Montenegro: Bay of Kotor

Travel GuideEuropeMontenegroToddler TravelAmerican in Italy
Written By Kirstin Brueckmann Kruip

This has been one of my absolute favorite trips. One of my best friends was born in Montenegro and to visit her home was really special. The beauty of this country cannot be overstated. Highly recommend a trip here!! It was a great balance of relaxation for us and fun for our toddler. 


📲🚨 One thing we, like dummies, didn’t think of because we flew into Croatia, which is in the EU, is that Montenegro is not in the EU. Our Vodafone plan that covers us well with data in the EU stopped working almost immediately Day 1 because (whoops) we’d used a lot of our travel data on a recent trip. We bought 5 day Montenegrin unlimited data e-sims from Holafly (also read good reviews of Airalo) for $27 and were good to go. 

💲One thing we found is that we needed cash almost everywhere. Restaurants tended to have card readers for the most part but even more so than in Italy, we needed cash. 


Enjoying the beautiful views from our hotel balcony in Perast

Day 1

  • EasyJet flight into Dubrovnik, Croatia (so quick from Naples, Italy ~50 min)

  • We rented a car through the EasyJet app and they paired us with AvantCar. They were incredibly friendly and helpful in explaining what we needed in order to cross the border into Montenegro (it was just some paperwork). We were leaving the airport in our very nice and upgraded rental within 30 min of landing. 

  • We decided to stay on the Bay of Kotor in Perast so the drive was only about an hour and a half. For the border crossing, you go through one check point leaving Croatia and one check point entering Montenegro. They just needed passports and one small document the rental agency gave us. All in all it took about 30 min but we were told it can take hours. Traffic leaving Montenegro (it was a Saturday) was horrible so I can see how that’s true. 

  • We took our time enjoying the drive, stopped at a beautiful lookout point near Risan on the bay while my son napped, then headed to Perast. 

  • Perast is a UNESCO recognized village and is almost entirely car free on the main road by the water, aside from taxis, tour buses, and golf carts for the hotels. All other cars have to take the upper road. So parking is only available in big lots on either side of town. We parked in Parking 2 (🅿️ https://maps.app.goo.gl/5BhzkFTsWRN3XGAV7?g_st=ic) on the north end. Since we’re at one of the hotels in the town, it was €40 for the four nights stayed and we could enter and exit as many times as we wanted. 

  • We spent the rest of the day wandering Perast! There is no true beach in Perast, and all of the beaches on the bay are pebble/stone beaches (true sand beaches are about an hour away) but similar to Italy, where there is somewhere to lounge and get in the water, people make it work. 

  • Favorite spots day 1: 

I genuinely think Perast might be one of the prettiest places I have ever seen

Day 2

  • We took the morning nice and easy and enjoyed the views from our room with coffee. Perast is a lot like towns in Amalfi and is built into the mountain so there are a lot of steep steps to reach anything above sea level, including our annex of the hotel. Much of the town is made of old palaces and gorgeous baroque architecture.

  • We did breakfast included at the hotel which was worth it for us over an Airbnb or one of the smaller guest houses we looked at on Booking because the larger hotels in town have absolutely gorgeous terraces literally right on the water and that’s where they do their breakfast service! I’m also a fan of easy breakfast buffets with a 3 year old. 

  • We spent the morning at a lido about 20 min away. Because it’s not peak season yet there was no entrance fee, no charge to rent sunbeds, and all we had to do was pay for a drink. It was an absolute steal. The bay beaches are almost all pebble (perfect to entertain a toddler who loves throwing rocks in the sea) but this club also has a man-made san beach. They also have a full restaurant available in season. 

  • We stopped for lunch on the way back to Perast at a spot that was recommended to possibly have a Bosnian dish (cevapi) we were trying to find. We were warned it “wouldn’t have a coastal view” as if that was a bad thing. I cannot overstate how incredible the view in this nature park was. The food was also incredible - no cevapi but some of the freshest seafood we’ve ever had. 

  • Back to Perast for nap time (dad and toddler) and I relaxed and swam by one of the public concrete piers. 

  • For the evening we explored town and had dinner at our hotel

  • Things to see: Church of St Nicholas, Church of the Virgin Mary of the Rosary (amazing view from up here), Church of Our Lady of the Rocks (an island you can visit by boat in 5 min!!)

