By admin A small Balkan country bordering the Adriatic Sea, Montenegro has become a tourism hot spot in recent years. While not as well-known as nearby Croatia and Greece, the country is much more popular with international travelers than, say, Albania. When Reuben and I started discussing a road trip along the Adriatic Sea in summer 2021, I insisted that we had to visit Montenegro. It had been on my list for years, and while Reuben had been before, he had only spent a day there while on a cruise (not his usual travel style, for the record).
Deciding on an Itinerary
Even though Montenegro is small enough that you can comfortably drive across the entire nation north to south (or west to east) in a day, I realized that there is plenty do when researching our itinerary–it easily warrants a week. We had six days in the country, but still didn’t get to see everything that we would have liked. The coastline along the Adriatic is dramatically beautiful; Herceg Novi and Sveti Stefan are home to the ultra-luxury resorts such as the brand new One&Only Porto Novi and Aman Sveti Stefan, uniquely located on a private island. Other popular beach towns are Budva, Bar and Ulcinj, offering more reasonable accommodations from hostels to boutique hotels to four-star resorts.
Visiting the fjord-like Bay of Kotor is another must–I highly recommend slowly driving around the entire bay and stopping in the charming old towns of Kotor and Perast (or better yet, staying in one of the boutique hotels in the area).
If you want a break from the beach, Skadar Lake and Durmitor National Parks offer more rugged experiences in nature. Skadar Lake is in the southwest of the country, close to the border with Albania (in fact, Skadar Lake is the same as Albania’s Shkodër Lake–the two countries just use their own pronunciation). Meanwhile, Durmitor is in the north, closer to Bosnia. I would have loved to visit Durmitor, but it would have been an extra three hours of driving each way. After a rather hectic itinerary in Albania, we both looked forward to slowing down a bit in Montenegro. Next time!
Our Final Itinerary
- Day 1 – Bar
- This stop was honestly a last minute decision. We had left one day open in our itinerary between Albania and Montenegro as we weren’t sure what we’d feel like doing after completing the Valbona-Theth hike. Well, it turns out we were ready to lie on the beach, so we found Dulamerovic Resort, a brand new hotel located south of the town of Bar and just an hour drive from Shkodër, Albania. It wasn’t a problem to book a room last minute at the waterfront property.
- Days 2-3 – Skadar Lake (Virpazar)
- Then, it was back inland to visit Skadar Lake National Park. We spent two nights at the charming Eco Resort Cermeniza, a small family-run property located on a winery. Here you can ride bicycles, kayak, relax by the pool and taste the local wine.
- Days 4-6 – Sveti Stefan
- This was our opportunity to ball out at the end of our trip. While the aforementioned Aman had closed for the season due to the pandemic, we found the luxurious boutique Villa Geba that offered picturesque views of the private island and surrounding coastline. When not lounging in your incredible suite or by the pool, you can visit Lovcen National Park and the Bay of Kotor.
Road-Tripping and Crossing the Albania-Montenegro Border
One word of advice if you’re visiting either of these countries: rent a car and drive yourself around. Just do it. The scenic vistas from the road were some of the most breathtaking I’d ever seen, and the curvy routes were really fun to drive along. It wasn’t intimidating to drive in either Albania or Montenegro; much of the time we were on winding two-lane roads, and the only thing that bothered me was getting stuck behind a slow driver.
Like much of Europe, many of the cars still have manual transmissions, so be sure to book an automatic if you don’t drive stick. We reserved an SUV through Europcar that we picked up and dropped off at the Tirana airport, which was very straightforward. Looking back, we would have been fine with a sedan, but we thought we might be driving on a treacherous road in Albania’s Theth National Park, so wanted to be prepared.
This was only the second time that I drove a rental car across international borders, which requires some extra paperwork and money. Reuben was just sure to tell Europcar that we planned to visit Montenegro when we picked up the car; they provided us with an INTERPOL report certifying that the car was not stolen and charged us an additional fee for insurance. When we got to the border, we just showed the agent our paperwork along with our passports. He walked into an office for a couple minutes, returned everything to us, and waved us through. SO much easier than our experience crossing from Malawi to Zambia!
Staying at Dulamerovic Resort
I honestly wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to stay at Dulamerovic, but it was fine for us as a convenient coastal stop on our free day. The pros? Expansive private waterfront, incredible views, easy place to stop between Shkodër (one hour drive) and Virpazar (45 minute drive). The cons? Very family friendly with lots of kids, aloof service, cheap-feeling rooms and decor. All that being said, the price was affordable at ~$200/night.
