Montenegro?

[kkelly82]

Hi. Has anyone been to Montenegro on holiday or has lived there and can recommend particular areas to holiday with an 11 and 9 year old? We’re looking at going in July or August. Also any hints and tips for holiday makers there? TIA.

I have. We loved it. Stayed in Muo at the Kotor Vista apartments, it was walking distance to Kotor with a lovely pool and great views. There are quite a few apartments on the complex on VRBO and booking.com. We flew into Dubrovnik and hired a car from there. I wouldbt recommend that as getting back over the border was stressful and we nearly missed our plane. We enjoyed beach days at Rose, walked up to the old fort, and had a boat trip to the island with a church on. We also visited Budva which was quite Russian . Our friends have recently holidayed at the iberostar at hercig novi and enjoyed that very much too. Our kids were a similar age to yours and really enjoyed it. The old town of Kotor was so charming, we ate out there a lot and it was lovely.

@Chittering thank you so much. This is all really helpful and I’m glad you loved Montenegro. It certainly looks beautiful from the internet! I have seen the hotel your friends stayed at so it’s good to know they rated it. Apart from hiring a car, what other ways are there to get across from Dubrovnik? Do you know what the public transport is like?

I would very much recommend using Tivat as your airport (or Podgorica) rather than Dubrovnik.

The border crossing from Montenegro to Croatia and vice versa is terrible in those months - up to 8 hours wait last summer - with 5 hours being a common wait.

There is the option to get a taxi from Dubrovnik airport then public transport from Herceg Novi after that. (There is done weird embargo on taxis from Montenegro crossing the border right now).

Just to let you know the area is gorgeous, but the beaches around Boka Bay are generally small and stony, or it's swimming off a small jetty. There are sandy beaches at Budva and Becici but they're resorts I don't particularly rate (larger and brasher and not as charming as Kotor). There are sandy beaches further up the coast towards Albania - eg Ulcinj, but I don't know about these.

Kotor does have a lot of cruise ships (some enormous) visiting. It pays not to go into Kotor Old Town during the times the passengers have just disembarked.

I would say there is not so much for children to do, however that's not to say they would not enjoy it.

We have and loved it. However, we did a road trip before we had kids. My suggestion would be to have a base in nearby Croatia and then go over the border for a day trip to Montenegro.

We stayed in Petrovac on a walking holiday. I really liked it. What I wasn't prepared for was how poor areas of it were. Away from the tourist areas there were many people still just scrapping a living on the land and selling refreshments to passing hikers, Although that was around 10 years ago. The history is fascinating as well - it is a much invaded nation.

@ItsReallyOnlyMe Thank you that’s really helpful to know about the issues with crossing the broader in summer. I think we can fly from Manchester into Tivat so that sounds like the better option.
Thanks also for the information on different areas. I think on balance we would prefer a sandy beach but had read that they can get very busy in the summer months.

@Lovetotravel123 Thank you for commenting. Would you suggest that because there’s more to do in Croatia with children? Montenegro is looking like a much cheaper option. I now wish we’d gone to Croatia before it became so popular!

@kkelly82 I expect the sandy beaches would be busy as it's peak holiday time.

The resort you choose really depends what you as family would like to do on holiday. There are sandy beaches around and you can stay in the Boka area and drive to these or alternatively place yourself near them. If you have a pool at your accommodation then you may find you don't need the beach so much.

Other things you can do in the region with children

• Lake Skadar boat trip. There is the option to dive off the boat if your children are good enough swimmers.

• Hike up to the fortress from Kotor Old Town. It's very popular - go very early or late to avoid the crowds.

• Drive up Serpentine road for breathtaking views (but not an easy drive - lots of hairpin drives)

• Sveti Stefan for the views of this resort. There is a beach here too, but to gain access to the island you have to stay or eat a meal at the resort.

• Budva Old Town is nice

• Perast is lovely, and you can get a boat trip to the small island

• I've actually rented a speedboat (with driver to go around Boka Bay with visit to the island). This was £100 in about 2018. The children would enjoy this one I'm sure !

• There are kayaks to hire on Boka Bay - they are two person ones available so you could take 1 child each.

Drive up to the north of Montenegro- you will probably need to stay overnight. Montenegro looks small but the roads make the journey long. There is the Tara Canyon up there which you can zip line across, or there's rafting up there too. Kolasin, Durmator are all nice areas to visit.

Do you like cats ? There are loads, particularly in Kotor. The charity Kotor Kitties is working hard to raise funds to sterilise as many as possible.

A word of warning - the traffic around the Boka Bay and the road to Budva is bad during the summer. Just the weight of cars make journeys quite slow.

In response to your question, I think it would be good for older and outdoorsy kids. For young ones I think Croatia might be better. It’s an amazing place and so interesting in the mountains, but it depends on whether that is right for your family at present.

I have stayed at the Iberostar Bellevue near Budva which is an amazing hotel. Montenegro I found quite edgy - tourism seemed quite a new concept so not massively organised in places. Budva old town is lovely. It was very hot in August - beware!

Marking place! Sounds lovely and I will add to my ever growing holiday wish list.

@ItsReallyOnlyMe All really useful. Thank you for pin pointing a few landmarks and places to visit. We’re all good with cats. I had read somewhere else about the stray cat problem! I don’t think this will put us off.

@Padamae That’s all great to know especially about Kotor being nice as that’s where we’re thinking of staying. Good to know you didn’t wait long at the broader. We think we’ll fly into Tivat but may go and visit Croatia for the day.
Fairly quiet and chilled sounds good to me! I haven’t asked this yet of any other poster but did you feel safe there? Just read a few things about there being lots of beggars and pick pocketers especially in Kotor. I guess it’s to be expected in tourist areas but wondered how true it was.

@Padamae That’s great to know - thank you. We’re thinking of hiring a car to visit the places you mentioned and other places too so it’s also good to know that driving is easy there too.

Does anyone have experience of the weather around April time? We like going places out of season so long as it's not constant rain. Mild temperatures are fine. Preferable really.

We went this May and stayed in Herceg Novi. It was very rainy, some days were heavy rain. The whole of that side of Europe was the same however so it was unusual for that time of year. The temperature was fine, cardy at night time. As it wasn’t busy it was pleasant to walk around. Some shops snd restaurants were closed as the summer season only begins in mid May but still lots of choice. Friendly people who are very welcoming and a beautiful country. We would go again at that time as apparently it gets to 50 degrees in August and the roads are very busy and slow.
We were lucky to have chosen a hotel with an indoor pool and spa so could relax there when not out and about, so that may be a tip if you do go in April time.

Ah ok thanks 😊 that's really helpful.

Hi @kkelly82 . Did you go to Montenegro?

I'm planning a trip this summer. Flying to Dubrovnik from Scotland and staying in Tivat.

According to reviews on Trip Advisor there's a larger and smaller border crossing between Croatia and Montenegro and the smaller one is quieter. I'm hoping this is the case.

Also wondering about getting a train or bus.

@mibbelucieachwell Yes I did go! Flew into Tivat so I don’t know anything about the boarding crossing another than I know there is one. If you’re staying in Tivat then you should definitely visit Kotor old town and the little beaches around the bay - they’re beautiful! If you carry on that coastline there’s lots of other little towns and beaches that are very traditional (food also is cheaper). We also went to plavi horizonti beach which we liked but I wasn’t a fan of the beaches in Budva - way to busy in the summer!

Thank you very much for the tips. Especially about the busy beaches -I grew up near quiet (chilly) beaches in Scotland so I really appreciate the info about quieter beaches.

@mibbelucieachwell

The beaches around Kotor bay are utterly charming, but small and stony (they are however preferable to Budva in my opinion).

Getting from Dubrovnik airport by public transport is tricky, and the border crossing wait can be long at times.

There is good information here www.montenegropulse.com/dubrovnik-airport-to-montenegro.html and this link also gives another link to the border crossing information and potential ferry to Budva.

The wait can be many hours long at peak times. The smaller border crossing may well be a bit quieter - look at Google Maps traffic to gauge on the day. Or look at the web cam links - which should be in the border crossing section of the above link.

Another option is using the ferry from Dubrovnik to Budva. This did operate in 2024 for the first time - check nearer the time for 2025. You would need to get a bus to Dubrovnik but it would cut out the border wait.

Travel tips much appreciated. Thank you ☺️
I'm in Scotland in the midst of red weather warning atm. Roll on the summer .

Adding a few more tips:

• it took us 10 hours to cross the border from Montenegro to Croatia and with children in the car it's not so much fun , so better to leave very early in the morning (like 4am) or cross late at night (11pm)
• we went there in summer and absolutely loved staying in the mountains . Be aware that Tivat is very hot and crowded in summer. for us it was too busy and hot so we went up to the mountains where the weather is just perfect. The mountains and the national parks are so relaxed and beautiful.
• we stayed in small huts rather than in big hotel, it's a much nicer experience with kids (and cheaper).
• our friends went to a cool family summer camp near the Durmitor national park and loved it https://www.shalanature.com/ , it's about 2.5 hours drive from Tivat.
• If you do want to stick to the coastline Bar is a small and beautiful town that we really enjoyed.