I visited Montenegro for the second time. This time I did many things and visited new places. Here are my tips for what to do in Montenegro.
Podgorica airport
This time I traveled to and from Montenegro by plane. Because Montenegro is not part of the European union there are passport controls everywhere. Flying from Montenegro I went through 3 passport controls.
Podgorica airport is quite small. There are only a few gates and they are only letting people in the airport who actually have a flight in the next few hours.
If you need a SIM card in Montenegro there are many ads for e-SIM cards everywhere in the airport. There is a working WiFi on the airport so you can download and activate it. If you want an original SIM card, you can buy it at any Kiosk. The prices are the same everywhere so you don’t have to worry that at the airport it’s gonna be overpriced.
Note: Always check and make sure that your phone supports an e-SIM card or you might end up paying for it pointlessly.
If you want to get to or from the airport you need to take a taxi. There are no airport buses in Podgorica. There are many taxi drivers waiting for the tourists so no need to worry. The price of the taxi to Podgorica is around 20€. You might be lucky and get one for 15€.They will also take you to your destination if you are staying somewhere by the sea. The price to Budva was between 55-60€.
The people at the airport, taxi drivers or people on stations speak English well enough.
Things to see in Podgorica
I’ve only been in Podgorica for a few hours. In my opinion Podgorica is not a very interesting city but it was worth experiencing.
King’s park is a place I visited and hid from the rain. It’s a small park but it will lead you to other interesting places.
Old Ribnica River Bridge is a little old bridge. Walking there with a stony path by the rocks is quite magical.
Fortress Depedogen is basically only a few walls but there is a nice view of the river or the city. It’s very easy to get there as it is in the middle of the city and not on a steep hill.
Independence square has a monument and offers many cafes. I visited one with delicious cakes.
Mall of Montenegro with a marketplace. The mall was not interesting for me, the marketplace on the other hand was very nice. It was huge with a huge variety of products. We got to buy shoes there. They also offer groceries. The people were nice and even tho they didn’t speak English they did their best to help us.
Buses in Montenegro
One thing to keep in mind is that to enter a bus station you have to pay a fee. If you buy a bus ticket at the counter, the fee is already in the price. If you buy tickets online, you need to print them out and pay the fee additionally. If you don’t have a way to print your tickets, you can do so at the bus station.
The workers at the station spoke English pretty well, the drivers not so much. Take care of which platform you have to be on because it can be a little tricky sometimes. If you are not sure, just ask someone.
You can buy tickets in advance if you need to. I did, just to be sure to not miss my flight. There are enough buses driving to many places in Montenegro. Just be sure you are on time as it happened that if there were too many people, the bus driver refused to take some of them.
Things to do in Montenegro
Once again I stayed in the beautiful city of Budva. This city was and stays my all time favorite in Montenegro. With its beautiful beaches, old town and plenty of other things to do and see, it’s a perfect place to stay. Here are some things I did while visiting Montenegro this time.
Have a dinner at a restaurant
There are so many restaurants in every tourist center in Montenegro. I went for dinner in Budva. There are plenty of restaurants by the beach, one next to another. They all offer a huge variety of meals. Some have a theme, some are more luxurious, some more basic, you will definitely find what you like. Because Montenegro is at the sea, they have delicious meals containing seafood. If you want a taste of the culture, you should try some of their national dishes like Cevapi, sausages, burgers and so on.
Have a beach day
This time I visited in September. I didn’t get the best weather but the sea had a nice temperature and I had some sunny days to enjoy the beach. The sea is beautiful and crystal clear. The beaches are rocky. There were sunbeds for 10€. I don’t know if I was lucky or it was because of the weather and the season ending, but I got a sunbed for free. There are multiple beach bars where you can enjoy a cold drink. There are also many activities for the ones that like a little adventure in their day. You can try parasailing, water scooters, renting a boat and many more.
Walk
It’s pretty obvious. There are many things you can see. Go to the old town, walk by the sea, hike to the fortress, explore hidden beaches, enjoy the view from the cliffs and so on. It’s all up to you.
Go for a excursion
I recommend this fully and I think it was an amazing experience. You can book an excursion in any of several small stands that are in the cities. Montenegro offers many excursions for the tourists, because there are many things to do and see.
You can pick from their tour offers what fits you the most. You can visit the canyons, other cities, even other countries. They offer adventurous tours, tours by boats and buses.
I went on a Kotorska boka excursion. It is a whole day tour by bus and boat. It only cost 40€ and it was definitely worth it.
Kotorska boka excursion
We started the day at 8am with a bus taking us to the lovely city of Kotor. Kotor is a historical city lying between the hills. The old town is the main attraction and it definitely is beautiful. There are many historical buildings, little streets, a lot of souvenir shops and cats. Kotor is also very well known for its community of cats. The cats are loved and well taken care of, they have their little houses and a feeding station where tourists can contribute to feeding the cats simply by recycling plastic bottles. You can see cats everywhere and the majority of them are very friendly.
Story: When we were walking in the old town, a pigeon fell from the roof almost on us. It was not dead but hurt or ill. The cats took advantage of the situation and started a hunt. It was interesting to see and kinda sad for the pigeon. Anyways, take care to not get hit by a falling pigeon.
From Kotor we continued by boat. Our next stop was Our Lady of the Rocks, a little man made island with a church. The story of this island is that some fisherman found an icon of Madonna and Child on a rock. When people learned about this, they decided to build an island with a church on that rock. It is one of the main attractions in Montenegro and I have to say that it was pretty crowded.
Next we sailed to the open sea where we had a break for swimming or visiting the Blue Cave. To visit the Blue Cave there was an additional cost of 10€ and they would take you there with a small boat. I decided to stay and have a swim in the sea.
After an hour we continued to Herceg Novi. This is another city lying at the sea. To visit the old town, you have to climb the hill. This whole city is on a hill and there are several fortresses. The view from there is amazing. You can also have a walk at the riviera. Sadly I didn’t have enough time to explore everything.
Our last stop was Porto Montenegro, Tivat. Here our journey ended. It was already the evening so we didn’t explore the city but went back with a bus to Budva.
This was an amazing experience for someone who doesn’t want to stress with the buses but wants to see more places in Montenegro. After this trip I was very satisfied. I do not recommend it tho, if you want to spend more time in some cities as we only got around an hour for exploring.
I enjoyed this trip a lot and it proved to me once again that Montenegro is an amazing place to visit. There are still plenty of other places I want to see and I bet they won’t disappoint. If you want to read more about things to do in Budva, click here.
If you are looking for similar activities, check it out here.
I give this trip ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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