7 zile in in Muntenegru – Circuit cu masina in tara balcanica

For us Montenegro was a fascinating country, a true hidden gem of Europe and a perfect destination for summer vacation.

We really loved this country, which we visited in a road trip with our car for a week. Every day we tried to explore the country piece by piece, and our only regret was that we didn't have more days to discover everything Montenegro has to offer.

About Montenegro

Montenegro is truly charming. I admit, when we started planning our vacation in this country, we didn't have very high expectations. Not being a member country of the European Union, we had some fears related to locations, conditions, safety.

But all our fears turned out to be false. Montenegro is extraordinary, it is safe, clean, the conditions were good everywhere and we never felt that we were visiting a country less developed than any other country in the European Union. Montenegro seemed very well organized from a tourist point of view, we found everywhere information in English, and the communication with the locals went very well. Montenegrins are very welcoming people, in every interaction we had with them we felt joy from their side that we were visiting their country, of which they are very proud.

We chose it mainly as a sea destination, but Montenegro offers so much more than a lively coastline: the landscapes are absolutely amazing, there are many locations that are worth visiting and admiring for their natural beauty, and the cities on the coast are a pleasure to discover.

I invite you to read this article where I have listed down the most beautiful places in Montenegro, with the hope that I will convince you to put this country on your list of future destinations: Montenegro - The Most Beautiful 15 Places To Visit.

What you need to know before coming to Montenegro

If you have decided to plan a vacation in Montenegro, before you start it is good to be informed and prepared about this location. I invite you to read this travel guide with the most important things you need to know about Montenegro: how to get around in Montenegro, what are the costs, about the internet, food, accommodation or other travel tips: Montenegro – Everything You Need to Know Before Visiting Montenegro..

In Montenegro, the official currency is the Euro, so you don't have to worry about changing into local money.

For the internet, we opted for the easiest and most convenient option for us: an eSim from Telekom with 500 GB, valid for a week, for which we paid 10 euros.

For Serbia, we activated an eSim from the Airalo application - for 1 GB of internet we paid 5 euros.

How to get to Montenegro

Since it is a circuit by car, I will describe here our route from Romania, more precisely from Cluj-Napoca, the place of departure, to Montenegro, in Budva. Unfortunately, at the moment, there is no direct flight between Romania and Montenegro. If you are not travelling from Romania, please ignore this part of the article!

From Cluj-Napoca to Budva there are almost 1000 kilometers, covered in approximately 14 hours without stopping, according to Google Maps. The best route for us was through Timisoara and then Serbia: Timisoara - Foeni customs - Belgrade - Cacak - Uzice - Podgorica - Budva. We crossed the border through the Foeni customs, it is a less busy customs than the Moravita customs, with the disadvantage that it is only open between 8 am and 8 pm.

Of course, depending on the starting point in Romania, other routes can be chosen, with an exit through Portile de Fier or Calafat customs.

As road taxes, in Serbia and in Montenegro there are no vignettes, but you need to pay for the highways. You can pay directly by card.

For 120 km of highway in Serbia, between Belgrade and Cacak, we paid 5 euro
In Montenegro, for 40 km on the A1 highway before Podgorica, we paid 3.5 euros

In Serbia we refueled from OMV gas stations, and in Montenegro from EKO.

What is worth mentioning here is that in Montenegro we met a lot of radars. The speed limits in Serbia and Montenegro are 130 km/h on the highway, 100 km/h on expressways, 80 km/h outside the cities, 50 km/h in the cities.

Make sure, before you set off, that you have valid car insurance for Serbia and Montenegro!

What to do in Montenegro - daily itinerary

Montenegro, although it is not a large country, has many tourist attractions that are worth visiting. One week was not enough for us to discover them all, that's why we tried to reach those tourist spots that seemed the most attractive to us. We stayed more in the sea area, but Montenegro is a country that offers a lot of activities in the mountain area as well.

We somewhat divided our vacation into two parts: the first days we spent in the Budva area, the main seaside part of the country, exploring the eastern half of the coast. In the second part of our holiday we wanted to visit the location considered the most beautiful in Montenegro, namely Kotor and the bay with the same name.

Day 0 – Departure to Montenegro

We left Cluj-Napoca on Friday afternoon, spent the night in Timisoara, and at 8 in the morning we set off for Montenegro. We crossed Serbia and arrived in Budva in the evening, after 19:00.

We had this accommodation in Becici, 3 minutes from the beach and a 20-minute walk along the seafront to Budva: Apartment Ivanovic Family.

Day 1 – Budva

Budva

On the first day we stayed in Budva, we explored the city, the seafront, the beaches and all the points of interest in the city: the historical center consisting of an old fortress, the church of St. Ivan, the Citadel or the sculpture of the Ballerina.

Budva also has a long beach, surrounded by a very lively seafront, with many open-air restaurants or terraces. Budva is also considered the entertainment capital of the country, having a very vibrant night life.