After checking in we drove to a nearby market to pick up wine and snacks, but otherwise hung out at the resort the entire time, lounging by the sea (the infinity pool was lovely, but packed with loud kids), reading, watching the sunset, and attempting to get the Olympics on TV as the Tokyo Summer Games had just started, albeit a year late. Unfortunately, no luck. Another strike against Dulamerovic.
The beach at Dulamerovic was rocky, but that’s no different than almost anywhere else in Europe. I did find myself wishing I had bought a floaty when we were back in Albania so I would have an option other than treading water or standing on the sharp rocks when I wanted to get in the sea.
Visiting Skadar Lake and Staying at Eco Resort Cermeniza
Next up, our first planned stop in Montenegro. We had “splurged” on the premium suite at the four room Eco Resort Cermeniza: Villa Bouquet. Our private cabin featured a hot tub (that we didn’t use–too hot outside), a pizza oven (also didn’t use–too lazy), several outdoor seating areas, and a large living room with a kitchenette (we did use that one night!) All for just €120/night.
Check-in was a bit confusing as we arrived early, just as another couple was also arriving. The live-in manager was quite sweet, but she didn’t speak English very well and seemed flustered that two sets of guests had arrived simultaneously–and several hours before official check-in time. Fortunately, both rooms were ready and we eventually got settled.
The resort offered bikes to guests for no charge, so we took a couple to ride into town and explore (less than a ten minute ride). The town itself was pretty touristic, but felt charming and old, and it was small enough to walk through easily. We found a restaurant (actually a boat converted to a dining establishment on the lake) for lunch. Now that we were in Montenegro, I was hopeful that the food would be better than in Albania–or at least different. However, I found myself eating a lot of the same items: grilled vegetables, seafood, simple salads with tomatoes, cheese and olives.
I stuck to a light lunch that afternoon as we had planned to eat a traditional Montenegrin multi-course dinner back at the resort. The manager served us on our terrace, which was great until all the local stray cats saw we were getting food and started to stalk us. As pitiful as the poor creatures looked, I knew that the resort did not want us to feed them, as it would just create a bigger begging problem. I eventually realized that tossing water close to where the cats were standing would scare them away without actually harming them. But ugh, I still felt sorry for them.
After a delightful dinner, we settled in to our “villa” for a second night of attempting to watch the Olympics. And this time, success! Score for Cermeniza. Of course, the only events being broadcast on TV were the ones that Montenegro was competing in–so we watched water polo and handball. I honestly hadn’t even realized that handball was a sport (especially not an Olympic one), so it was interesting to try to figure out the rules of the game.
For our only full day in Virpazar, we of course wanted to get out on the lake. You can book guided boat tours, either private or with groups, but we decided to kayak by ourselves instead. Reuben wanted to go first thing in the morning before the lake got crowded (honestly it never got too crowded), which ended up working out well because it was supposed to get really hot later in the day, close to 100F.
This time we decided to drive into town, then picked up our kayak under the bridge. When we told the salesperson for the boat company that we wanted to go out at 7am, he told us nobody would be working that early, but it was fine to take the kayak and then pay him when we got back. So trusting! We both felt a bit odd getting in a kayak that obviously wasn’t ours, but the two other people out and about at that hour of course didn’t care or even notice.
Back on land we decided to check out the castle at the top of the small hill in town. It seemed too steep (and hot) to bike, so I insisted that we go up with the car.
Next we hit up the market in town as we wanted to cook dinner using our kitchenette that evening. I always find it entertaining to shop in foreign supermarkets, trying to figure out what different items are and cobbling together an appetizing meal. We ended up with pasta and veggies as it was difficult to be too creative with our limited kitchen supplies.
We had one last activity for our final evening in Virpazar: a tasting of the family-produced wines back at Cermeniza. The owner’s grandson, who had to be in his late 20s but already had a child of his own, brought all of us guests into the wine cellar. He led us through an amusing tasting of four wines, regaling us with family anecdotes and stories of Montenegro’s history (he was very proud to be Montenegrin). The wines honestly weren’t really my taste: very big and bold and what Reuben would describe as “jaggedy.” Oh well. Afterwards it was time for our cooking adventure and more Olympics.
Staying at Villa Geba in Sveti Stefan
Our last stop in Montenegro would also be the nicest, and our longest stay (three nights). A member of Small Luxury Hotels, Villa Geba features just four suites and one four bedroom villa that I believe can also be rented out as individual rooms. We had stayed in all kinds of accommodations throughout our time in Albania and Montenegro, and I looked forward to enjoying an upscale experience to cap off our trip.
