Montenegro road trip
We were recently treated to a whistle-stop tour of Montenegro in the form of a 4 day road trip. A taster of this beautiful little country, nestled between Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia, has whet our appetite to properly explore this sometimes overlooked corner of the globe.
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In the interest of full disclosure, we didn’t do this road trip in our trusty self-built campervan, Fleur. This is because our friends’ wedding in Belgrade, Serbia had brought us to this neck of the woods by plane. To make the most of our few days in the region though, we and a few friends caught a 10 hour train from Belgrade to Podgorica, Montenegro, where we picked up hire cars and set off to see as much of the country as we could in the little time we had.
This flying visit was an eye opener for us and we’ll certainly be back. On the road from one spectacular location to the next, we spied countless European campervans on their own adventures and we wished our little home from home was sharing the journey with us. One day.
In the meantime though, if you’re planning a road trip around Montenegro these are our recommendations…
Skadar Lake
This was our first port of call after leaving the chaotic roads of Podgorica, as Skadar Lake is only a few miles south of the city. The style of driving in Montenegro can come across as a little aggressive, particularly in the towns (think close-ups in your rear view mirror, alarming horns and surprise manoeuvres). It seems to generally work out OK but you might want to be a little assertive.
We came off the main M2.3 road from Podgorica, choosing to cut through the northern tip of the lake. As we crawled into the valley behind a slow-moving herd of sheep, we had plenty of time to take in the incredible views. Our sheep escort testifies to how quiet the Montenegrin roads are when you come off the main highways.
On this leg of the journey, we learnt that if you have to keep zooming in on the map to reveal the road, then it’s barely suitable for cars and almost certainly isn’t for vans. That said, don’t feel that you can’t stray from the main roads at all. We passed a few campervans on the road that runs down the western side of the lake, and they seemed to be getting on fine. We also saw some campsites signposted off this road, so it looked like there are plenty of options for overnight stops in the area.
We probably could have spent a day or two doing a sweeping tour of Skadar Lake, but time pressed us on to Kotor, so we barely scratched the surface here.
E80 Coastal Road
We continued on around Skadar Lake until we reached Virpazar, where we joined the M2 heading west. That took us to Petrovac where we linked up with the E80 coastal road.
We followed the E80 all the way to Kotor, weaving our way along the coast, which was stunning. It’s a good sized road, in reasonable condition, but keep an eye out for the right hand turning to Kotor, as it’s easily missed. The turn is shortly after Radanovici and it takes you through a long tunnel, popping you out onto the edge of Kotor.
Kotor
Kotor is a beautiful seaside town, steeped in history. The old town is an intriguing maze of narrow cobbled streets, watched over by an ancient fortress sitting high on the cliff behind. Kotor’s beauty, however, is no secret and if you’re hoping to discover a hidden gem that you can keep all to yourself, then Kotor is not it.
We were snared by some painfully slow traffic as we drove into the town, which seemed to redevelop the following afternoon. It could be worth getting into town either early in the morning or late in the evening if you can. The afternoons seem to be when the traffic is at its worst, which might have something to do with the colossal cruise ships that roll into the harbour late morning.
Both the fortress and the old town are certainly worth exploring, but time your visit around the influx of cruise passengers. We climbed the fortress early in the morning, which helped us avoid the masses. Things do die down again in the evening, but the old town seems to get a little overrun with walking tours during the afternoon. Elsewhere in the town there are lots of nice bars and restaurants to refuel inm and the sea is crystal clear with a few little beaches dotted along the seafront, if you fancy taking a dip.
If you’re heading to Kotor in a van then parking, particularly overnight, might be tricky. While most of the main carparks don’t have a height restriction and we did see some long wheel base vans parked up, many don’t allow overnight stays. We were there in late May and the town was already quite busy, so daytime parking could also prove trickier during the height of summer.
Pluzine, Piva Lake
We drove north out of Kotor on the E80, following the curve of the bay before joining the P11 north. Then we cut east on the M6 and joined up with the E762 at Niksic.
As we neared the end of the M6 the road surface disappeared for a while, quite literally. It seems that when roads are resurfaced in Montenegro they do things a little differently to the UK. While we’re used to a complex series of lane closures marked by an excessive spattering of flashing signs and cones (even when there’s seemingly nothing happening) the Montenegrins simply rip up the road surface and it’s everyone for themselves! Everyone tentatively picks their way along the off-road road and there are no speed restrictions, because the non-existent road surface limits your speed anyway. It actually works quite well.
So, we bumped and swayed our way through the muddy potholes, along with articulated trucks, police cars and everyone else that had cause to travel along this main artery route.
Once we joined the E762 north, it was plain sailing into Pluzine. A town which, quite simply, took our breath away.
Pluzine is a small town that sits on the shores of Piva Lake, and it is truly stunning. We caught it at a quiet time, which added to the magic of the place, but it sounds like it’s a popular tourist spot in the summer.
We arrived in Pluzine quite late in the day, but managed an impromptu zip wire over the lake. This costs €25 per person and includes two separate zip wires over two sections of the lake, linked by a short walk through the forest (which can get slippery).
One of these zip wires boasts the title of ‘longest zip wire in Montenegro.’ I’m not sure how many zip wires there are in Montenegro, but it’s always nice to know where yours sits on the leaderboard.
After zip wiring, we went for a dinner of fresh trout (caught in Piva Lake) which we washed down with far too much homemade honey mead, which is the tipple of choice.
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Rafting on the Tara River
The next day we headed out early and drove north out of Pluzine towards the Bosnian border. We crossed the damn at the northern tip of Piva Lake then followed the river. The road cuts along halfway up the gorge wall, blasting through rugged tunnels wherever the mountain gets in the way. This drive is spectacular and worth doing even if you’re not aiming for a particular destination.
We stopped short of the border at the Rafting Montenegro Centre, where we’d arranged to go white water rafting. Here we were loaded into Land Rovers then driven across the Bosnian border (remember to take your passport!) Once we were in Bosnia, we trundled along dusty tracks through the hills and these eventually dropped us down onto the river bank.
From here, we rafted through the rapids of the Tara River, which marks the border between Montenegro and Bosnia. The tour included an entertaining (and very skilled) guide as well as plenty of free schnapps. We paid €45 per person.
Once we were back on dry land, we made a beeline for Podgorica, where we spent our final night before catching a flight home early the next day.
Road tripping in Montenegro – a quick-fire summary
So, although we only had four days to explore this little corner of Eastern Europe, we did manage to get a little flavour of what it has to offer. In short, it’s a small, sparsely populated country with friendly locals and truly spectacular landscapes.
The infrastructure is rustic in places, with blasted tunnels and the occasional missing road surface, but on the whole the roads are in decent condition. Anyway, not knowing whether the tarmac will abruptly end around the next corner only adds to the adventure! It’s also wise to be a little assertive with your driving and expect the unexpected, as that seems to be the Montenegrin style.
In our opinion, Montenegro is absolutely worth checking out. We definitely plan to return and dedicate enough time to do justice to this little country. What we’ve seen so far has blown us away and we can’t wait to spend more time exploring this area properly with Fleur the van and Ella the dog.