  • Local things to eat/drink: Njeguši Prosciutto, Kajmak cheese, Somun bread, Ajvar roasted red pepper spread, Rakija plum brandy, Dunja quince brandy, Nikšićko beer, Cevapi (Bosnian meal - worth trying to find), Princes Krofne pastry

Walking around the grounds of Ćatovića Mlini

I could seriously eat cevapi every single day

Day 3

  • We headed to the Kotor Cable Car (📍 https://maps.app.goo.gl/rLe5yhHbsGkydA8e6?g_st=ic ) first thing the morning. The lower station is about 5 minutes past Old Town Kotor. There is plenty of parking - we ended up parking in a gravel lot outside the very nice paved lot only because we couldn’t figure out how to make the gate open. We didn’t get towed or get a ticket so it seems there is both free and paid parking as an option. Round trip tickets for the cable car were €18 for adults and €8 for kids (2-15). These were pre-season prices I believe. This was worth every cent. The views were unreal and the cable car facilities were brand new for the season. The ride to the top takes about 11 min. There is a restaurant at the top as well as a small roller coaster/go kart type track built into the side of the mountain. It looked like even more attractions are coming to the upper station as construction was still happening. There is also hiking and plenty of outdoor activities available at the top as it drops you right in Lovćen National Park. 

  • From here we drove to Old Town Kotor to walk around. Be warned, parking can be tough. There are a lot of paid lots though with great signage to let you know how many opens spots are available and prices were reasonable (€.80/hr). It is a walled city with beautiful churches, a cat museum, fantastic cafes, and beautiful winding streets. It reminded me a lot of cities we have visited in Puglia. 

    • Points of Interest: Sea Gate: Clock Tower, Cathedral of Saint Tryphon, Cat Museum, Kampana Tower and Citadel

  • We left the Old Town walls for lunch at BBQ Tanjga (📍 https://maps.app.goo.gl/y8WDFufrcj1GKRW19?g_st=ic) and this was one of the best meals I’ve had. We split one of the plates for two and it was enough food for four people. We finally found cevapi and it was incredible. The platter was basically grilled meats and sides of your choices. I highly recommend ajvar, which is a roasted red pepper spread and goes well on most anything. 

  • After lunch we walked back to our car by way of the path along the top of the city walls, which made for incredible views!

  • After nap time, we headed back out to Dobrota and found an empty beach club for a sunset swim (📍Virtu https://maps.app.goo.gl/3RJRie6nQ8dUwgPf8?g_st=ic). A huge benefit to being here just pre-season is that almost everything is ready but most things aren’t charging yet. The whole beach club was set up with chairs but they weren’t charging for rentals or entrance and there wasn’t service. We didn’t mind at all. 

The views from the summit you reach via the cable car were absolutely incredible

The Kotor marina seen from the walls of the Old Town

Day 4

We made today our “Day Trip” day! We headed south and hit a few spots including old walled cities, one of the oldest olive trees in the world, and a beautiful secluded Adriatic beach tucked away behind gigantic pine trees. 

  • Budva: Like Kotor, this is a small, beautiful walled city! It is right on the Adriatic and has stunning views. There are some great beach  clubs/cafes and restaurants. The stari grad (old town) is definitely the charming and cute part of Budva. We spent the morning there

  • Bar: We made our way down to Bar because it is where one of my closest friends was born! There is so much to see down here. It is also a sister city with Bari and you can take a ferry directly from Bari to Bar.  

    • Stari Bar: this is the Old Town. There is a huge historic fortress and ruins you can explore and the old town streets are filled with restaurants and small shops. It is NOT all all stroller friendly. (📍 https://maps.app.goo.gl/CWcH8mp43XwCYZpa8?g_st=ic)

    • Stara Maslina “Oldest Olive Tree”: Bar is known for the amazing olive groves and one of the oldest olive trees in the world (over 2000 years old) grows in Bar and still produces fruit (📍 https://maps.app.goo.gl/T2BXxEP48KVJ9wsz8?g_st=ic)

    • Church of St. Jovan Vladimir: absolutely beautiful Orthodox cathedral in Bar with incredible artwork (📍 https://maps.app.goo.gl/d1DV8Yah2puNeBJa9?g_st=ic)

    • King Nikola’s Palace: beautiful old palace right on the sea/beach that is now a museum with nice gardens (📍 https://maps.app.goo.gl/xCmtXfvR9VZ7VV1u6?g_st=ic)

    • Red Beach: this beach is more well known by locals than by tourists and is named for the red pebbles on the beach (it is a mix of stones and sand). There is free parking nearby at the top right off the main highway and you go down a path through pine trees to get to the beach. There are more popular beaches a bit further north on the so-called Budva Riviera but if you’re down in Bar this is a great place to stop and enjoy the sun and play in the sand (📍 https://maps.app.goo.gl/d1DV8Yah2puNeBJa9?g_st=ic)

  • Perast Boat Tour: We got back to Perast right around sunset and decided for our last night to do a sunset boat ride. You can easily take a boat from the small marina in Perast out around the two small islands off of Perast. There are a ton of boats/captains and prices vary but ours was €10 per person for a private boat at sunset round trip. I read you can find them for as low as €3-5 per person, especially if you take the shared ferry versus a private hire, but we were short on sunlight so went with this boat and were very happy. We could stay on the island as long as we wanted and the captain shared the history as he drove us over. The islands are both tiny and exclusively house churches. One is a natural island and is inaccessible (Island of Saint George) and the other is man made (Our Lady of the Rocks). This is the one you can get out on and walk around and the main festival in Perast happens in July to celebrate the religious legend of this island. 

