Žaba 🙂
Ah- Montenegro (specifically Kotor) has been on my list for quite some time! I almost went this November, but decided to save the trip for warmer weather. I’m determined to get there in 2015! Great post!
Hello I was born in Montenegro, and I live 9 years in Italy-Venice. Kate I’m glad you spent the pleasant hollidays in Montenegro. Montenegro is also nice because in 1 hour you are from 10C to 30C from the mountains to the sea
I must say to Cat, you come in the wrong country. Just change.
And
We have kitchen so gooood!
There are such good people!
Come in Italy dear and you will understand what it means to have friends Montenegrins and friends here.
We are not the best people in the world, but Americans yes? . So let’s accept your thought of us. I hope you will find the perfect country for you.
I would criticize my people too :), in tourism they need to be more professional..
oooh, people…u ll be so disappointed if u ever go to Montenegro. Cat is right. everything she said is true. one thing what is gorgeous there are some old monasteries. sea is dirty, trash everywhere, people are disaster….
where are you from ?
Probably from somewhere in the middle of nowhere 😆 . But, that is her opinion and should be respected, even though I do not approve of it.
p.s. Books are still being burnt in some parts of the US ( Harry Potter was considered as witchcraft).
I came to beautiful Montenegro and met the most wonderful Montenegrin man, I planned to stay 2 days, that was 5 months ago. Now we’re getting married :D… Montenegro is stunning and the people are lovely!
Congratulations! And Montenegrins are HAWT. Good work. 😉
Budva 1500 year B.C.
Durmitor mountain
Lovcen where Njegos was buried
Moraca and Tara river
Ostrog closter
Skadar lake
Perast island
Kotor, Old Bar, Sveti Stefan, Ulcinj
nice places to see
Dear author,
Thank you for making a native Montenegrin feel proud about her country. Our natural habitat is surely breathtaking. I truly hope that you will consider visiting us again – there are places you haven’t seen nor felt yet ( I would say so, regarding your article). I have had my fair share of traveling through Europe, and must say that for me, even though food preferences represent a thing of culture and habit, there is no cuisine worse than the British one. We have plenty of fish, fruits, vegetables, fine, lovely cheeses and smoked meat. A few of the traditional dishes ( which differ from region to region) are also fine by me. Regarding the people – generalization is a bad thing. Looking it that way – Americans represent a bunch of self-absorbed fatties with no history nor heritage ( that is the picture that the media sends to us ). So I would not go there. Here, like in every city on this planet, you can find some difficult and nasty people, but you can also stumble upon a few lovely ones. About the animal and nature situation – you must take one thing in consideration – our history. A country which had been in constant wars for centuries and claimed it’s independence after a long period unfortunately has a lot of more complex issues. We will grow and I am sure our awareness will rise with the development of our land.
Sincerely,
Minja
Grande articulo Kate. Montenegro es exactamente ese peque ño conjunto de todo, fiordos, playas, montañas al lado de orilla del mar, altas montañas…hay de todo, en un territorio miniaturo. También hay muchos monumentos culturales estupendos. Y Noruega no tiene un clima tan agradable. Y las mujeres montenegrinas son mas guapas, no son feas como de Noruaga. Por supuesto, hay y mujeres Noruegas guapas 😉
Cat im english and personally i think your a bit spoiled. Americans have 10000 bad things. Montenegro is friendly and beautiful. Cat stop being spoiled and jealous.
Montenegro is beautiful! You should definetely visit Gusinje and Plav, you will fall in love with its natural beauty. I recommend anyone who wants to travel, to visit Montenegro and experience the new adventure and meet different people. Anyone can search this two places that I mentioned, and will see how it looks like.
For all nature lovers National park Lake Skadar is must see place if you are going to visit Montenegro.
http://outdoorandmore.me/en/about-lake-skadar
This is for “cat”
You don’t know Montenegro,because you are vegan you can’t know Montenegro.
We are skinny and beautiful, l don’t know what is your problem, but l am thinking you are little down because you lived in country with most beautiful women and men, and let do understand how other people have to work hard on their beauty. In Montenegro we are lucky, maybe smallest but for sure biggest in heart, we are different than anyone, l don’t live there anymore, but l appreciate country where l live because feed me, so miss Cat has respect for food, water that you have there because remember God is like cat will get you when you least expect.
And miss Cat you should try Montenegrian guys, l am sure you will change your mind
Nice, nice; I was planning to go there this summer as a day trip from Croatia but I might go there by plane for a week.
