Things to do in Montenegro

The 18 best things to do in Montenegro

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1. 1Kotor

   Wander the lanes and squares of Kotor Old Town

   Kotor sits at the foot of Mount Lovćen in a secluded corner of the Bay of Kotor, a sunken river canyon often mistaken for a fjord. Records of the town go back to the 1st century AD, and its walls, built up over centuries and above all under Venice, helped earn it a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Inside, the lanes have no official names, only nicknames such as "Let-me-pass", and the lopsided squares are named after what was once sold there: Salad Square, Flour Square, Milk Square and the Square of Arms. Most squares have a church at their heart. Look for St. Luke's, which has both a Catholic and an Orthodox altar, and the Cats Museum, a nod to Kotor's nickname, the City of Cats.

   Tip: Explore early in the morning or in the evening, since many visitors arrive by cruise ship, and check the Port of Kotor's cruise arrivals page to see which days are busiest.

   Free to visit
   Sources: Kotor Tourist Organization (official); Kotor Tourist Organization (official); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); Port of Kotor (official)
2. 2Kotor

   Climb Kotor's walls to St. John's Fortress

   Kotor's walls rise straight out of the sea, zigzag up St. John's Hill to the fortress that guarded the town, then drop back down the far side, closing a ring of stone about 4.5 km long. Shaped from Illyrian times to the Venetian era, they reach 20 m high in places. The fortress at the top was the command center of the town's defense, with gun positions, armories and quarters. On the way up you pass Our Lady of Remedy, a votive church built after a plague and reached by a stairway lined with five small chapels. Allow about an hour for the roughly 1,400 steps. There are two ways in from the old town: on Škaljari Square and behind the Church of St. Mary.

   Tip: Climb in the early morning or late afternoon rather than in the midday sun, and wear sturdy non-slip shoes and carry water.

   Foreign visitors: €15 (about $17) · Free for residents of MontenegroFee changed?

   Last verified Nov 3, 2026

   Search tours on TiqetsSources: Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); Kotor Tourist Organization (official); Kotor Tourist Organization (official); Opština Kotor; Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official)
3. 3Perast

   Take a boat to Our Lady of the Rocks

   Two small islands sit in the bay off Perast. St. George is natural, with a 12th-century church and the old Perast graveyard. Our Lady of the Rocks is man-made: people sank stones and old sailing ships around a reef to build up land for a church, and by legend its main altar stands over the rock where the Mortešić brothers found a painting of the Mother of God. The museum beside the church holds paintings of Perast ships, ship instruments and an embroidery of the altar by Hijacinta Kunić, who worked on it from 1803 to 1828 while she waited for her sailor husband, stitching in strands of her own hair. Every year on 22 July, the Fašinada boat procession still drops stones around the islet.

   Tip: Choose a slow boat tour that pairs Perast with the island; these boats keep to speed limits, and you may even see dolphins feeding in the bay.

   Boat: €[fare]; church: €[fee]Know the fee?
   Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Kotor Tourist Organization (official); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); Kotor Tourist Organization (official); Kotor Tourist Organization (official)
4. 4Perast

   Walk Perast's waterfront of captains' palaces

   Perast is one of the best preserved small towns on the eastern Adriatic, and its golden age came under Venice, from 1420 to 1797. It never had town walls: apart from Holy Cross Fort above the town, built in 1570, families defended Perast from towers built beside their palaces. Its sailors were famous. In 1698 Captain Marko Martinović opened the first maritime school in the Balkans here, teaching navigation to Russian nobles, and Matija Zmajević rose to admiral of the Russian fleet in 1714. The Perast Museum, in the 17th-century Bujović Palace, tells the story through about 2,000 objects: ship models, charts, weapons, portraits of sea captains and Baroque paintings by Tripo Kokolja.

   Tip: Check the museum's opening days before you go, since it closes every Monday and for the whole of January.

   Free to visit
   Sources: Muzeji Kotor (official); Muzeji Kotor
5. 5Lovćen

   Climb the 461 steps to Njegoš's mausoleum on Lovćen

   Lovćen is Montenegro's symbolic mountain, and on its Jezerski Vrh peak, at about 1,660 m, lies Petar II Petrović Njegoš: bishop, poet and ruler. His mausoleum replaced an earlier chapel and was completed in 1974 to a design by the sculptor Ivan Meštrović. You reach it through a tunnel of 461 steps. Meštrović's black granite figures of Montenegrin women stand at the mausoleum, and inside, under a vault covered in a mosaic of 200,000 gilded tiles, lies his marble sarcophagus. The view takes in about two-thirds of the country and the Bay of Kotor far below. You can drive up from Kotor or come via Cetinje.

