Montenegro - A 5-day roadtrip

Montenegro - A 5-day roadtrip

Vicky Anagnostopoulou
This is a guide about your 5-day roadtrip to Montenegro. Route: Podgorica - Dobrilovina - Zabljak - Durmitor National Park - Piva Canyon - Kotor - Budva - Sveti Stefan - Podgorica
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DAY 1

We have started our roadtrip from the North of Albania, crossing the borders of Hani i Hotit, but you can easily start yours from Podgorica flying there as it is the main airport of the country. Podgorica is the capital and the largest city of Montenegro. If you are not traveling with your own vehicle or motorhome, Podgorica is the best place to rent a car. 

After crossing borders or figuring out car option you need to charge batteries and therefore, I suggest a stop for coffee or a visit to any of the local bakeries (known as Pekara). If you love yogurt or milk, you should also try the liquid yogurt options that you can find almost everywhere.

Bakery 2
@vickyanagnostopoulou
You should definitely try "Burek" (cheese pie) and "Pitice od višnje" (cherry pie).
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Once ready, we head up north. 

After a 3-hour drive we arrived to Dobrilovina. It is a very small town between the mountains. 🌳 Amazing scenery!

Where to stay:

Vila Montana Apartments
@vickyanagnostopoulou
Value for money. We booked the whole apartment with view to mountains. Very quiet place. If you want to cook there bring supplies as there is no supermarket nearby.
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We spent two nights there. 

Where to have dinner:

Ravnjak
@vickyanagnostopoulou
Enjoying the Tara Springs, we had walk by the river and a light dinner with traditional dishes.
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Nearby attractions

Monastery Dobrilovina
@vickyanagnostopoulou
Serbian Orthodox monastery located on the left Tara river banks at the beginning of the Tara River Canyon, the deepest river canyon in Europe.
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Tip: We decided to spent the night in Dobrilovina because we started our trip from Theth (North of Albania). So, we had many kilometres drove for that day and it was the best option for our roadtrip. Plus, it was quieter and more picturesque than the more touristic ones in the region of Zabljak. Also, way cheaper. However, doing that again we will stay only for one night there and spend the second one closer to Durmitor National Park to avoid going back and forth the second day.

DAY 2

We had breakfast at home, and then we started heading to Tara Bridge. We were going to spent the whole day in Durmitor National Park. 

Đurđevića Tara Bridge
@vickyanagnostopoulou
Great place for photos, buy souvenirs, rafting or zipline
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Activities for the day:

1) Hiking around the lakes (1st route to Zmijinje Jezero lake and 2nd route around Crno jezero). 

2) Having a picnic in the park. 

Therefore, we had a short stop at the village of Zabljak to buy supplies for the picnic at a centric supermarket.

Durmitor National Park
@vickyanagnostopoulou
There is an entrance fee of 5 euros per day. Extra fees for other activities and parking. You can avoid the parking fee if you park a few metres from the entrance of the park and then walk there.
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DAY 3

After spending our second night in Dobrilovina, we headed again towards Durmitor National Park. This time we drove through the National Park and we stopped in different viewpoints. 

Again we had to pay 5 euros just driving through the road just because we stopped in the viewpoints. There are forestmen especially in the famous viewpoints. 

Picturesque viewpoint
@vickyanagnostopoulou
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Piva Canyon viewpoint
@vickyanagnostopoulou
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In Pluzine we had a stop for coffee at Caffe bar Sidro.

Caffe bar Sidro
@vickyanagnostopoulou
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Amazing view and great opportunity for some pictures.  We have cooked the previous night at home so we packed lunch with us to eat along the way. 

After a 2,5-hour drive from Piva Canyon we arrived in Kotor. 

Nadalina Guest House
@vickyanagnostopoulou
Great place to stay. Free parking next to the house. 15 min walking from the centre of Kotor. Avoid getting the car to the old town as it will be impossible to find parking especially in high season. Shared kitchen and bathroom, but everything so clean and the owner very friendly.
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Kotor
@vickyanagnostopoulou
The old Mediterranean port of Kotor is surrounded by fortifications built during the Venetian period.
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The fortified city of Kotor was also included in UNESCO's World Heritage Site list as part of Venetian Works of Defence between 16th and 17th centuries: Stato da Terra – western Stato da Mar in 2017.

DAY 4

The next day before heading to our next accommodation we visited a Cave. 

Lipa cave
@vickyanagnostopoulou
Check their timetable on their official website as the visit is with a tour guide at fixed times. Price ticket (13,90 €). Make sure to arrive at least 30 min before desired timing.
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After visiting the cave we decided to go to the beach. Unfortunately most beaches were either private or in front of hotels or you had to pay entrance fee. What we did was to go to Maestral Resort & Casino. Had a beer there and enjoyed the beach. Then we headed to our hotel.

Apartments Djurasevic
@vickyanagnostopoulou
Nice place to stay with swimming pool and amazing view.
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For the night we decided to explore the town of Budva. Avoid parking close to the city centre. We parked 20min walking distance for free.  

Budva
@vickyanagnostopoulou
The coastal area around Budva, called the Budva Riviera, is the center of Montenegrin tourism, known for its well-preserved medieval walled city, sandy beaches and diverse nightlife. Budva is 2,500 years old, which makes it one of the oldest settlements on the Adriatic coast.
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DAY 5

Last day of our stay in Montenegro. We started early because we had to cross again the borders to Albania. You can arrange the plans of this day according to your next destination, flight or bus. If you have a flight you can drive back to Podgorica and catch your flight. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vicky Anagnostopoulou
Curious traveler and explorer. Full-time learning designer and educator. Have travelled the world through volunteering projects, youth exchanges and training courses. I always travel with a purpose to get to know the country, the people and the customs better. Through different projects I have made friends all around the world so it is great seeing them once in their country. Always trying to learn some worlds of the speaking language of the country. Adventurous, lover of hiking and camping. Trying to travel on a budget. 💬 Fluent in 3 languages: English, Spanish, Greek. 🏠 Lived in: Greece, Spain, UK, Brazil 🌍Travelled so far: 40 countries
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