Hi Caty, I’am glad that you like Montenegro. And jes it is most beutyful contry, but wen we speak about nature mountains, the best part of Montenegro is National park Prokletije around small towns Plav and Gusinje. Its secret hidden Wild beauty of Montenegro ready to discover. Here is video, please chek it for you self. https://youtu.be/6rgOhMOQSC4
Beautiful photos, and I’m glad that you feel this way. I am hoping to do a Croatia/Bosnia/Montenegro trip next year. It looks stunning.
I did that in 2012 and it was one of my favorites!
I grew up in Kotor but I moved to the US three years ago and I miss my country so much.When I saw these pics my heart melted.Thank you for writing this post.I feel I’m a bit closer to my home 🙂
Awwww. I’m glad you liked it, Ivana. Up next is the story about my haunted stay in Kotor!
I am from Montenegro and I’m so happy when i saw how much did you like it.Here is a tip which places you must to visit next time:
Podgorica(it is relly beautiful,it’s the capital of Montenegro,but it is most warm town in the Europe with Atina too)
Skadar lake(The biggest lake in Balkan and relly beautiful national park)
Bar(my favourite town)
Cetinje(we call this city here “anciant town”,it used to be a capital so there are so many museums to visit( my favourite is castel of king Nikola)
A part of a national park Lovcen- “Ivanova korita”-so beautiful
Herceg Novi-and my favourite part-Žanjice and a cave that is locaked there-Plava špilja with most beautiful blue colour of all times
Search some of these places on google and you’ll see what i’m talking about ?
Montenegro? Really? Ever been in Italy, Greece, Spain??? For sure it is beautiful, but the most beautiful-I don’t think so… And as much as I love what you said, because I’m from Mne, I really have to be realistic…
The worst people in the world?, miss Cat..
The animal problem occurred after the Yugoslavian wars.prior the wars Yugaslavia had a very well organized shelters and other public services. After the war the animals such as stray dogs and cats were left on their own, and after a while there were multiplying on a crazy rate. Imagine your 10 year daughter is walking home from school and a pack of 20 dogs is on her way, many times with rebies. No one to catch those animals, no one to protect a tragedy…I was born in Macedonia but my parents were from Montenegro which is only 200 miles apart. I spend every summer in the northern part of Montenegro.. Yeah, people are raw, rough on edges and as you said in future they might not be able to afford to live there..that’s probably the reason I live in USA for the last 17 years. But did it ever occur to you that the people behave like that so you and likes of you stay away from their country.. I’m not talking about tourists, Montenegro was always extra friendly to tourism . I’m talking about investors who bring the Wall Marts and McDonalds and not to talk about resources .People who feel the urge as yours to change someone’s diet even thou we have the highest rate of obesity in the world.. Everything we serve in USA has some sort of cheese on it to make even the horrible food taste good..in these 17 years I know exactly how many times I ate outside of my home- 14.. The fact that you are a vegan is probably the only reason you actually cook at home… And you talk about laziness. What’s next? Darn Mexicans, how dare they take a siesta in the middle of the day.. Look, it seems that you are there to make business, to capitalize on something and you are miserable all the time . And that’s ok, that tells me that you are not happy and that you are a prisoner of your or your husbands ambitions and goals… Nothing wrong with that. Heck , I might say I am in the same boat but on the other side of the world. But I don’t go ahead and say thing like that… I could talk about the fact that most of the people in USA don’t know the neighbors name for many years, GMO food, more prisoners than the whole combined, Jerry Springers, necessity to have two or three jobs if you want to amount anything, unbelievable divorse rate, racism, and POLUTION.. When we talk about nature I have to go to Maine or Vermont to get a sliver of what Montenegro has.. Yes, you are right, people could keep the country cleaner and if they don’t pay attention they will loose that pristine purity.. But you are not helping, lady! Montenegro needs more tourists and less of you… more tourist will hopefully make the people more aware and they could start caring for the environment on a higher level.. I don’t even know what a f… blitva is.. First time I’m hearing about it.. I know this fact … Montenegrins are the second tallest population on the world (percentage wise) and they are not an obese nation for sure.. Yes, a lot of tobacco , my grandma is 94 and she only needs to light up the first cigarette in the morning. After that she welds them one by one and a lot of Turkish coffee.. And all of sudden you come around and make faces about it.. Like that’s gonna change something.. People live like that for centuries and they are ok with it.. You think Greese is better? I gotta surprise for you.. Very similar mentality.. Try to run a business there, and you ll see what happens.. Unless you are a Greek you not gonna get far.. I ve seen Greeks go back from USA to Greese to start a business and come