   Tip: Plan your visit between 15 April and 15 November, when the mausoleum opens daily; it is closed for the rest of the year.

   Mausoleum: €8 (about $9) · The national park day ticket is extraFee changed?

   Last verified Nov 3, 2026

   Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: National Museum of Montenegro (official); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); National Museum of Montenegro (official, Montenegrin text)
6. 6Lake Skadar

   Glide through the water lilies of Lake Skadar

   Lake Skadar National Park is home to around 280 bird species, including the rare Dalmatian pelican and the cormorant, and has been on the Ramsar list of internationally important wetlands since 1995. Its waters are dotted with water lilies and water chestnut. Virpazar is the most visited village on the lake, and you can rent a boat or kayak there or at the visitor center in Vranjina. Organized boat trips visit small islands with old monasteries and fortresses, among them Grmožur, a former prison nicknamed the Montenegrin Alcatraz, and often stop for a swim. Above Virpazar, the old Besac fortress has a panoramic terrace and a wine museum, and local taverns serve smoked fish and lake carp.

   Tip: Come in autumn or winter for the best birdwatching, and bring binoculars for the lake's five bird-watching stations.

   National park, per day: €5 (about $6) · Boat trips are extraFee changed?

   Last verified Nov 3, 2026

   Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); Nacionalni parkovi Crne Gore
7. 7Budva

   Explore Budva Old Town's walls, churches and citadel

   Budva is one of the oldest settlements on the Adriatic, and legend says it was founded by Cadmus, the exiled ruler of Thebes. Its old town is a compact knot of lanes, squares and churches inside medieval walls with towers and gates. Earthquakes in 1667 and 1979 did heavy damage, and the town was restored in the decade after the last one. Look for Santa Maria in Punta, founded by Benedictines in 840, and St. John's, whose bell tower dates from 1867. The Citadel, first mentioned in 1425, guards the highest corner. The town museum shows finds from the Greek and Roman graves uncovered in front of the walls when the Avala Hotel was built.

   Tip: Come back in the evening in summer, when the Grad Teatar festival brings plays, concerts and exhibitions into the old town's squares.

   Free to visit
   Sources: Budva Tourist Organization (official, Montenegrin text); Budva Tourist Organization (official, Montenegrin text); Budva Tourist Organization (official, Montenegrin text); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); Budva Tourist Organization (official, Montenegrin text); Budva Tourist Organization (official, Montenegrin text)
8. 8Cetinje

   Tour King Nikola's palace in Cetinje

   Cetinje, the old royal capital below Lovćen, holds five centuries of Montenegrin history. The King Nikola Museum fills the palace built in 1867 for Princess Darinka, widow of Prince Danilo, which later became the royal family's home. Its rooms are set out as they were, with furniture, portraits and objects of the Petrović Njegoš dynasty, and the royal library keeps copies of books from the Crnojević press, which printed the Oktoih in Cetinje in 1493, the first book printed among the South Slavs. King Nikola had 12 children and was called the Father-in-Law of Europe. Also in town, Biljarda, Njegoš's residence from 1838, holds his manuscript of The Mountain Wreath and a huge relief map of Montenegro.

   Tip: Visit between mid-April and mid-November if you can, since the museum opens daily then but only on weekdays in winter.

   Entry: €8 (about $9)Fee changed?

   Last verified Nov 3, 2026

   Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: National Museum of Montenegro (official); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); National Museum of Montenegro (official); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); National Museum of Montenegro (official, Montenegrin text)
9. 9Budva Riviera

   See Sveti Stefan from the beaches beside it

   Sveti Stefan is a walled islet joined to the shore by a sandbar. By tradition, the Paštrovići clans fortified it in 1442 with loot from Turkish galleys and built 12 houses, one for each clan. For almost 300 years it was their trading center and the seat of their tribal court. It takes its name from the church of St. Stephen at its top. Sveti Stefan was a fishing village until the 1950s, when it was turned into a hotel that opened in 1960 and drew stars such as Sophia Loren and Kirk Douglas. Two sandy beaches, East and West, curve away on either side of the causeway, with pink and reddish stone and clear turquoise water.