It was just a 45 minute drive from Virpazar to Sveti Stefan and once again, the views were glorious. I kept making Reuben pull over so I could take pictures and videos of the spectacular vistas–first, winding through the mountains over the lake, then curving back down toward the sea. We decided to stop for lunch at one of the cliffside restaurants overlooking the Adriatic since we had time to kill before check-in time at Villa Geba.
We still arrived early at the hotel, and our room wasn’t quite ready, so they treated us to some welcome Champagne and sat us down on the terrace.
Then they showed us to our room: the Elena Suite. A massive two bedroom, two bathroom space, the suite was much larger than what we needed, but I would take it. The best part was the open floor plan kitchen/living/dining room with expansive views of the sea. The entire suite was impeccably designed with sexy black walls and subtle gold accents.
Dinner that night was at a restaurant recommended by Villa Geba: Casa Mia. Our mussels appetizer was delicious, but neither of us found our shared octopus entree appetizing. In fact, Reuben later called it the most disgusting dish he has eaten in recent history. The sunset views were amazing though.
The next day we decided to tear ourselves away from Villa Geba and the Elena Suite for some activities: first, visiting Lovcen National Park, then driving down to Kotor and slowly driving all the way around Kotor Bay (with a couple stops) before returning to Sveti Stefan.
Mount Lovcen is actually known locally as “Crna Gora,” which translates to “Black Mountain,” and was the inspiration for Montenegro’s modern name (which also translates to Black Mountain).
There are a number of outdoor activities you can do at Lovcen: cycling, hiking, zip-lining and more. However, we were somewhat limited on time and mainly wanted to experience the eye-popping views, thrilling roads and a handful of sites.
After the mausoleum, we drove back down the mountain toward Kotor, as we had heard the route boasted more unbelievable views.
We drove through Kotor, but decided not to stop, as it seemed pretty crowded and Reuben had been once before. Instead we decided to check out the more quaint and charming town of Perast.
After lunch we drove on to the ferry to cross the bay and head south through Tivat and back toward Sveti Stefan. It was quick and easy to get on the ferry, as the crossing was short, and multiple boats were constantly running from one bank to the other.
Back at Villa Geba, we decided to enjoy dinner in the comfort of our suite since we had been out all day. While we could have ordered room service, we also had a kitchen, so we made ourselves an antipasti plate with our findings from the nearby market, then picked up a pizza from across the street. And of course wine. Although I hadn’t been a fan of the Montenegrin wine at Cermeniza, we enjoyed a number of the other Balkan wines that we tried throughout our visit.
Oh, and one unique feature of our suite that I forgot to mention earlier: it had an amazing high-end sound system. Subwoofer, speakers in every room, Bluetooth connectivity. It took us a while to figure out how to connect to the receiver, but once we did we discovered “Party Mode” and knew how we’d be spending the night. Dance party, obviously.
The plan for our last full day at Villa Geba was full-on chill mode. The only thing we had to do was drive into nearby Budva to get COVID tests before returning to the U.S., which took less than an hour roundtrip. Reuben had developed a scratchy throat and dry cough at the end of our trip, so we were both a bit nervous to get the results, but we were thankfully both negative. Phew. Then it was time to head to the pool.
Side note: lest you think that Montenegro is some undiscovered destination, we (Reuben in particular) were astonished by how crowded the public beaches were along the busy stretch around Budva. There were literally umbrellas packed into every available spot.
Our final Montenegrin dinner was at Pastrovica Dvori, a family-owned restaurant with more incredible sunset views. Rather than ask the hotel for a recommendation this time, I listened to Reuben and we found the restaurant ourselves (based on online reviews–we didn’t exactly stumble upon the place). The food was fine and the scene was quite entertaining, as the owner kept coming over to chat with us and share his views on Albanians, Russians, Americans, etc. It was rather embarrassing when we realized that they didn’t take credit cards and we were short on euros to pay the bill. Fortunately for everyone, they were understanding and let us come back the following morning to pay the remainder of what we owed. I’m not sure what they would have thought about Reuben’s dishwashing skills had it come to that!
We had one last dance party back in the room (I may have started jumping on the sofa), but then had to say goodbye to Villa Geba and Montenegro the following morning.
Overall, I found Montenegro to be stunningly beautiful, and the hospitality was generally quite warm and welcoming. It was nice to have a wider variety of accommodations than were available in Albania, although both countries offered road trip experiences that I’d argue are amongst the best in the world. I’d love to return to see more of Montenegro as well as more of the Balkans–hopefully sooner rather than later!