back running just after two years with nothing to show… In a nutshell… I hope that one day, if I m still alive and able, I retire and spend the rest of my life in Montenegro… Not Macedonia where I was born, but Montenegro… With all the flaws and the roughness of its inhabitants… I ll take it … I ll take it over Florida or whatever…you miss Cat on the other hand need to move on and find your happiness, some place where your food comes on a plate and is served by your special needs, get on your treadmill and drink your bottled water… Leave the ignorant Montenigrins alone… I ll join them , I ll cut the grass with a sickle, eat the lamb meat and drink the water from rivers and streams.. And I will still be very great full to this great country of USA with all the people and and flaws that I embraced for all these years.. I won’t judge or talk crap about it.. Because that’s just hypocritical …
Miss McCulley … If you ever decide to visit the north-east part of Montenegro you have a place to stay … It’s on the bank of a lake which at 860 meters above sea level and at the foot of 2000 meter mountain… It’s made of logs and has three small bedrooms. Nothing fancy, but great starting point for some crazy hiking, fishing or swimming( if it’s in summer- the lake is of glacier origin). You could see some old churches, mosques, Roman sites.. Waterfall that disappears in a large hole in the earth, turquoise ponds and vertical mountains as a natural border with Albania. My mom will share the house breakfast wth you and whoever is with you while my father drinks his black tea all looking so tough and quet . He ll take you on lake, but no hiking, hehe.. He could fetch you the local guide guy.. The stay is free.. It doesn’t get better than that.. Three days of good weather will do you good.. Not to say you couldn’t stay longer, I just don’t wanna rob you of the rest of the country sightseeing
Mack… [email protected]
I live in Norway, but im born in Montenegro. Two of the most beautiful countries in Europe! ??
Kate, thank you so much for promoting our beautiful country. Your article is very nice and filled with some great pictures, but there is more, a much more. I am really sorry that you guys didn’t have more time to stay and to se a lot more. But, also, I hope that you gonna come again, you and your family and friends and all other people who want to purify the mind and gain some positive natural energy 🙂 I hope that you gonna have luck to find some local people who would like to show you country, because that’s the best way to know some sweet secrets about our pearl beautiful country. The more you guys come to enjoy and take a rest, the more chance we have to improve our country, change our policy, improve our services and resorts, improve ways and content to travel around, it’s easy, your enjoyment helping us a lot 🙂 I wish you all to come to us in good health and happiness, having wonderful time and great experience. Thank you.
Well I am Montenegrin and tour guide, happy to read all this beautifull things about my fjord Boka, my country.There are no words with which I can explain you reason why you should come☺I just can wish you warm welcome .See it, feel it, breath it, enjoy it , it is breathtaking this beauty , we are waiting for you with open heart.Dont forget my beautifull town in Bay Boka Kotorska it is not mentioned and worth to visit☺www.tivat.travel And most important thing in this moment it is SAFE!
I think the posted pictures are indeed beautiful, but I believe that the beauty of any one place depends on who you are with and what was experienced while at that destination.
Spent 10 spectacular days traveling throughout Montenegro. Fell in love with it. I actually have a map of the country on the back wall of my classroom, so I can see it every day. I will go back…
Great article Kate,
Beside the part of the country that you have visited, North part of Montenegro (a triangle between borders of Kosovo Albania and Montenegro has is gems too. PROKLETIJE mountains! For nature lovers, wild , untouched beauty, glaciers, mountain lakes etc etc.
Montenegro is beautiful country!Small,you can be on the beach and after hour ago or two you can be on the mountain,amazing!Kotor and Cetinje are my favorites,but also Kolasin.
Simply Stunning
Thank you Kate. Next time you must visit another nacional park Biogradsko lake, only jungle in Europe…
Isn’t it funny that the world is waking up to the beauty of the ex Yugoslav countries. Slovenia , Croatia , Bosnia and Montenegro along with Serbia and Macedonia would be in my opinion the best region and most diverse region in Europe to travel and I mean even moreso than Spain and France but I think the fact that it was a communist country held its potential back due to the cold war etc. But with social media the secret is well and truly out
Wow. That’s a splendid article. Mountains & river.. absolute madness & blissful combination.
Have been to Croatia, esp Plitvice & Dubrovnik for its obvious reason.
I think i have found my next destination. Cheers to you 🙂
Thanks Kate
Deepest canyon in the world is not the Grand Canyon, it is the Yarlung Zangbo Canyon in Tibet, China; Grand Canyon is about 4th
I am currentl planning a trip to Montenegro. Thanks for the info. I will definitely visit Kotor, I like the look of the rafting too.