Luxury Montenegro Holidays

Boasting beautiful beaches along its stunning coastline, Montenegro’s beauty ranges from verdant pine-clad mountains, clear glacial lakes, and crystal clear Adriatic waters lapping against historic walled coastal towns.

A small but immensely beautiful European country, little-discovered Montenegro enjoys a mild Mediterranean climate with over 200 sunny days a year, a 300km long, picturesque Adriatic coastline with more than 100 wonderfully unspoilt beaches, a rugged mountainous interior, and a wealth of well-preserved historic walled towns, traditional villages and rural hamlets.

Just south of Croatia, Montenegro, or Crna Gora (Black Mountain), as it is known locally, has a rich history with the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Ottoman Turks all leaving their mark, plus a distinctive Venetian influence in Budva, Herceg Novi and the UNESCO listed Kotor.

Our hotels in Becici, near historic Budva, are perfect to combine with Dubrovnik for a two centre holiday.

Cuisine

For a relatively small country Montenegro has a wide range of culinary offerings as numerous historic occupiers have left their culinary marks. The results are a fascinating fusion of quite exotic flavours; always using high quality, fresh, often organic, produce. There is Austro-Hungarian influenced goulash and satarash, Italian pasta and polenta dishes, and moussaka, burek and baklava; all traced back to Turkey.

Along the Adriatic coast the emphasis is on a healthy, light diet with delicious freshly caught fish and seafood, lots of extra virgin olive oil and an abundance of fresh fruits. Further inland cuisine is more hearty and wholesome, the exceptionally fertile lake region is home to the country’s wine production, and Lake Skadar is well renowned for its freshwater fish.

In addition to the stunning coastline, Montenegro boasts a wealth of sights and historic attractions with medieval walled towns, traditional villages, churches and monasteries. Don’t miss UNESCO listed Kotor, in its spectacular fjord-like bay, which features Venetian architecture, a 17th century clock tower, museums and 12th century St Triphun Cathedral. A short distance away in Boka Bay, Perast is a beautiful old town with frequent taxi boat transfers to Our Lady of the Rock (Gospa od Skrpjela), a picturesque little island with an amazing church and museum. And just 20 minutes’ drive from the coast in its own beautiful national park, Lake Skadar, is the largest expanse of water in the Balkans. Another of the four national parks, breathtaking Durmitor, is set along the Tara river canyon; of glacial origin, it features one of the deepest gorges in Europe where clear lakes nestle in dense forests themselves home to bear, wolf, wild boar, chamois, numerous bird species and a range of rare flora.

Activities

Not surprisingly, Montenegro is fantastic for walking, hiking and mountain biking and there is also exhilarating white-water rafting and sea kayaking possibilities. Numerous coastal watersports include water skiing and wake boarding, and hotels generally offer various sports amenities including tennis courts and fitness rooms. In addition, there are four national parks to explore including Lake Skadar, the largest expanse of water in the Balkans, and Durmitor, set along the Tara river canyon with a fantastic range of flora and fauna, dense forests and clear lakes.