Montenegro - trip accounts

A few things we have learnt about Montenegro:

• It's a beautiful country that is worth visiting. Visit before the world discovers this hidden gem.
• Montenegrins aren't prone to voice a 'Hello' or 'Good morning' but they are polite and will help.
• We never felt unsafe, even when we crossed paths with the odd dodgy-looking person.
• Montenegro has adopted the Euro as their currency albeit not bring part of the EU nor the Eurozone. Just because it's not legal, it doesn't mean it can't be done.
• In the mountains, Montenegrins round up bills in their favour so always check change.
• Main roads are good and well signposted. Driving is easy. Careful with Montenegrins' overtaking and parking.
• Tap water is safe to drink.
• Their cuisine's strong is meat but on the coast grilled fish is standard. Ham and cheese are usually salty. Bread is white and of little note. Desserts are very underwhelming, with the rare delicious exceptions.
• There are no toasters or microwaves in rental appartments.
• The only 2 recycling bins we saw were at a bus stop in Kotor and at the airport. Nowhere else we saw recycling bins and there were none at the accommodations. We asked one of the hosts to be told there wasn't any. We think the recycling bins we saw were for show, display for tourists, we don't think there is any recycling in Montenegro.

We finally managed to take a proper picture of the Bay of Budva on the way to the airport:

Podgorica's airport is small, there is only one café which is horrendously overpriced with a croissant costing €3.40, a cappuccino €3.40 and an espresso €2.30.

Transport:

• Flight London - Podgorica with Wizz Air: £152.30 - €171.83
• Taxi Podgorica airport - city centre: €12
• Car rental with border crossing (Škoda Rapid) for 12 days: €320
• Petrol: €82.80
• Toll Sozina tunnel: €2.50
• Parking: €4.60
• TOTAL: €593.73

Accommodation + Tourist Tax:

• Podgorica - Apartment Alexander (2 nights): €90 (tourist tax included)
• Razvrsje - Holidays Homes B&V (6 nights): €405 (tourist tax included)
• Budva - The Old Town Terrace Apartments (6 nights): €225.60 + €18 tourist tax = €243.60
• TOTAL: €738.60

Food & drinks: 

• We spent €1176.60 on food, being it restaurants, cafés or supermarket. Please remember we are not heavy drinkers!

Attractions:

• National Parks annual tickets: €40.5
• Zip Line across Tara Canyon: €40
• Njegos Mausoleum: €15
• Budva Citadel: €10.50
• Budva Museum: €9
• Kotor Fortress: €24
• Boat trip Skadar Lake: €45 + €5 tip = €50
• TOTAL: €189

Communications: Sim card (400GB + 500min + 500 texts for 2 weeks): €10

TOTAL per person:

• £ 800
• € 903
• $ 977

Montenegro day 14: Summer is over!

Saturday, 15th October 2022

Of course the sun would come out on the last day of our holidays. We could finally take in the full view from our balcony.

From Budva, it took us about an hour to get to Ulcinj following the road that snakes along the coast. Chaotic traffic in town. We parked the car in a free parking by the Muslim Cemetery and walked down to the beach.

Small Beach (Mala Plaža) is the 350m stretch of sandy beach right in front of town. On the western hill sits the Old Town, the new town surrounds the remaining of the bay. Very much a seaside resort with restaurants, cafés, hotels and shops along the beach.

View to the Old Town from Mala Plaža

Ulcinj is another old town in the Montenegrin coast rich in oriental and western heritage. The town is said to have been a pirate stronghold. It was also a slave trading post with one of the squares named 'Slave Square'. The famous Spanish writer, Miguel de Cervantes, is said to have spent 5 years here as an imprisoned pirate captive.

The Old Town, which was built by the Greeks in the 5-6th century BC, was ruined in an earthquake in the 5th century. The current look is the product of the Roman reconstruction of the 6th century.

The stone defensive walls (or bulwarks) that encircle the town are called 'Cyclops' and come out directly from the sea.

View beyond the western walls.

The Old Town is divided in 3 sections: Citadel (upper town), Fortress (located on the highest plateau) and a City Community (south area). Inside the Old Town it is very difficult to distinguish these 3 sections. It is all an array of narrow alleys, stairs, doors and windows. At one point we travese the inner courtyard of a house leading onto another road. Confusing is the right word.

This type of window frame in many, many windows. We cannot figure out what they are for! Is it for some kind of external blind? 

