What are the best things to do in Montenegro that you shouldn’t miss when visiting this small country on the Balkan Peninsula? For German tourists, Montenegro is not exactly one of the top destinations for a vacation. However, Montenegro is rich in wonderful sights that range from the Adriatic Sea to the north of the mountainous country. The highlights in Montenegro are super diverse, but nature is clearly the main focus here.
In Montenegro you can swim in the warm Mediterranean Sea, climb over 2000m high mountains in the Durmitor National Park and fly over ice-cold mountain rivers along a zipline. The nature is simply beautifully pristine and an exciting mix of Slovenia and Croatia. Find out right now which highlights you shouldn’t miss on a Montenegro road trip.
Montenegro – Things To Do
We present the most beautiful sights in Montenegro on a classic round trip through the country. On a Montenegro road trip, you will see the country’s most beautiful highlights and drive in a circle through the beautiful Balkan country.
Old town of Kotor
The old town of Kotor is one of the best things to do in Montenegro. It is hidden in the bay of the same name (more on this in the next section) and is a real tourist magnet. The town of just 24,000 inhabitants has existed since the Middle Ages, was occupied by the Venetians and Romans and has been a UNESO World Heritage Site since 1999.
With its narrow, cobbled streets and centuries-old buildings, the city’s architecture is very reminiscent of Croatian cities such as Split or Dubrovnik. The old town is surrounded by high city walls and offers a multitude of sights inside.
In just under 2-3 hours you will have walked through many of the small alleyways and should have seen most of the sights. You can now sit down in a nice café or take the arduous but worthwhile climb up to San Giovanni Castle. A steep path of 1300 steps, also known as the Ladder of Kotor, leads up to the medieval castle and reveals a breathtaking view of the old town and the Bay of Kotor.
Find out how you can get a breathtaking view of the bay without a strenuous hike in the next section.
The Bay of Kotor
The Bay of Kotor is also known as the southernmost fjord in Europe. The bay is reminiscent of the beautiful fjords in the south of Norway (or on the Lofoten Islands), although it is not actually a fjord but a dried-up river valley.
The 28 km long bay (like the town that gives it its name) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a popular destination for cruise ships. Steep limestone mountains rise up along the bay, giving the whole bay a dramatic backdrop.
At the southern end of the Bay of Kotor is a huge serpentine road that winds its way up over 1000 meters in 21 bends. The road is super narrow and there are not many opportunities to avoid oncoming traffic.
Nevertheless, the view is simply phenomenal. Once you reach the top, you can not only get an idea of the gigantic size of the Bay of Kotor, but also marvel at the Bay of Tivat right next door.
You can also drive around the bay by car, as there is a well-developed road around the bay. The E80, which runs on the eastern side, is much busier and offers fewer panoramic views than the Jadranska Magistrala on the western side of the bay. Here you drive almost all the time directly along the water and have breathtaking views of the fjord.
There are many beautiful places along the bay that are well worth a visit. The small town of Perast on the western shore of the bay is well worth a visit. The nameless alleyways of the old town run like a labyrinth directly along the shore, while the coastal road leads past the village at the top.
You can explore the old town streets of Perast in 1-2 hours and then take a boat to the small offshore island of Maria vom Felsen in just a few minutes. There you can also visit the inside of the church for €3. But the crossing itself is certainly the most beautiful part.
Ostrog Monastery
The Ostrog Monastery was built into an almost vertical rock face of the Ostroška Greda massif in the 17th century and is now one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the Balkans. The monastery is located at an altitude of over 900 meters and can only be reached via a steep and very winding serpentine road. Alternatively, you can also reach the monastery via an equally steep hiking trail. You can find the description of the hike here at Komoot.
Ostrog Monastery is open daily from 6 am to 8 pm and can be visited free of charge. Please note that you must cover your knees and shoulders, otherwise you will not be allowed inside. Unfortunately, it is also not allowed to take photos inside.
Try to arrive early in the morning as parking spaces are limited and the monastery is a very popular destination.
Durmitor National Park
Durmitor National Park is a must do in Montenegro and the most visited national park in this small country. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980, the park is a classic winter destination for local tourists. Foreign tourists typically visit in summer for hiking and mountaineering.
The panoramic route, which runs in a circle through the heart of the national park, gives you a perfect overview of the park’s numerous natural highlights. At times you will feel like you are in the Dolomites or in Austria. One special attraction is the Piva reservoir, which is located just outside the park near the inconspicuous town of Pluzine, but should not be missed on your route.
The water of Montenegro’s largest reservoir is an incredibly deep blue color and is particularly inviting for a swim in midsummer. However, there are also smaller lakes, such as Black Lake (Crno jezero) in the heart of the national park, which attract many tourists on easy circular routes.
There is also a really spectacular viewpoint in the national park from which you can look out over the Tara Gorge. The Curevac viewpoint is a 30-minute hike over very uneven terrain. But then you will have a truly magnificent panorama of the gorge.
Mountain hiking enthusiasts will also get their money’s worth in Durmitor National Park. Various well-signposted hiking trails lead to the numerous peaks and offer fabulous panoramic views of nature.