  • Things to eat: burek/pita (depending on what region someone is from, they may call it one or the other - when we were in Budva, we saw it as burek). It is made with phyllo and is a flaky pastry/pie that can have different fillings but traditionally has meat or cheese (krompir - potato, zelenica - cheese, sirnica - cheese).

Stara Maslina, or the oldest olive tree! This little park was the perfect place to stop for a picnic lunch

Island of St. George in Perast

Day 5: Dubrovnik

Since our flight out wasn’t until 6, we left Montenegro in the morning so we could spend the day exploring Dubrovnik. With traffic, it was only about 30 minutes past the airport to get to Old Town. We parked in the Žičara parking lot (🅿️ https://maps.app.goo.gl/6Z2vZMH4ZzVppfPB7?g_st=ic) because it was right below the cable car, which we wanted to do first thing. Parking near Old Town is expensive and only gets to be more so as the season and summer go on. We were there for about 4 hours and paid almost €30.  


  • Dubrovnik Cable Car: the cable car goes up above the Old Town and has gorgeous views of the Adriatic, the city, and the mountains behind. There is a restaurant as well as some activities like a buggy safari at the top. Highly recommend buying tickets online ahead of time. Even on a Wednesday pre-high season the line was long and it was nice to skip ahead (📍 https://maps.app.goo.gl/8YbcodqRpPdF3grs8?g_st=ic)

  • We wandered around the city after the cable car and made our way to lunch at Taj Mahal (📍 https://maps.app.goo.gl/yYFwAQzR6MDhqovi6?g_st=ic) for traditional Bosnian food. The restaurant has been included in the 2022 and 2023 Michelin guides. They have a beautiful outdoor seating area (which was unsurprisingly full) but their indoor section was fantastic as well. Great service and delicious food.

  • We didn’t find Dubrovnik to be super stroller friendly. If we had entered through the Pile Gate (📍 https://maps.app.goo.gl/RuSWLbxj7UzY6Vrx7?g_st=ic) on the west side of the city we would have avoided the infamous gigantic stair cases and could have just dealt with a steep hill instead. There are definitely a LOT of stairs in Old Town. 

  • We ended the afternoon with gelato and playing on the Kolorina Bay beach and playground (📍 https://maps.app.goo.gl/dusPe7kjbFyiEHcR7?g_st=ic) before heading to the airport.



The only things I wish we had done were 1) walking the walls (but tickets are pricey, it’s about 1.5 miles to do the whole thing, and it wasn’t in the cards with a tired 3 year old) and 2) a boat ride to see the city and the surrounding islands from the water. 


All in all, it was a beautiful old city but had similar vibes to cities like Rome or Florence - seems like it will always be a bit mobbed with crowds in warmer months. 

View of the Old Town from the Cable Car

Our family rule of thumb for both me and my toddler is that if we are grumpy, just add water. The beach, a bath, a drink. We probably just need some water then we'll be happier.

More Bay of Kotor Recs

Perast

  • Restaurants 

    • Restoran Armonia

    • Heritage Hotel Leon Coronato

    • Konoba Skolji

    • Jelena Palace Restaurant

    • Riva Terrace (Iberostar Hotel)

    • Cafe Admiral

    • Hotel Nauta

Kotor

  • Restaurants

    • Konoba Scala Santa

    • Rooftop Hippocampus

    • Bandiera

    • Mon Bistro Cafétéria (coffee)

  • Sunday Farmer’s market (07-13)

  • Kotor Bazaar

  • 📍Park Slobode Playground  https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZeSDBJu74zPejwu2A?g_st=ic)

  • Hike up to the Fortress for incredible view - this is all staircases so can be done with kids who will walk or with baby carriers 

Dobrota

  • Restaurants 

    • Bonaca

    • Konoba Portun

    • Mudra

  • Aquarium Boka (supposed to be great for kids, especially on a rainy day!)

  • Bianco Beach Club

  • Church of St Elijah (oldest church in Montenegro)

Wish We Had Seen

Kirstin Brueckmann Kruip https://www.kirstinkruip.com
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