At Palace Venetia (Palata Venecija) we find a hotel in what is believed to have been the residence of the administrators of the town at the time of the Venetian rule. By the gym,  cushions on the stairs. Perhaps to cool down on the shade whilst enjoying the view. Nearby a balcony with views onto the bay and a monument dedicated to Miguel de Cervantes.

Hungry, we sat for lunch at Dulcinea restaurant, outside, on their beautiful balcony. For 3 drinks + 3 mains + side salad we paid €62. A bit expensive, but you pay for the view. Unfortunately, I was bitten to death by mosquitoes. They didn't relent and drove me to near insanity. I forgot to bring insect repellent and, by the time lunch was over, I couldn't get out of there any faster!

The owner of the restaurant was a joy. Very welcoming, served us delicious fresh grilled fish and meat skewers and chatted with us for a while. The best time to come to Montenegro, according to him, is in September. The weather is still magnificent but you no longer get the Summer crowds. At this time of the year the weather is unpredictable and half the shops/restaurants are closed. 

Restaurant's balcony.

View from the restaurant.

The coast of Ulcinj is 33km long, of which 18km are beaches. The longest beach in the Adriatic is here, the Long Beach (Velika Plaža). It is 13km long, effectively representing 40% of the coast of Ulcinj, and it can be as wide as 60m, being able to accommodate up to 150,000 swimmers. The black sand is very fine with a grain diameter of 0.1-0.5mm, resembling flour. It felt so smooth!

Due to its length, Long Beach is divided into sections, individual beaches, each sporting a name that is very un-Montenegrin: Miami, Safari, Copacabana, Tropicana, Mohito, etc. We stopped at Miami Beach to check out the sand. I hoped to be able to do some sun worshiping but, alas, it was very windy. But on the beach we were, and when on the beach, an ice-cream is in order. So we went to Tony Grill Beach & Bar hoping to get one. The waitress laughed at us and said 'There's no ice-cream. Summer is over!'. I was shocked. It's 20⁰C and sunny! How is Summer over?!?

My sad face because it's too windy.

Near the Long Beach there used to be production of marine salt with the earliest saltpan being built in the 1920-30s. The Ulcinj Salina (Solana Ulcinj) covers around 14.5km² of salty basins and it was built in the area with the most clear skies and sunshine in the Adriatic: 2567 hours per year. Production was stopped in 2013.

An old packet of salt produced at the salina.

It is now an abandoned saltpan home to more than 250 species of birds and one of the most important areas in Europe for birds to breed, overwinter or to rest during migration. The highlight is the flamingo colony, one of the two places in Europe that wild flamingo colonies can be seen.

In all seriousness, this was not the season for birds. We saw barely any. Definitely no flamingos. The old salina's buildings are all derelict. I would only come here if I were a bird enthusiast, during migration season and with time to spare.

No birds, but we saw a goat!

Abandoned saltpans.

It wasn't easy to find the entrance to the salina. At some point we went through a dirt road and a snake crossed the road in front of us. I almost had a stroke!!!

The salina has a guard at the entrance and you must sign in and out. It makes sense as the site is huge and the guard can't go around seeing if everyone is out at the end of the day before locking the gate. 

There is a little house by the entrance where one can rent a bike to go around the salina. I guess only open during high season. If you come here, I would recommend. It's boring to walk around the salina and it takes ages on foot.

Last stop of the day was Valdanos Cove. The cove has a 300m beach that is supposed to be less busy than Mala Beach in Summer, albeit it has large pebbles instead of sand. I assume someone clears up the huge amount of dead seaweed that are currently littering the beach...

The highlight of Valdanos Cove are the 18,000 olive trees that are up to 2000 years old. Some of them are huge and the trunks beautifully distorted.

At some point in the Valdanos Cove the car started making a weird noise. It got worst as we went along. We called the rental company and they advised us to pull over in Bar and wait for them. They would bring us a replacement. By the time we parked in Bar, the car was leaking a strong burned oil smell and smoke...

We sat for dinner and waited for a replacement which arrived within the hour. 

Montenegro day 13: Me! Me!

Friday, 14th October 2022

It took us a while to pay the tourism tax in Budva. We went to the tourist office twice. The first day the till was already closed at 5pm although the office didn't close until 8pm?!? The second day we needed the name of the owner of the accommodation and we did not have it. At this point we quit. Then on day 4 the host texted to remind us we hadn't paid for the accommodation and tourism tax and asked us to go to her office on the 1st floor. We went this morning 15min past the time she said she started working but she wasn't there. As we were leaving she arrived. 'Oh, I'm always late!' she said. Okay... 