   Tip: For sunset, walk on to the beach at Pržno, a former fishing village whose beach faces west and keeps the sun until it goes down.

   Free to visit
   Search tours on TiqetsSources: Budva Tourist Organization (official, Montenegrin text); Budva Tourist Organization (official, Montenegrin text); Budva Tourist Organization (official, Montenegrin text)
10. 10Njeguši

    Taste smoked pršut and cheese in Njeguši

    Njeguši, a village on the slopes of Lovćen, is the home of the Petrović dynasty and of Montenegro's best-known ham. Njeguški pršut is smoked only over beech wood and cured for about six months, and locals credit its flavor to the meeting of sea wind and mountain air. Order it with the village's smoked cheese, honey and local wine. In the hamlet of Erakovići you can visit the house where Njegoš was born in 1813, built by his uncle Petar I in 1779 and now a small museum. From Njeguši, the old Austro-Hungarian road winds down toward the bay, and Žanjev Do, the first viewpoint past the village, opens a wide view of the Bay of Kotor.

    Tip: Visit the Njegoš birth house between 15 April and 15 November, since it is closed the rest of the year.

    Pay as you go
    Sources: Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); National Museum of Montenegro (official); Kotor Tourist Organization (official); National Museum of Montenegro (official, Montenegrin text)
11. 11Kotor

    Ride the cable car from Kotor up Lovćen

    The Kotor Cable Car links the sea and the mountains in one ride. Its lower station at Dub sits about 200 m from the Budva to Tivat road, and the gondolas climb 4 km in 11 minutes to the village of Kuk on Mount Lovćen, 1,348 m above sea level, with the bay and the old town of Kotor spread out below. At the top there is an alpine coaster, a ride called Falcon Fly, inspired by the grey falcon, a playground, an open-air stage, restaurants and shops. Shuttle buses run to the lower station from Kotor, Budva and Tivat. The upper station is 18 km from Cetinje, which makes it an easy way to start a day on Lovćen and in the old royal capital.

    Tip: The cable car runs by season and closes after the end of October, so check its operating dates and buy tickets online before you go.

    Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); Kotor Cable Car (official)
12. 12Kotor

    Step inside Kotor's Cathedral of St. Tryphon

    The Romanesque Cathedral of St. Tryphon, Kotor's patron saint, was consecrated in 1166 on the site of an older church and has survived four major earthquakes since. Its interior holds work by generations of fresco painters, stonecutters and goldsmiths, along with the relics of saints and of the town's patrons. The cathedral is also tied to the Boka Navy, a seafarers' brotherhood founded in 809 and said to be the oldest still active in the world. Its members perform the kolo, a ring dance with 12 named figures, on the Square of Arms during the St. Tryphon celebrations, and the Little Admiral recites praises to the saint at noon.

    Tip: If you visit in January, ask locally for this season's dates of the St. Tryphon festivities, when the Boka Navy dances its kolo in the old town.

    Entry: €[fee]Know the fee?
    Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Kotor Tourist Organization (official); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); Kotor Tourist Organization (official)
13. 13Cetinje

    Visit Cetinje Monastery, heart of Montenegro's history

    For centuries Cetinje Monastery was the seat of Montenegro's rulers and the center of both church and state, so it is the monastery that, more than any other, wrote the country's history. Besides the relics of the local saint and former ruler St. Petar of Cetinje, it keeps two of the most revered relics in the Christian world: the right hand of St. John the Baptist and a piece believed to come from the Holy Cross. The monastery stands in the middle of Cetinje on the slopes of Lovćen, a quiet town of museums that makes a good base for the national park. Biljarda, the residence Njegoš built when the monastery grew too small for the state's offices, stands right next door.

    Tip: Pair the monastery with Biljarda and the King Nikola Museum on the same walk, since all three sit close together in the center of Cetinje.

