Kotor neighbourhood guide - live like a local

Kotor: a hidden gem

Kotor just felt like home, the fact that everything is so close by,  really makes you feel like you've known the city for years! 

The buildings and architecture is authentically Montenegrin through and through. It reminded me of Dubrovnik in Croatia, but what made it different was of course the bay of Kotor surrounding the city that you see from wherever you are! 

Even though it's a small city, it has so many must-go spots that make you appreciate the city from a different perspective, whether it's from the beach or from the mountains. 

How to get there:

From Tivat (recommended):

We took a taxi from the airport - we called the Red Taxi company to arrange a taxi for us. However there's multiple taxi drivers waiting to take you wherever you need to go. We just didn't want to pay more than 20€ (which is the ammount we ended up paying) considering the distance.

It said on maps it would only take us a 15 min drive but it took at leat half an hour... This is due to unbelieavable traffic there is to get into the city centre. 

I believe there's a bus that can take you to the city but we didn't want to go through the hassle of finding and waiting for it too long,

Where to stay:

I absolutely recommend you stay in the city centre, on the inside of the city walls. That way you'll be able to live a more authentic experience as a local and be less than a 10minutes away from anywhere you want to go. 

This is where me and my boyfriend stayed at. In my opinion it was the best option for the location and the authentic feel of the space inside: 

HealthyStudio512 Apartments

@ritaneiva

A nice budget option at the heart of Kotor. It had a kitchen included where we had some of the meals that saved us some money. The hosts were also super helpful and sweet, they even provided a list of the best restaurants to go.

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We passed by this place, right in front of the beach and rented some paddle boards:

Montenegro Hostel 4U

@ritaneiva

We met some people that were staying here and working for the hostel by selling rental Stand up paddle boards (which we did do for an hour at the bay 10€ each - highly recommend). They also seemed to have a lot of social activities going on, even invited us to a pubcrawl!

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This was a strong runner-up option if we hadn't stayed at the HealthyStudio512, it's more pricy but very modern and good package deal:

C Group apartments

@ritaneiva

A more expensive option that looks ideal tbh wiht breakfast included, the rooftop pool and the fact these are apartments, seems pretty worth the money!

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Must-go places!

Old Town Walls

@ritaneiva

This is the perfect evening walk after dinner, around the city walls. It goes from this starting point near the north gate all the way to Gurdic Gate.

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The Ladder of Kotor (hike)

@ritaneiva

Super worth it, you'll have views for days! This hike took us around 1 hour to go up to the cheese shop ( a little cafe at the top of the hill ). We chose to not carry on as the views were already amazing from there, but the finish point is by St Johns fortress. I'm not used to doing hikes but my advice is to take your time and doing as early as you can to avoid the sun on the way up.

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Kotor beach

@ritaneiva

We been to this beach most days - it's a bit hard to find a spot at time we stayed at the pier a lot as it was easier to get in and out the water (I'm not a fan of rocky beaches but swimming in the Kotor bay made it all worth it!)

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Kotor Natural Beach

@ritaneiva

This beach is a little out of the way (comparing to how close everything is) but still no longer than 10/15 min walk. It's a bit of a rocky beach but it has amazing views!

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Water Fountain Square

@ritaneiva

At this plaza, there's dozens of cats and kittens walking around. There's a local lady that takes care of them and it certainly made our trip much better. She even has a souvenir shop nearby full of handmade woodwn cats and other cute things.

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What to eat:

Kotor's food has strong influences from italian and turkish food but with a touch of meditteranean feel in most places you'll go to. Because of this, we didn't really try many 'typical' dishes. 

The list of all restaurants I've been to, what I've eaten and my honest views below:

Rita Neiva

Kotor Eats (with reviews)

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When to go & how long:

I'd recommend going at the beginning (may-june) or at the end of summer (september time). This is because I was told it gets way too hot in the peak of summer, like 30º-40ºs, which for me isn't as enjoyable anymore especially for activities like hiking or doing tour guides, etc.

In terms of lenght, we went for 5 days which I think was the perfect time to not only get to know the city but the culture, get to live the lifestyle and know a bit more about it than just the generic overview you get on the first day.

However, it's a small city you can see everything in a day, it just depends what do you want to get out of Kotor.