The town of Herceg Novi, Montenegro, offers the charm and amenities of a tourist destination without the crowds.
For two months this summer, my husband Yan and I called the town of Herceg Novi in Montenegro home. Despite other cities farther along the coast being much more popular – medieval Kotor, beachy Budva and upscale Tivat (which is known as “the Monaco of the Balkans”) – we chose Herceg Novi as our home base. It is a Montenegrin town that still occupies what I consider the traveller’s sweet spot: popular enough to have considerable visitor-friendly infrastructure, but still so under-the-radar that it mostly caters to locals and tourists from elsewhere in the country or neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Croatia.
You might think of Montenegro as the new Croatia: a Balkan country on the coast of the Adriatic Sea with cloudless sunny summer days that is quite affordable compared to nearby Italy or Greece. But while Croatia has experienced a rapid rise in tourism over the past decade or two thanks to concerted local efforts and its Game of Thrones fame, Montenegro remains outside the spotlight.
That’s especially true of Herceg Novi, which has all the historic charm and unique local culture we look for in a travel destination. In the mornings, I develop an easy routine. I head to one of the bakeries in the Stari Grad (Montenegrin for “old town”) just steps from where we’re staying, starting with Res, a tiny bakery tucked around the corner from the main square, for croissants pulled fresh and buttery from the oven – assuming I’m there early enough to grab one before they sell out. Otherwise, I opt for flaky pita sa mesom – phyllo pastry stuffed with spiced minced beef – from Vanille Coco at the entrance of the town.
On my way to the bakery I pass the main market off the town square, already bustling since 7 a.m. with stands full of verdant green vegetables, ripe stone fruit and olives soaking in glistening oils. Payments are cash only and the merchants can talk me into buying just about anything, despite the fact that they don’t speak English and I don’t speak Montenegrin.
Swimmers take to the water along the Herceg Novi waterfront.
If I’m feeling particularly ambitious, I might descend the few hundred stairs between me and the waterfront to walk a kilometre or so in either direction along the Promenade Pet Danica boardwalk. I take in the views of the boats docked along the coast and the early-morning swimmers. Herceg Novi means New Duke Town, named for the Bosnian duke who ruled it in the 15th century, but its nicknames are the City of Sun and the City of 100,001 Stairs, both well earned. On the weekends, we spread out our towels on rented lounge chairs under butter-yellow umbrellas and soak in the sun until we all but have to jump into the water to cool off.
We love exploring the centuries-old stone fortresses Kanli Kula and Forte Mare, which have been carefully repurposed into venues for open-air concerts and film screenings. We dine at unfussy restaurants, such as Konoba Stara Kuca, Kantina65 and Konoba Feral, favoured by our neighbours for their authentic local dishes blending fresh Mediterranean and traditional Balkan flavours. We enjoy cevapi, which are grilled minced meat sausages paired with a roasted red pepper condiment called ajvar and a side of fries; stuffed Adriatic squid; crispy grilled sea bass served with roasted summer vegetables.
With Herceg Novi as a home base, we rent a car to take road trips further along the coast. We make a long weekend of visiting Kotor, Tivat and Budva. Tivat is a wealthy traveller’s playground dotted with super yachts and sushi restaurants, fun to visit though certainly not affordable. While the well-preserved old towns on the sea in Kotor and Budva are historic and picturesque, the crowds are already reaching such significant seasonal peaks in July and August that we are left longing for the easygoing pace of Herceg Novi.
Mountain roads wind around Durmitor National Park in northern Montenegro.
Our best experience in the Bay of Kotor is driving the Kotor serpentine, a snake of 25 tight switchbacks up Lovćen Mountain – that at times feels scarcely wide enough for one car, let alone two heading in opposite directions – but give way to the most breathtaking views of the bay from above.
We took the Kotor Cable Car 1,316 metres up the mountain the evening before and even rode the Falcon Fly roller coaster at the top at sunset. But by driving along the winding roads we get to explore the town of Njegusi in Cetinje, home of Montenegro’s famous prsut, or prosciutto, and its lesser-known but equally delicious cheese.
Though we love the coast dearly, our favourite part of Montenegro might be the mountains. In our last week in the country, we drive four hours north to explore Durmitor National Park – with a detour to see the Ostrog Monastery, the most visited pilgrimage site of the Serbian Orthodox Church, built into the mountain rock face in the 17th century.
The Ostrog Monastery, the most visited pilgrimage site of the Serbian Orthodox Church, was built into the mountain face in the 17th century.
Beyond hiking, ziplining over Tara River Canyon (the second deepest in the world, after the Grand Canyon in the U.S.) and wading into the glacial lakes, the best part is driving through the mountains. Compared to the coastal summer temps that rarely dipped below 30 degrees Celsius, here it’s the cool mountain climate of the Canadian Rockies.
We spend hours winding our way through the mountain roads. Once, we are overtaken by a roaming herd of cows; another time we stop to capture photos of wild horses grazing two peaks over. Yan, my husband, wants to pull over and take photos at every turn in the road, which reveals a rock face with colours and patterns we’ve never seen before. But no matter how many photos we take, none of them quite do justice to the experience of being dwarfed by mountains millions of years old. It’s the kind of thing you just have to see for yourself.
If you go
Fly into Podgorica airport (airport code TGD) in Montenegro’s capital city, then rent a car to drive to your destination. Though it’s further from the coast than Tivat, Tivat’s airport is tiny and frequently overrun in the summer. The other option is to fly into Dubrovnik, Croatia, rent a car or hail a ride across the border, but the main border crossing can take a full day to pass. Instead, opt for the smaller and quieter Vitaljina (Croatia) / Kobila (Montenegro) crossing.
A rental car is the best way to travel between cities in Montenegro. That said, parking can be hard to come by, especially in the old towns. Choose accommodation with parking included to make your trip smoother. Once you’re in the towns, especially on the coast, most destinations are best explored on foot.
Montenegro uses the euro; bring cash in small bills to use at bakeries, bars and roadside stands. Restaurants, bars and cafés in main cities will largely have English-speaking staff, but it’s less common in small towns; if your phone translator app doesn’t have Montenegrin as an option, try Croatian or Serbian instead.
Special to The Globe and Mail