Montenegro
Already the sound of the country's name calls for fascinating experiences. And it's going to deliver. Montenegro will surprise you with its charm and beauty..
“Having a romance with a country”
Why are Montenegrans so tall? They are apparently the tallest nation in Europe. And wow the men seem all to be 2 meters plus. The country itself is pretty small, so you can get around pretty quick. I was hitchhiking here the whole time and it took me every time only about 10 minutes to get a ride.
Montenegro had a lot of luck in many ways throughout history, who knows why. Here are hundreds of luxury estates on the coastline, here Yachts line up to get parked. Is it because the country didn't participate in the Yugo-wars and was the only stable one in the region? Is it because of the tiny but beautiful oldtowns? Is it the charme of the white stone buildings that are overgrown with mediteranean plants?
WHERE TO GO???
Kotor
I've rarely seen a city that emits such charm. Just being there makes you feel romantically entangled. The buildings don't even have a facade finishing, it's just white rocks with concrete, and its looks beautiful, in any other country they would look like slum houses, but not here. Just put a guitar player in front of it and boom, life is good. It‘s charming, it has character. Maybe that's why the wealthy came here in herds.
Sit down in a cafe and order a Deutsch. Just do it. A Deutsch is a double espresso with milk. Before the Euro they used the German (deutsche) Mark and one coffee cost everywhere exactly one Mark. For some reason it became a tradition to not order coffee here anymore, but a Deutsche.
Kotor's old town can be crossed within 10 minutes, but i would really recommend staying here one or even two nights. Coming here for just a daytrip will not give you the chance to feel the place. Besides you won't have enough time to climb the Kotor Fortress. That you absolutely have to do, the view from there is just amazing as you can see in the very first picture of this post.
The right one entered from the old-town is stairs only and the fee to use it is 8€! The other path just 200 meters to the left is for free and much more scenic. You will also get the opportunity to meet some locals and discover great natural sights.
Later you can take the stairway back down. See the free entrance path here on google maps.
The walk up to the fortress takes depending on your speed one to two-and-half hours (down 20-30 minutes). Notice that there are two possible ways up.
Budva
There's beaches, there's nightlife, there's high profile. The city of Budva is pretty developed and is a major tourist destination due to it's many beaches. The old-town is still intact and very pretty, but it pales in comparison to Kotor.
The rich have been coming here for decades and built many luxury estates in the area - of course they also need a place to park their yachts.
Most beaches are grainy sand with rocks, which is not the nicest to hang out. There are however some nicer sandy beaches in the outskirts of the city. The closest one is just a 10 minutes walk south along the cliffs.
Podgorica
Even though being the capital of Montenegro there is nothing worth seeing here - except for the bridge, but well, it's just a bridge. If you can avoid stopping here, do it. The old-town is completely destroyed and the only remainings are a few rocks. If you are on the jump to Kosovo, arrange your itinerary so that you just have to stay for a few hours. Everything else would be a waste of time!
Check out the video.