You can find more information here: Durmitor National Park | What you can do here
Tara River & Tara Gorge
At 140 km, the Tara is the longest and probably the most impressive river in Montenegro and definitely one of the best things to do. The most spectacular section of the Tara Gorge is located in the famous Durmitor National Park. The Tara River starts in the north of the country and flows through an ever deeper canyon until it reaches the Bosnian border in the northeast. There it even forms the border between the two countries for many kilometers.
The gorge that the river has carved into the landscape over long stretches is up to 1,300 meters deep, making it the deepest gorge in Europe and even one of the largest in the world. Unfortunately, you only have direct access to the gorge or the river in a few places, as most of the time the Tara runs through the part of the national park that is not accessible by car.
The best view of the gorge is from the most famous highlight on the river, the Đurđevića Tara Bridge. Completed in 1940, the bridge spans the Tara River at a height of 150 meters and is a visual highlight in the region. Several zipline providers offer their services here and, of course, you can also go on great whitewater rafting tours along the river.
If you head south along the river from the Tara Bridge, you will not only find yourself directly beneath the steep rock faces, but also have direct access to the wild river in several places.
Meandri Ćehotine Viewpoint
In the north of Montenegro and therefore off the beaten track is a small but beautiful viewpoint. At the end of an almost 2 km long gravel road, there is a small parking lot from which you can walk to this viewpoint in around 5 minutes. From here, you have a beautiful view of the bends of the Ćehotina River, which meanders through the countryside.
This unique shape is the result of erosion and sedimentation processes over the past millennia, during which the course of the river has constantly changed. Today, you can enjoy this unique landscape.
In our opinion, it’s not worth going there, but if you’re in the area anyway, you should pay a visit to the free viewpoint.
Biogradska Gora National Park
Biogradska National Park is not only the smallest, but also the oldest national park in Montenegro. It was placed under protection just 14 years after the oldest nature reserve in the world, Yellowstone National Park in the USA.
The most visited and most easily accessible part is Lake Biogradsko Jezero, where the park’s visitor center is located. An entrance fee of €4 per person is payable at the entrance to the national park. At the visitor center there is an adventurous parking lot in the middle of the forest and a small playground.
This is the starting point of the popular (and very easy) hiking trail around the lake, which leads through one of the last primeval forests in Europe. You walk partly on wooden planks through the original forest so that you don’t trample the sensitive vegetation and have a fantastic view of beech, elm and fir trees, some of which are centuries old.
In just under 1-2 hours, you will have hiked around the lake and can then take a look at the fantastic scenery from the jetty.
If you want to go higher, numerous other hikes start at the visitor center, all of which are well signposted and will take you to the surrounding peaks in several hours. The hike to the Bendovac viewpoint is the most recommended for a great view of the lake. It takes about 4-5 hours to climb the 700 meters in altitude and return to the visitor parking lot.
Mrtvica Canyon
One of the most beautiful hikes in Montenegro is in the breathtaking Moraca Canyon. As you’ll probably be passing through here anyway on your Montenegro round trip along Panorama Route 1, you should make a stopover here for the hike through Mrtvica Canyon.
The complete hike takes just under 5 hours and 14 km. However, you can also walk a shorter version, which in our opinion covers the most beautiful part of the canyon and takes you to the Danilov Most bridge and back again. For the most part, you walk directly along the wild river and have spectacular views of the landscape almost all the time.
The water is crystal clear, turquoise blue and of course ice cold. But you can still swim here, as you are almost at sea level and the temperatures in summer are easily over 30° C.
If you walk to the end of the hike, you will reach a special highlight. A few decades ago, Yugoslavian soldiers blasted an almost 200-metre-long tunnel open at the side into the rock, which reminded us a little of the Ruta del Cares hike in northern Spain.
There are two beautiful campsites in the immediate vicinity of the hike, which are ideal places to spend the night before or after the hike.
Lake Skutari with Crnojević River [Insider Tip]
One of the best things to do in Montenegro is Lake Skadar, also known as Lake Skutari. The lake is the largest on the Balkan Peninsula and also the largest in southern Europe. Lake Skadar is 48 kilometers long and up to 14 kilometers wide and lies in almost equal parts in Montenegro and Albania. The national border runs almost through the middle of the lake. The water level fluctuates by up to 5 meters over the course of the year. At its peak in spring, the lake is only slightly smaller (around 505 km²) than Lake Constance.
The Montenegrin part of the lake belongs to the national park of the same name and is therefore under special protection. The lake is only 7 meters deep on average and is criss-crossed by karst springs, some of which are up to 40 meters deep and often discharge ice-cold water into the river.
The north-eastern part of the lake in particular, with its floodplains, is extremely worth seeing and is almost an insider tip on the huge lake. Here you will find the courses of the Crnojević River, the water is covered with picturesque water lilies in many places and you will see large and small water birds everywhere.
Particularly impressive are the many pelicans (more precisely: Dalmatian Dalmatian pelicans) that you can spot here.
The river landscape of the Crnojević merges almost seamlessly into the huge Lake Scutari and can be perfectly explored on a boat tour. You can hire a boat yourself, but you will only be able to travel slowly.
Or you can go on a private tour or with a group across the lake and see much more. Boat tours cost around 50-60 euros per person for a two-hour tour and start either in the beautiful little town of Rijeka Crnojevića in the north of the river landscape or in the west in the somewhat larger town of Virpazar.
We hope you like our picks for the best things to do in Montenegro. Leave a comment if you have a question or more tips for Montenegro.