    Entry: €[fee]Know the fee?
    Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); National Museum of Montenegro (official); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official)
14. 14Budva

    Swim at Mogren Beach below Budva Old Town

    Mogren is two small sandy beaches joined by a tunnel through the rock, a few hundred meters from Budva's old town. A 350 m concrete path leads there along the cliffs from the Avala Hotel. Legend says the beach is named after Mogrini, a Spanish sailor who survived a shipwreck here and built a small chapel to St. Anthony in thanks. Mogren faces south and is sheltered from the north, east and west winds, so it gets sun from early morning, though the sun leaves it earlier in the evening. Fine sand, clear water and the rocks around it have made it a favorite of Budva locals for generations, and it is popular with walkers outside the swimming season too.

    Tip: Skip the cliff path when the south wind brings big waves, as it is not safe then.

    Free to visit
    Search tours on TiqetsSources: Budva Tourist Organization (official, Montenegrin text); Budva Tourist Organization (official, Montenegrin text)
15. 15Rijeka Crnojevića

    See the river bend at Rijeka Crnojevića

    Rijeka Crnojevića is a small village on the Crnojević River, which winds through green hills on its way into Lake Skadar. Fishing villages, water lilies and birdsong set the mood, and a boat ride through the lilies is the classic way to see it. The best-known view is from Pavlova Strana, where the river loops around the hills. From 1916 the passenger steamer Skenderbeg, built in Trieste, sailed between Rijeka Crnojevića and Skadar for nearly three decades before sinking in 1942. The hinterland is good cycling country, with small villages, local wineries and the ruins of old fortresses.

    Tip: Stop at the Pavlova Strana viewpoint for the classic view of the river's loop before you go down to the village.

    Free to visit
    Sources: Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official)
16. 16Kotor

    Learn the bay's seafaring story at Kotor's Maritime Museum

    The Maritime Museum of Montenegro grew out of a collection started around 1880 by the Boka Marine brotherhood of seafarers and opened to the public in 1900. Its home is the Grgurina Palace, a Baroque noble house from the early 18th century, fully restored for the museum between 1949 and 1952. The 1979 earthquake badly damaged the building, and the museum reopened after restoration work in the 1980s. Inside, ship models, navigation equipment, captains' cabins, portraits and weapons show how the people of the Bay of Kotor lived from the sea, which brought them trade, contact with the world and a living, and what dangers they faced on their voyages.

    Tip: Ask at the desk before you take photos, since cameras are not allowed without the museum's permission.

    Entry: €5 (about $6)Fee changed?

    Last verified Nov 3, 2026

    Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Maritime Museum of Montenegro (official); Montenegro National Tourist Organisation (official); Maritime Museum of Montenegro
17. 17Risan

    Find the god of sleep in Risan's Roman mosaics

    Risan is the oldest settlement on the Bay of Kotor: a fortified Illyrian town where, according to the Greek historian Polybius, Queen Teuta took refuge. The town flourished again under Rome in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, and the Roman Mosaics site preserves a city villa from the 2nd century with richly decorated floors. Dušan Vuksan of the National Museum in Cetinje found it in 1930, and full excavation followed between 1956 and 1960. The complex covers about 790 square meters. Most rooms have geometric and floral patterns, but the finest mosaic shows Hypnos, the Greco-Roman god of sleep, as a reclining winged youth.

    Tip: Avoid Mondays and January, when the site is closed, and pair it with the Perast Museum, which shares a joint ticket with the site.

    Entry: €6 (about $7) · Combined ticket with the Perast Museum availableFee changed?

    Last verified Nov 3, 2026

    Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Kotor Tourist Organization (official); Muzeji Kotor (official); Muzeji Kotor
18. 18Bay of Kotor

    Follow the bay road through Dobrota and Prčanj

    Dobrota, on the bay just outside Kotor, is known for the stone houses of its sea captains. Its oldest monument is the 11th-century Church of St. Elijah, and the Baroque Church of St. Eustace, rebuilt in 1773, keeps paintings and a collection of fine Dobrota lace. Prčanj, at the foot of Mount Vrmac, carried mail to and from Venice from the early 17th century, the first regular postal service on the eastern Adriatic. It is the birthplace of Captain Ivo Visin, who sailed around the world in the ship Splendido from 1852 to 1859. Its largest church, the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, holds works by Ivan Meštrović and Tripo Kokolja.

    Tip: See the shore from the water on a three-hour kayak tour from Kotor, which paddles through the bay and stops at a beach in Prčanj.

    Free to visit
    Sources: Kotor Tourist Organization (official); Kotor Tourist Organization (official); Kotor Tourist Organization (official)

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