Budva also has an elegant port, from where anyone can take a boat and go to Sveti Nikola, the island located off the coast of the city.

We spent half of the day visiting the city of Budva, and after lunch we had a little time left to enjoy the beach.

If you want to know more about what you can do in Budva, I recommend you also read this article: Budva - 8 Things to Do on the Montenegro Coast.

Day 2 – Sveti Stefan, Petrovac, Stari Bar, Ulcinj

On the second day, we took the car and started exploring other resort towns on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.

Sveti Stefan

Located 8 km from Budva, the island of Sveti Stefan is a symbol of Montenegro. Unfortunately, the island cannot be visited freely, a luxury resort operates here, where only hotel guests are allowed to enter the island.

But we admired the island from distance. There are many panoramic points from where Sveti Stefan can be seen, you can find stopping points including on the main road.

Petrovac

Petrovac seemed to me to be a small, but very chic resort. It offers the perfect combination between the beach, the clear sea and the rocks that seem to rise directly from the water. Petrovac. Aceasta ofera combinatia perfecta intre plaja, marea limpede si stancile ce par a rasari direct din apa.

A point of attraction here is the castle, located on the right side of the beach. Visitors can visit the towers and walls of this old castle for free, and the views are wonderful.

Stari Bar

Stari Bar, or the old Bar, is a ruined town located near the modern seaside town of Bar. Located on the hills, far from the sea, it dates back to the Middle Ages, once being an important commercial center.

Today, Stari Bar is an attraction for tourists, especially because of the medieval air felt here: you find a fortress with walls that have stood the test of time, cobbled streets and with a very different atmosphere from the rest of the towns by the sea, it brings a lot with a mountain town.

Ulcinj

Ulcinj seems like a different city comparing with the others in this country. Located close to the border with Albania and home to the largest Albanian community in Montenegro, in Ulcinj you can see the influences brought from its neighbours.

Here we visited the castle, which still preserves the architectural charm of the past and offers wonderful views of the sea.

Perhaps the most important thing of this city is its beach. After Ulcinj begins the most beautiful beach in Montenegro, from my point of view: a 13 km long beach, with yellow and very fine sand.

Day 3 – Becici Beach

Day three was all about relaxing. We spent the whole day at the beach near the accommodation, Becici beach. We enjoyed the sea, the sun and the wonderful landscapes from this place, with the rocks that surrounded the entire beach area.

Am servit masa la Azzuro Restaurant & Beach Bar, un loc pe care vi-l recomandam si voua, daca ajungeti prin zona.

Day 4 – Skadar Lake

Skadar Lake

On day 4 we left Budva and went to Skadar Lake. Skadar Lake is the largest lake in the Balkans and it stretches between Montenegro and Albania.

The lake impressed us with its beauty, its surroundings, its rich vegetation, biodiversity and landscapes.

If you get here, I definitely recommend uou to take a boat ride on the lake. For this you have to get to the Lake Skadar National Park Visitors Centre, where a small tourist town has been set up, where merchants offer different boat trips. There are several options you can choose from: 2, 3, 4 or 5 hour tours or by private boat. For example, a 2-hour boat ride costs 15 euros/person, or a private boat costs 30 euros/hour + 5 euros/person lake tax.

We chose a private tour for an hour and a half. The boat cost us 45 euros, and another 5 euros per person for the lake tax. We found another couple with whom to share the boat and the costs, so the final price was 32.5 euros / 2 people / 1.5 hours.

Also here, if you want to have a panoramic look over the lake, you can climb up to the fortress on the hill. I don't recommend going inside, you will have to pay an entrance fee of 2.5 euros if you don't want to serve the meal. But you will have the same beautiful panorama on the way there.

Pavlova Strana Viewpoint

From Skadar Lake we decided to go by car to the Pavlova Stranapanoramic point. We had to deviate a little from the main road, but the view was wonderful, and I would say it is one of the most instagrammable places in Montenegro.

If you come here, I advise you to avoid the direct road between this point and the M2.3 national road. It is dangerous, narrow and steep.

In the evening we arrived in Kotor, where we stayed at Apartments Jovana.

Day 5 – Kotor

Kotor

We spent the next day in Kotor. If the time spent in Budva was for us like a holiday at the seaside, with the same atmosphere that we encountered in any other tourist resort, the city of Kotor is more of a place to visit and admire.

The Bay of Kotor is considered the jewel of Montenegro. It is a very beautiful geographical area, a bay very similar to a fjord.

And Kotor is a very well-preserved citadel-city, and very touristy, by the way. It reminded me a lot of Dubrovnik, the nearby Croatian city: the same high walls, the same street labyrinths inside the fortress and the same beautiful landscapes over the Adriatic Sea.

Just like in Dubrovnik, here you can also walk on the walls of the fortress, with the difference that here you don't have to pay an entrance ticket for the walls.

