Here we go again! I might be getting the hang of this now…. Thanks for tuning in to read more tales from my travels in Montenegro. It’s nice to see you, to see you, nice!
In this Volume, I’m going to firstly recount my voyages within the beautiful country of Montenegro and then secondly, I am dying to show you some delectable delicious delights I had the good fortune to sample. In sum, it’s going to be a lot of local information, a bit of history and a whole lot of yumminess!
Voyage and Discover
Montenegro, the Black Mountain, is a beautiful country with a rather turbulent history in terms of land and country boundaries. There were several excursions on offer for visitors ranging from short trips to local coastal areas to longer day trips out to the Skadar Lake which sits between Albania and Montengro. We booked a Jet2-organised Montenegro Tour and took ourselves to Kotor, not to mention explored the Herceg Novi Old Town.
The Palmon Bay Hotel is located in Igalo, a small town in the Herceg Novi Municipality. There wasn’t much in the way of water sports offered or other activities for adults besides bars and eateries the local area, that we saw. For children, there are some small rides, arcades and a large inflatable play area. You can walk right along the shorefront, which is populated with tourist shops, bars and restaurants, to the Old Town of Herceg Novi. Basically, head towards where the fortress meets the sea, and head up.
Herceg Novi Old Town
This author would recommend ‘heading up’ in the evening when the sun isn’t burning down on you climbing what feels like 500 steep steps to get up to the Old Town. The streets there are narrow and cobbled and the passageways winding. Restaurants aplenty, you can also find historic churches and other old municipal buildings of interest in this area. We didn’t find it awe-inspiring but it passes an evening for sure. For my dining recommendation, check out the ‘Bites and Beverages’ section below! ATTENTION: Many steep steps, so this would be unsuitable for wheelchairs or persons with reduced mobility. Please check online to see if there are any more accessible ways to visit the Old Town.
Even in the evening, the temperature is warm and the steps seem never-ending. Then, all of a sudden, a marvellous oasis by the name of Pub Got comes into view approximately halfway up the climb. For fear of repeating myself later, I shan’t say too much now but needless to say, this was a wonderful watering hole for the thirsty and sweating-their-buttocks-off tourist. They sell local craft beer, the local Nikšićko, as well as spirits and soft drinks. The barman said there had always been a pub on that spot, and there are memorabilia and quirky knick-knacks all around the tiny bar. Included is an original beer barrel gifted to the pub in 1864 by the local brewery at the time. I’d certainly recommend taking respite there.
Montenegro Tour
We booked this via the Jet2 rep at our hotel. The first evening we price-checked local tour companies, to ensure the best deal and the best trip, however most companies no longer offered this trip. We paid 55€ per person and this included the transport, guided tour and snack of locally made produce. Despite the Jet2 rep giving us out-dated information on the timings of the trip, we felt we saw a lot and had adequate time to chip the surface of what this country has to offer. Picked up from the hotel, the bus took us across the bay via the 10-min ferry and this was a nice breath of fresh air.
The first port of call was the Serpentine Road. Built in the late 1800s to join the then Austro-Hungarian coastal areas of now-Montengro and the mountainous Kingdom of Montenegro, it’s a long road that snakes up the mountain and consists of 16 hairpin turns. Going up in a large coach is enough to make one hold their breath, especially when other cars and transport comes from the other direction. The road is only wide enough for one! But at the top of this, is the most stunning view. Stretching miles, you can see right across the Kotor Bay and beyond. It takes your breath away. Away, I say!
A wee tantalising titbit of a local legend is that in the 1870s, Josip Slade-Šilović was tasked with constructing a modern road from Kotor to Cetinje. He was also in love with the Princes Milena. Subsequently, he constructed this road as an expression of his love for her and built it in the shape of the letter ‘M’.
You can see clear as day the large M nestled into the countryside here. I think my partner could take some romance tips: where is my hand-crafted road?
We visited the small village of Njeguši (birthplace of King Nikola I) and tried some local cheese, bread, pršut (smoked ham) and wine and then on to Cetinje which is the old royal capital. No longer the capital city, this is historical town is home to the museum of King Nikola. Essentially a large house, you can see authentic furniture and preserved rooms, and some of their stately belongings, militaria and homeware. Vuk, our tour guide for the whole day, showed us around the museum and I’ll take this time to say what a fantastic tour guide he was: funny, intelligent, charismatic and attentive. We had a bit of free time, unfortunately not a lot, after this to grab a refreshing drink in one of the cafés around and about, and I popped into the local post office to buy a stamp to send my postcards home.
Budva was our next and final stop on this snapshot tour of Montenegro. Boasting a beautiful harbour and an Old Town, it’s quite the picturesque spot. Vuk guided us through the winding streets of the walled Old Town, which incidentally didn’t seem very big, towards the farther end and proceeded to explain to us the difference between the two types of churches which are right next to each other: Catholic and Orthodox. This author believes they can confidently identify an orthodox church… it’s all in the bells!
