18 - 19 September 2017
The beach is just in front of my apartment (Apartment The Sea Coast). I spent every breakfast on the terrace looking at the beautiful beach. Walking to the city center was quite far without possible public transport. It took about 20 minutes.
I had engaged Golden Bay Tours to arrange a private half-day tour to the Lovcen National Park for 40 euro. Lovcen is one of the most popular national parks of Montenegro. It lies between Kotor, Cetinje and Budva and offers views stretching as far as Albania and Croatia. The route via the serpentine road up from Kotor is one of the most scenic in the country and will give you stunning views of the Bay of Kotor all the way. It does have 25 hairpin turns, so you’ll want to take it a bit easy… but this probably won’t be a problem as you’ll be wanting to stop so often to take photos of the view!
Lovcen is best known for housing the mausoleum of Montenegro’s favourite son, the poet, bishop and leader Petar Petrovic Njegos. You can visit the mausoleum via a long staircase of 461 steps and you’ll also be rewarded here with 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains for your efforts. You can also head over to Negusi and visit the museum which is in the house Njegos was born in.
Njegusi is a little village on the way to the national park. Njegusi is famous for being the birthplace of Njegos, but it's also famous for its proscuitto ham and smoked cheeses. My tour guide/driver is also from this village and his dad runs a smoke house here. He brought me to his dad's place and we tasted home made wine, ham and smoke cheese.
I asked the driver to drop me at the bus station and I took bus to Perast. In Perast, you can find the glass bus stop in front of the main church. Look for the Blue Line minibuses, which cost only €1 per ride. As of 2017 the Blue Line buses picked up passengers every 30 to 60 minutes until 22:30. To ensure the bus stops, it is advised to wave it down, otherwise it will not always stop.
Perast is an old town on the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. It is situated a few kilometres northwest of Kotor and is noted for its proximity to the islets of St. George and Our Lady of the Rocks. Despite having only one main street, this tiny town boasts 16 churches and 17 formerly grand palazzos.
St. George and Our Lady of the Rocks sit just off shore: one is natural with tall evergreens surrounding a monastery (and prohibited to visitors) and the other is man-made with a Catholic Church and an intriguing legend.
The boat trip was just €5 euros and consisted of a ride to the island, 30 minute stay to look around the beautiful little church and a ride back. There were many water taxi options to choose from along the main street. I was told I could stay longer as the boat comes and goes every few minutes.
Our Lady of the Rocks is an man-made island that's been built up by locals over 500 years. According to legend, the island was created after two local brothers found an icon of the Madonna washed up on a rock. Ever since then locals from Perast, have been throwing rocks in to create the island - even today, there's a festival every year called Fasinada, where locals throw rocks into the sea around the island.
Our Lady of the Rocks is a Roman Catholic church with a fascinating little museum attached. You can take a guided tour of the church and museum for just €1 per person.
St. George island is a small church and monastery, erected in the 17TH century and an ancient cemetery where buried most of the sailors from Perast. This isand is closed and cannot be visited.
After the boat tour I walked in the town and had a very nice lunch. I wanted to dine at Hotel Conte Restoraunt but the price was too expensive. I finally chose Piazza di Perast which seems to be part of Hotel Conte. The seafood skewer was impressive. The skewer which consisted of fish, squids, shrimps and scallops was well seasoned with a special dressing made of nuts and the two scoops of vegetables were soft and tasty. I tried to search the recipe for such vegetables but I do not know the exact name for it. I should have taken a pictures of the menu which describes the details of the dish.
I took bus back to Kotor and took a short walk around the old town. The old town of Kotor is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in this part of the Mediterranean. It was succeeded in preserving its original form, so typical of towns between the XII and the XIV century. The asymmetric structure of the narrow streets and squares, combined with the numerous valuable monuments of medieval architecture, contributed to Kotor being placed on UNESCO’s “The world natural and cultural inheritance” list.
St Nicola Church is located within St Luke's square is this quite impressive structure. Hard to miss as there is a Serbian flag hanging from the second floor. It was built in the early twentieth century, at foundations of an older building that was destroyed by fire in the nineteenth century. The building of the church started in 1902 according to the plans of Ciril Ivekovic and according to the inscriptions on the façade it was finished in 1909. It was built in the Pseudo-Byzantine style as one-nave church. The church has and a large cupola which rises above the rooftops, while the details were done in a Romanesque style.