Another point of interest here is the fortress, which you can reach by climbing the hill behind the fortress. The entrance ticket costs 8 euros if you start directly from the fortress, being the fastest way to go up. Another route, for which you do not have to pay a ticket, but which is longer, starts from here, also called the Ladder of Kotor.

In addition to the old town, in Kotor it is also pleasant to walk outside the walls, on the beach by the sea. From the accommodation to the center we had to walk about 2 kilometers, but having only the seafront, it was a real pleasure to walk the whole distance, admiring the beautiful landscapes that surrounded us.

If you want to know more about Kotor and what you can do here, I also recommend this article: Kotor, the Pearl of Montenegro - 7 Things You Can Do in Kotor.

Day 6 – Boat ride in Kotor Bay, Tivat

By boat to Blue Cave

We started the day with a boat ride in the Bay of Kotorfor 3 hours. We wanted to get to the Blue Cave, a highlight of this area, a cave carved directly into the rock, big enough for boats to pass through

We started the trip from Kotor, the boat came after us, at the point we chose (opposite the accommodation), and on the route we also visited other interesting sights, such as the artificial island Our Lady of the Rocks in front of the city of Perast, we admired from the sea the cities of Perast, Tivat, Herceg Novi or various tunnels used during the Second World War. Arriving at the Blue Cave, here we had the opportunity to swim in the water for 10-20 minutes.

For such a trip we paid 30 euros / person.

Tivat

10 km from Kotor is Tivat, the city with an international airport and port for cruise ships.

The port area of Porto Montenegro is extremely elegant, it reminded me of Monaco and the opulence found there, through the lens of numerous luxury boats and very expensive brand stores.

The seafront is very nice and beautifully landscaped, if you arrive in Kotor I recommend you to visit Tivat and to go for a short walk in Porto Montenegro.

We parked the car in a private parking lot near the center, for which we paid 0.5 euro/hour.

Day 7 – Durmitor National Park, Tara Canyon

The last day was also the day of returning home. Starting from Kotor, we decided to change the route a little, through Niksic, to be able to pass through parts of Montenegro that we hadn't been able to visit yet.

We thus passed through Durmitor, the national park included in the UNESCO list, located on a plateau located at a height of 1500 meters above the sea. I had the chance to drive through some fascinating places that really took my breath away. The road is good, it is a national road, but with many serpentines and ups and downs. But the landscapes were beautiful, I would definitely have regretted it if we hadn't chosen this route.

Also on our way we passed the famous bridge over the Tara canyon, another symbolic image of Montenegro.

In Serbia we went on the same route as before.

Where to stay in Montenegro

We decided to divide our trip in two: in the first part we visited Budva and the nearby locations, and in the second part we explored the Bay of Kotor.

The first accommodation was in Becici, the town near Budva. We chose this city because it was much quieter than Budva, we had immediate access to the beach in Becici, we had a parking space secured at the accommodation, and it was a 20-minute walk to Budva, along the seafront.

This was our accommodation, which I further recommend: Apartment Ivanovic Family. For this accommodation we paid 50 euros/night in June 2023.

In Kotor we had this accommodation, for which we paid 60 euros / night: Apartments Jovana.

What to eat in Montenegro

Montenegro has a local cuisine similar to that of their Balkans neighbours, with recipes that are mainly based on meat, such as cevapcici (similar to Romania's mici) or pljeskavica.

In addition to traditional restaurants, you can find in Montenegro numerous Mediterranean restaurants, which serve dishes based on fish or seafood, but also with international food.

Among the places where we ate and we found it good, I will mention the following:

Becici: Azzuro Restaurant & Beach Bar
Kotor: Konoba Scala Santa, Tiha Noc , Dobrotski Dvori, Konoba Bonaca
Stari Bar: Restaurant Kaldrma
Skadar Lake: Konoba Demidžana
Tivat: Caffe Pizzeria Roma

The prices for food on the terraces are not high, at least for the usual dishes, such as pizza, pasta, burgers. For a meal in the city we paid up to around 25 euros / 2 people, and for a breakfast 10-15 euros / 2 people.

On the other hand, traditional or fish dishes can reach quite high prices, from 20 euros upwards.

How much did our vacation in Montenegro cost?

As a conclusion after a week spent here, I can tell you that Montenegro is not an expensive country. At least, not as expensive as Croatia, the neighboring country.

Accommodation - In June, for 50-60 euros per night, we found very nice apartments in Kotor and near Budva, with all the facilities: near the beach, with parking place, very clean and quiet.

Food - A meal at restaurant cost around 25-30 euros / 2 people, and a breakfast served on the terrace around 10 euros / 2 people. Having an apartment, we ate many times at the accommodation. We also used food delivery applications several times, and the prices here were considerably lower than at the restaurant (for example, a portion of burger with fries - 7 euros).