A fantastic day trip with Dubrovnik, Croatia as your home base is the small but stunning country of Montenegro! Mountains, clear cerulean seas, walled towns, and gorgeous beaches! Day tripping has never really been more enjoyable!
My tour bus picked me up in front of my hostel in Dubrovnik, as well as a few more people from other accommodations, then we were on our way. It’s a gorgeous drive along the Dalmatian coastline and the tour guide gave us history and culture information as we went. Upon reaching the border, Croatian authorities stamped our passports that we were leaving Croatia but I got no Montenegro stamp, unfortunately. Same with the return to Croatia.
After a short rest stop in Herceg Novi, we boarded a ferry at Kamenari and leisurely crossed Bay of Kotor (the deepest natural bay in the Mediterranean) to Lepatane. Not much longer, we found ourselves in the fortified town of Kotor.
Kotor is tucked away within a fjord and, within it’s walls you’ll find a maze. It was built this way for protection purposes and it’s very easy to get lost in! If you look up, you’ll see a meandering wall rising up to the fortress. The thing that comes to mind is “a mini Great Wall”! To get to that fortress, you have to climb 1350 steps! I made it about 3/4 of the way up before I had to descend so I wouldn’t miss my bus!
Because I chose to climb the steps, I had very little time before that to see much of the town. It’s full of museums, churches, cathedrals, and palaces. Also, of course, squares, shops, restaurants, and monuments! Looking down from the steps above, it was absolutely enthralling!
From Kotor, we motored our way to Budva. Budva is famous for it’s sandy beaches and, according to our tour guide, is primarily owned by Russian investors. That explains the newer high rises along the water. Sent our own way, most of us wandered along the beach (aka Riviera) a bit as well as a bit of Old Town. It’s definitely a tourist city and absolutely gorgeous!!
After Budva, we meandered our way slowly back towards Dubrovnik, passing a couple of famous islets out in the bay, Our Lady of the Rocks and Sveti Dorde, off of the coast of Perast. If we had had time, we could have ferried out to explore the churches on them.
An impossible day trip to forget, Montenegro, though a blip on my trip, it is fondly remembered. I would love to go back again just to vacation, rather than travel through!
Any guesses as to where I’m headed next?