The most significant monument in the Old Town of Kotor is St. Triphon’s Cathedral, which dates back to medieval times. Although under construction for decades the cathedral was finally completed and consecrated in 1166, this is confirmed in a preserved written testimony.
I enjoyed a nice sunset outside the city wall before walking back to accommodation.
The next morning, I took bus to Tivat. Tivat was not planned but since I had nothing much to do in Kotor so I decided to visit Tivat. Today, Tivat is one of hottest tourist spot on Mediterranean, because of Porto Montenegro – new modern marina for luxury yachts, with amazing settlement behind. It is a classy town in my opinion with more yachts than people. The weather was perfect for swimming and I relaxed myself at the beach enjoying the sea breeze.
Back to Kotor, I conquered the steep and rocky climb along the city walls of Kotor to the fortress of St. John (San Giovanni) with count of 1355 steps. I took 45 minutes up and 35 minutes down. Imagine mixing the charm of Europe’s Old Towns with the splendor of the Great Wall of China, the nature of the Fjords of Norway and the blue crystal clear water of the Mediterranean, climbing the city walls of Kotor must not be missed. You need to pay a small fee (3 euro depending on the season) to do the climb and the entrance is in the old town.
I got recommendation from my host to dine at Potun Restaurant which was just a few doors next to my accommodation. The tour guide from my Lovcen National Park tour also recommended this. Seafood must not be missed in Kotor. I ordered the fish platter which came with sea bass fillet, shrimps, squids, salmon and black risotto. The atmosphere was amazing and the food was perfect. Price was reasonable. I also ordered a slice of cake for dessert. The waiter was helpful in translating the menu and explaining the dessert selection.
Njegusi is a little village on the way to the national park. Njegusi is famous for being the birthplace of Njegos, but it's also famous for its proscuitto ham and smoked cheeses. My tour guide/driver is also from this village and his dad runs a smoke house here. He brought me to his dad's place and we tasted home made wine, ham and smoke cheese.
Perast is an old town on the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. It is situated a few kilometres northwest of Kotor and is noted for its proximity to the islets of St. George and Our Lady of the Rocks. Despite having only one main street, this tiny town boasts 16 churches and 17 formerly grand palazzos.
St. George and Our Lady of the Rocks sit just off shore: one is natural with tall evergreens surrounding a monastery (and prohibited to visitors) and the other is man-made with a Catholic Church and an intriguing legend.
The boat trip was just €5 euros and consisted of a ride to the island, 30 minute stay to look around the beautiful little church and a ride back. There were many water taxi options to choose from along the main street. I was told I could stay longer as the boat comes and goes every few minutes.
Our Lady of the Rocks is an man-made island that's been built up by locals over 500 years. According to legend, the island was created after two local brothers found an icon of the Madonna washed up on a rock. Ever since then locals from Perast, have been throwing rocks in to create the island - even today, there's a festival every year called Fasinada, where locals throw rocks into the sea around the island.
After the boat tour I walked in the town and had a very nice lunch. I wanted to dine at Hotel Conte Restoraunt but the price was too expensive. I finally chose Piazza di Perast which seems to be part of Hotel Conte. The seafood skewer was impressive. The skewer which consisted of fish, squids, shrimps and scallops was well seasoned with a special dressing made of nuts and the two scoops of vegetables were soft and tasty. I tried to search the recipe for such vegetables but I do not know the exact name for it. I should have taken a pictures of the menu which describes the details of the dish.
St Nicola Church is located within St Luke's square is this quite impressive structure. Hard to miss as there is a Serbian flag hanging from the second floor. It was built in the early twentieth century, at foundations of an older building that was destroyed by fire in the nineteenth century. The building of the church started in 1902 according to the plans of Ciril Ivekovic and according to the inscriptions on the façade it was finished in 1909. It was built in the Pseudo-Byzantine style as one-nave church. The church has and a large cupola which rises above the rooftops, while the details were done in a Romanesque style.
The next morning, I took bus to Tivat. Tivat was not planned but since I had nothing much to do in Kotor so I decided to visit Tivat. Today, Tivat is one of hottest tourist spot on Mediterranean, because of Porto Montenegro – new modern marina for luxury yachts, with amazing settlement behind. It is a classy town in my opinion with more yachts than people. The weather was perfect for swimming and I relaxed myself at the beach enjoying the sea breeze.
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