Trip example
Eleven days through Montenegro, from the mountains of Durmitor down to a wild beach at the very south of the country. It’s one example of how we put a trip together.
You can do this trip as
We made this route to show how we think about travel. Every trip we plan is different, because it’s built around the people taking it.
But the idea is always the same. You don’t only drive past beautiful places. You stop, you sit down with the people who live there, you eat what they cook, and you go home knowing a bit more about how life works here.
Podgorica to the Mrtvica canyon
We meet you at Podgorica airport and drive straight north, into the Morača canyon. The road is cut into the cliffs above the river.
We stop at the Morača monastery, built in the 13th century, then leave the main road for a narrow dirt track into the Mrtvica canyon. Dinner is cooked over an open fire, and you sleep in a shepherd’s hut. It gets very quiet out there.
Mrtvica to Biogradska Gora
You wake up to wood smoke and homemade pancakes made by our local guide. Then we walk deep into the Mrtvica canyon, on a path the army cut into the cliff decades ago.
In the afternoon we reach a stone house that is 200 years old. It was built by the great-grandfather of the woman who still lives there. She brings out her own cheese and rakija, and we stay a while. In the evening we drive north to Biogradska Gora.
Good to know
She isn’t running a restaurant. She’s someone we know, and she makes everything herself, the way her family always has. Come hungry.
Biogradska Gora to Durmitor
We spend the morning in Biogradska Gora, one of the last three primeval forests in Europe. These trees have never been logged. We walk under them and around the lakes hidden in the woods.
After a slow afternoon in the forest, we drive up to Durmitor, the highest part of the country, and settle into our mountain cabins for the night.
Durmitor, then down to Kotor
Two full days in the mountains. On the first, we hike among the limestone peaks and walk around Black Lake. We drink strong local coffee and eat proper mountain food with the locals. At night, the sky here is as dark as it gets in the Balkans.
On the second day we drive the Durmitor Ring, 85 kilometres of single-lane road through the mountains. Then it’s the long way down to the Adriatic, and we arrive in the old walled town of Kotor.
Kotor, Lovćen and the coast
From Kotor we take the old Austro-Hungarian road: 25 hairpin bends, straight up from the bay. The view from the top is worth every one of them.
In Lovćen National Park we climb the 461 steps to the Njegoš mausoleum on the summit. Then we go back down to the coast and spend the afternoon in small towns where people still live and work, away from the busy tourist spots. In the evening we drive inland to Skadar Lake.
Skadar Lake
Skadar is the largest lake in Southern Europe. We visit the small fishing villages along its shore, then get on a private wooden boat.
We move slowly through channels of water lilies, drinking local Vranac red wine and eating carp caught that day, together with our captain. Nobody is in a hurry here, and after a few hours neither are you. We sleep by the lake.
Skadar Lake to Ada Bojana
We drive to the very south of the country, to Ada Bojana, a wild triangular island where the Bojana river runs into the Adriatic. On the way we stop for a long seafood lunch and visit people who live along the river.
We stay in wooden cabins built on stilts over the water. The next morning we take kayaks out through the quiet side channels of the river. The rest of the day is for swimming, doing nothing, and watching the last sunset of the trip.
Ada Bojana
One more day at Ada Bojana, with nothing planned too tightly. We kayak the salt channels in the morning, find a quiet beach, and live at the island’s pace for a day. In the evening we have our last dinner together.
Ada Bojana to Podgorica
Coffee on the deck over the river, one last time. Then we pack the car and drive you back to Podgorica airport, about 90 minutes away.
This route is only an example. Tell us what you’re curious about, and we’ll plan one around you.
