Montenegro - anyone been?

[puffling]

We will be going next month. Anyone want to report what they did, what they liked etc.?
We're also going to an island off Dubrovnik.

where in Montenegro? I Know it very well ( been there at least 20 times) so if you give me the name of the place I can tgive you more info

Brilliant, didn't think I'd get a reply. We're staying in Kotor, will be driving there from Dubrovnik. Would like to visit Cetinje, but have heard the road there from Kotor is a bit hair raising.
Where would you recommend we visit for day trips? Also, is it true that police may impose a random tax as you enter the country?

Kotor is beautiful, that would be my choice too :-)however the beaches in town aren't child friendly, as you will have a car you will have a lot of flexibility ( as montenegro is tiny. KOtyor itself has a lot of things to see, St Trifun Cathedral, St Nikola church, the whole of the Old city is fantastic, just wandering around little cobbled streets is great. If you are in Kotor in august there is a festival called 'Bokeljska noc'that is a great for and it turns into a big whole night party ;)a bit further from Kotor, well worth a visit is an all venetian town Perast and from there you can go to two little islands , with two churches on them St Georgie and Gospa od skrpjela. Herceg Novi is another town within the fjord - towards dubrovnik that very popular summer destination and nice to visit. from there you can take a boat to 'Morda Spilja@ the blue cave- with the most amazing blue colour of sea. As for the beaches the nice ones are Lucice,Perazica Do, Drobni pijesak, Sveti Stefan, Milocer, Kraljicina plaza, Mogren, Plavi horizonti, Bigovo, Zanjice
If you have any more questions please ask

Thanks so much for your reply Nat, will print it off.
DP is a bit nervous because it's not our usual Spain/France sort of holiday. Is it generally safe there?

Hi

We were in Montenegro last summer. It is very safe there.

We stayed in Dobrota so not too far from Kotor. My husband did the walk up above Kotor to the castle walls (hard work in the heat) but worth it.

As previously mentioned the beaches around the fjord tend to be very shallow bits of beach/rocky jetties that get very busy. We preferred to go round the other side (bit more holidayish) as found Dobrota a bit residential. So places such as Stoliv and Prcanj (pronounced kind of perchan).

If you've got small children then somewhere that we went to a few times was UVALA PLOCE (near Budva). Doesn't look much in photos etc. but is quite nice there. It's a series of swimming/paddling pools over a hillside leading down to a beach. Great success with my toddler - restaurant to hand and my son went down to the beach.

Budva old town is nice for a wander around too. Also the Lovcen National Park is well worth a visit - stunning. Can't say I'd bother going to Centinje again though. It's a very long drive and not much there - a faded Venetian kind of sleepy Corfu type of town. The drive up the mountainside is well worth it for the views but the bit over to Centinje then takes a fair bit longer and not worth it in my opinion.

Perast is gorgeous - particularly nice to visit for an evening meal on a punta.

For proper beaches you need to head to the Adriatic coast (only about 15/20 mins drive really from Kotor).

An expensive but special restaurant not too far from Kotor is Stari Mlini near to Perast which is a fish specialist restaurant and is a stunning old building and surroundings. You sit in amongst small streams and ponds with your potential dinner swimming around you with views over the fjord.

A pleasant family restaurant with friendly service and traditional old stone decor etc. is Fork and Spoon (in Serbian Pirun i Ozica)which is in Dobrota.

Any other questions let me know.

Just also noticed your queries about the police - just like anywhere else civilised they'll stop you, but only if you are doing something wrong (speeding, no headlights on as they must be on at all times etc), but not otherwise.

It can be slow going across the border, not because of weight of traffic but just because everything happens at Montenegrin speed - i.e. slowly!

The people are generally very friendly, most speak very good English, especially the younger generations and they like the English.

You'll see young kids out and about at all times, playing, chatting etc and you soon realise that this is a very laid back and safe environment.

I hope you enjoy your trip, we certainly did.

Oh and another thing! Although I mentioned the beaches around Dobrota/Stoliv ie. fjord area are smallish don't underestimate their appeal.

We visited lots of gorgeous beaches while staying in Montenegro but both my kids were always keen where ever we went to get back "home" to the fjord as they would say! They absolutely loved splashing around in it as the water is so calm etc with the stunning mountains all around you and it feels so safe.

We had to drag them away from the fjord for the days out to the various beaches as they were happiest right where we were!

Thanks Kettlechips for lots of brilliant info. like the sound of the paddling pools going down to the beach.

I have to agree don't bother with Cetinje, there is plenty to do and see by the coast. Personally I do not like Budva and surrounding villages ( but thats personal preference). Boka ( the fjord) is much nicer and people are friendlier But it's safe everywhere

I've never been but I did do some editing of walking guides in the National Parks and they sounded amazing. Odd job I know, they had been translated into English and I had to correct the English, to this day I fear that the end result will be alot of people getting lost! Have a google for their National Parks website.

If you want to go a bit more inland Durmitor mountain, Crno Jezero ( a lake on that mountain) are beautiful or you can go and see river Tara