All payments sorted we were back onto the Panoramic Road # 3 today, eastbound until Virpazar via the E80 road. At some point we traversed the very long Sozina tunnel (4189m) and paid the tunnel's toll (€2.50).

Skadar Lake National Park (Skadarsko Jezero NP) was today's destination.

Skadar Lake is a dolphin-shaped lake surrounded by mountains. It is 44km long, 14km wide and the largest lake in the Balkans with 391km² of surface area. The lake is shared between 2 countries: ⅔ is in Montenegro and ⅓ in Albania. It is Montenegro's only national park dominated by aquatic and wetland ecosystems.

Virpazar is the 'capital' of the national park and it's where one comes to arrange for a boat trip in the lake. We parked on the side dirt road for free, where there were already a few other parked cars. As soon as we enter Virpazar, we are approached by a bored-looking man trying to get us to book a boat trip with him asap. As he put it, there was a boat departing in the next half an hour and we wanted to be in it. Yeah, yeah, we've heard that before... Thanks but no thanks. Heading further into town, you quickly realise that there are plenty of other companies offering the same.

A few stalls on the street. We approached one that had a nice-looking young lady. She was indeed nice, answered all our questions, did not pressure us, had a lovely honest smile and offered a price €5 cheaper per person. Prices are cheaper than what I had seen online. I wonder if it's cheaper because we're on the low season.

We had to wait an hour for the boat to depart. I have been looking for priganice (homemade doughnuts) for a few days now. It seems to be a breakfast delicatessen. We sat at Konoba Demidž restaurant after I was assured there was priganice. The waiter wanted to serve it with honey, the traditional way, I asked for sugar. They were freshly fried, we rolled them in sugar and ate them. They tasted just like a Portuguese delicatessen called 'filhoses'. Yummy!

The town is very small. A few houses and a few boats. That's it. The traditional boats are shallow boats to be able to go through the narrow canals of the lake. They have a very South East Asia feel.

Our captain/guide was very nice and very knowledgeable. We tipped him 10% in the end because we assumed it was expected but, more importantly, because he earned it.

It wasn't the best time of the year for birds but we did manage to see a few: great crested grebe, gull, grey heron, great egret, cormorant, coot, Dalmatian pelican.

Some waterlilies but without flowers. Plenty of bamboo.

The Morača river feeds the lake. This is the river that traverses Podgorica. When in a corner of the lake we see a fair amount of rubbish, our guide is quick to tell us that the rubbish in the lake is the work of the capital's filthy inhabitants. Ouch!

Weather wasn't great for pictures. Very cloudy. Some showers.

There were 5 clients in the boat. Plenty of space!

Our guide's photographic talent.

On the way back to Virpazar, the guide asks if anyone wants to manoeuvre the boat. Me! Me!

Posing for the photo whilst keeping an eye on the route.

Continuing along the Panoramic Road but taking a side route called 'Route 3b', we drive along the lake northbound. We are back to narrow mountain roads with potholes and loose rock. At points the clouds are low and visibility is difficult. Another slow drive.

Pavlova Strana Viewpoint: overlooks a natural horseshoe bend in Crnojevic river (rijeka Crnojevića).

To confuse us, there is a tiny village called Rijeka Crnojevića, sitting on the banks of the river with the same name. We stopped for pictures and because I fancied a hot chocolate. We took pictures but no hot chocolate to be seen.

Once in Cetinje we drove back to Budva. Close to our accommodation there is a patisserie, Branka Pastry Shop (Poslastičarnica Branka), where we finally found a very good hot chocolate, amongst other sweets...

Topla čokolada (hot chocolate)

Browsing through Tripadvisor, looking for a restaurant in Budva with good reviews, we found one at # 5 near our accommodation: L&M, standing for 'Lazo & Milan'. Albeit with an Italian name, it served all kinds of Mediterranean food. The smell of the chargrill BBQ was so good we had all-round grilled meals. For 3 drinks + 3 starters + 3 mains we paid €65.

Mladi sir (fresh cheese)

Riblja čorba (fish soup)

Ramstek na žaru (grilled rumpsteak)

Orada na žaru (grilled sea brim)

Lingnje na žaru (grilled squids)

We discovered a very nifty lemon wedge squeezer: