Montenegro recommendedations

[creamcheeseandlox]

Don't know much about the country so looking for recommendations of resorts. Kotor, budva? Villa/apartment near a beach and ideally a pool in august. What are the different towns like? We want a mix of relaxing but also exploring places a car. Two teens 13&15. TIA

I really like the look of Montenegro. I haven't been yet, so can't offer any advice I'm afraid.
Hope you get some feedback.

I loved Montenegro. We did a few days hiking in Zabljak and then down to an apartment in the Myo area of Kotor. Budva old town is nice but in general it has a more over-touristed vibe with newer ugly buildings. I would say Kotor is a better choice, although the sea isn't that nice to swim because of the cruise ships etc (if that's important for you). Perast could be an option? It's quieter but lovely and you could still explore other places by car.

We stayed in Kotor at the Hyatt regency and enjoyed our stay. The beach was limited ( small and stoney) but the views were incredible. The area between the hotel and kotor old town was beautiful to look at and I wish we had time to explore more.

I like Petrovac. Much smaller than Budva - it's a former fishing village - but it's easy enough to take a trip into Budva on the local bus.

I'll add that I have stayed in Budva and enjoyed myself, but prefer Petrovac.

If it was just me I'd go to Perast and do trips from there, but there's not really a lot to do there other than eat and enjoy the view so maybe not stimulating enough for your teens - it doesn't have a beach, or not much of a beach iirc. Kotor is bigger and has the walled mediaeval fort but can get really rammed due to the daily influx of passengers from the cruise ships. It's definitely worth a visit but the roads and traffic in and out of Kotor can be awful and there's no alternative routes really as the road follows the waterline, so if you're planning on driving /renting a car for day trips don't stay there as it'll add hours of sitting in traffic to your holiday. Regardless of where you base yourselves ( all of the places listed are fairly near to each other ) there's a boat trip that does several drop - offs (starts in porto montenegro, covers blue Caves, Hercig Novi, Lady of Perast etc.) that I'd recommend - mix of sightseeing and activity ( you swim at the caves ) that really was a lovely day.

Yeah I've been reading about places and kotor not having a beach wouldn't be somewhere we would base ourselves but would definitely visit. We would have a car so can do plenty of day trips to places like that. I read the best beaches are in ulcinj? so maybe best for a base then. Any accomodation recommendations?