Travel advice: Safety & Local Knowledge in Montenegro
Montenegro -Journeys through the most BEAUTIFUL places KB4x4.pl
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Wine The legal purchasing age of alcoholic beverages is 18, but there is no legal age for drinking. Ancient walled towns cling to the rocks and dip their feet in the water like they're the ones on holiday. This is the heart of the country with the state capital , the historical capital and the industrial center. In the 7th century, the Slavs arrived from the region that is now Poland.
That final stretch takes 9 hours; how you get to Belgrade is of course up to you. Failure to register can result in fines and difficulties when departing. World Nomads Canada Ltd BC: 0700178; Business No: 001 85379 7942 RC0001 is a licensed agent sponsored by AIG Insurance Company of Canada at 120 Bremner Boulevard, Suite 2200, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 0A8, Canada.
Montenegro travel advice - Crossing the border is quickest by taxi, since the driver will know the small border that saves time in the highseason. You can also easily tailor-make trips.
Montenegro seemed marvellously manageable, a country at your fingertips, yet promising bewildering variety. I wanted to find out a little more about what held it all together. My first few nights were spent near Budva, in the traditional, stone-built Vila Vita, looking out over the Adriatic. The owner's goats munched and bleated on the hillside behind. One of their brethren, spit-roasted and served with pickled cabbage and new potatoes, made for a magnificent feast a few nights later. This stretch of coast is Montenegro's tourist hot spot. The stony alleys of Budva Old Town pulsate with music from many bars, sunbathers lie side by side on long beaches, and, in pride of place, Sveti Stefan island lies at the far end of a thin causeway, clusters of stone houses clinging to its rocks. Once a fishing village, Sveti Stefan was turned in its entirety into a hotel in the Fifties, and became a hideaway for Hollywood stars and assorted royals. But for me, the best of Montenegro lay across the mountains, which crowd right up to the edge of the Adriatic, on one side, and on the other, tumble to the sea in a series of fjord-like bays. My first glimpse of what lay in store was on a bracing hike along the Vrmac massif, following a stone path built a century ago by the Austro-Hungarian army. To one side lay Tivat, to the other, across a mirror of still water, the walled town of Kotor, its ancient sandstone buildings shifting through a pastel spectrum in the sunlight. A few days later, back down at water level and comfortably settled in an apartment at Kotor Vista, directly across the bay, I made my way round to the town. A Venetian naval stronghold from the 15th to the 18th centuries, Kotor has something of the air of its mother city. There are no cars. Steps and alleyways entice you this way and that, conversation echoes in palazzo-edged squares — and you can get pleasantly lost, safe in the knowledge that at some point you'll reach the intact city wall. Stalls in the market offer air-dried ham from the country's interior, olives mixed with mountain rosemary, and garlands of dried figs strung together with bay leaves. At cafés just inside the town gates people indulged in that favourite of all Montenegrin occupations — long conversations over small cups of coffee. Above them, a 17th-century clock tower with two faces, one running slightly behind the other, rather quirkily struck the hour twice. It was from Kotor that I took the short drive on the corniche, stopping at Risan to see third-century Roman mosaics, including delicate geometric patterns and a rare representation of Hypnos, god of sleep. A few miles on, at Lipci, up a rocky path, I almost missed the faded deer painted on a rock face some 3,000 years ago. Later I paused for a superb lunch of risotto negro black with squid ink and grilled fish in the gardens of a 17th-century water mill. Each day I made another foray, including a trip up the pass behind Kotor Vista and through the mountainous wilderness of Lovcén National Park to Cetinje, the former capital. In the palace of the poet-king Nikola I, a portrait of the mustachioed monarch, pearl-handled revolver tucked into his cummerbund, stared down at me, like the fierce father of a captive princess, whose hand I had dared request. I drove farther down the coast and through wine lands to lonely Lake Skadar, where numerous birds squawked, quacked and chattered in the low mist that hung over the wetlands. And finally, I travelled inland to Ostrog, where a hillside monastery, carved into the rock, has two cave chapels, one covered in delicate frescoes by the 17th-century master Radul. In the garden below, an ancient nun — hunchbacked, in a black cowl, one pale, twisted hand clutching a red watering can — tended her herb garden, convincing me finally that I had wandered into a medieval romance. In the evening, I would return to relax on my balcony and admire Kotor in the sunset, or to wander around the bay into town, and sit with a little cup of coffee at a café just inside the city gates, under a clock tower that struck the hour twice. GETTING THERE Montenegro Airlines 020 7864 4031; flies twice weekly from Gatwick to Tivat. Tickets purchased through Explore Montenegro 020 7118 1002; cost £226 adult return and £159 for children under 12. Further general information on Montenegro from the National Tourism Organisation of Montenegro 00382 77 100001;. PACKAGES I travelled with Explore Montenegro 020 7118 1002; , which offers packages at various properties in the area, including many beautifully restored historical buildings. Seven nights in a two-bedroom apartment at Kotor Vista, for example, for two adults and two children, including flights and car hire, cost from £368 per person. You can also easily tailor-make trips. Sixt car hire has offices at Tivat airport, with well-maintained cars, and offers competitive rates. THE INSIDE TRACK Montenegro is famed for its fine air-dried ham. The best comes from the village of Njegusi, also noted for its cheeses, on the pass between Kotor and Cetinje. Look out for hand-painted signs offering cheese and ham for sale, as well as rakija, the local firewater. Montenegrin red wines, especially of the ancient Vranac grape variety, are well worth discovering. The Wine Rooms in Kotor Old Town has an excellent range of wines from all over the country and offers tasting sessions. Black Mountain Adventure Travel will take you hiking along the Vrmac massif, and offers other eco-related activities around the country. Pajo 69 609337 offers boat trips around the Bay of Kotor, and to sights along the coast. THE BEST RESTAURANTS Restaurant Koliba Bogetici, Bogetici £ Traditional mountain dishes, such as lamb cooked in milk. A good lunch stopover, overlooking the Ostrog valley, on a visit to the monastery. Langust, Przno ££ Boats bob in a quiet cove, while you tuck in to excellent fish and seafood in the fishing village on the shore. Stari Mlini, Kotor ££ A 17th-century watermill on the shores of the Bay of Kotor, with a vigorous garden and its own trout pool. Fresh fish and seafood are a speciality. Konoba Stari Grad, Budva ££ A traditional inn in the heart of Budva Old Town, with live local music and a good range of seafood, as well as inland hams and cheeses.