We spent a bit of time looking around the Old Town, grabbed a local craft beer (more on that pleasant surprise in the highly-anticipated Volume Beer), and then decided to use our remaining time to walk along a bit of the harbour. There was a wee market stall selling very fresh fish, all very much just caught and still with all their various body parts. Can’t get fresher than that!
We tried to grab a refreshment in a Restaurant Porto and after confirming with the waitress we could order just drinks, we sat down… only to be moved a few moments later by a rather rude waiter claiming we cannot have just drinks, only meals. We tried to explain we had already asked but this was falling on deaf and uncaring ears. He even told us to go to another place if we just wanted drinks. I’d like to point out there was only one other outside table which was populated at this place, and only a handful inside, so I really don’t know what his problem was. We swiftly left and were happily accommodated in another place just down the way. This was one of only a couple of negative interactions with people in Montenegro.
The tour was fantastic though. We were fatigued of course but buzzing at having seen even just a snapshot of the culture, history and landscape of this Balkan country.
Kotor Town
Kotor was the other outing we did. The objective for me for any travelling is to explore and experience the place to which I have voyaged, however a large focus for this holiday was to relax and kick back (what’s that when it’s at home?). Therefore, we did not stuff our schedule to bursting point with activities and excursions but I definitely think we made the most of our time.
We actually grabbed the local bus from the bus station which, if it had not been for a kind local, we would not have found from where the town service bus (1€ each person just around Herceg Novi) dropped us off. But find it we did, and we bought a ticket to go to Kotor (4€ each) and hurried onto the bus which departed not 5 minutes later. Surprisingly, and to our absolute delight, it was an air-conditioned coach. Fairly simple. The journey took approximately an hour and a half, and it went right around the coastal road so the views the whole way of the sea and bay were gorgeous.
In Kotor we stayed exclusively in the Old Town. We weren’t so interested in the other more modern elements of the town, nor the beaches or harbour. We loved this Old Town more than the one in Budva or in our own Herceg Novi. This Old Town seemed larger and with more ways to lose oneself.
The weather was hot. I think because we were surrounded by tall, close-knit buildings, the heat was trapped and we were sweating like sillybillys. We looked at some shops, bumped into a rather chatty woman from USA who gave me her social card, and informed me that if I’m galivanting around and talking to people, I must also get a social card (Do you have a social card? Does anyone? Let me know!). I do galivant and I do talk, this is fair. I purchased a banknote for my collection from pre-WWII from the local area (checked with Venetian stamp from during Venetian occupation 1941-1943.
There’s a craft beer bar just at the entrance to the Old Town ‘The Nitrox Pub’ but at eye-watering prices, we decided to not patronise this place and instead settled in to sample some of the refreshing drinks in The Square Pub. We ended up a tad bit squiffy as they seemed to be rather generous with their spirits but it was all good fun.
Kotor Old Town has lots of old buildings and the mountainous backdrop is beautiful. Buildings that were once used as homes and everyday town life, are now parliamentary or other such official town buildings. We sadly did not get a guided tour of the town although I’d be eager to know more about the individuals and life in Kotor way back when.
Bites and Beverages
Fact: Some of you skipped straight to this bit, and I don’t blame you one bit. I adore trying local cuisine, produce and specialities and exploring new taste sensations. During our trip to Montenegro, we had some damn good food. I do declare that Veal is my new favourite meat. Pizza is a big thing over there too, being just a hop, skip and a jump over the water from Italy, and seafood, of course, being next to the ocean.
Cheese, Wine and Pršut
Referring back to the Montenegro Tour and the village of Njeguši, we sampled some local cheese, bread, pršut (smoked ham) and wine (see photo to the right). Local Trappist cheese and homemade cheese is also a staple of our hotel breakfast. The cheese is quite strong and flavourful and I do prefer the Trappist over the homemade-style (although both probably homemade). It’s white in varying degrees and while I found the homemade cheese varied in texture depending on the day, the Trappist was hard cheese.
Montenegrin wine? Not my thing. I like wine. I like tasting wine but I found the two Montenegrin house wines I tried (white) not to my taste. For me, they were not smooth and they didn’t taste of good quality. You can find advertisements for local pršut being served/sold everywhere. This is extremely similar to Italian prosciutto which is dried ham but I heard a local say the Italians don’t smoke their ham, whereas in Montengro they do. I like it fine, but I wouldn’t go mad for it. Give me back my cheese, please, Louise.
Fishy on my Dishy
Fresh fish served with potatoes and vegetables I ordered from one restaurant and it was absolutely beautiful. The skin was cooked crispy and seasoned and the flesh inside soft and flavourful. The bones weren’t too bothersome either. It really was a fantastically-cooked fish, priced at around 18-20€ (depends on weight). The side vegetables complimented it nicely along with the garlicky sesame seed balloon-ish bread.
Fish platter was a sharing dish we ordered in the restaurant Iliada. Cat allergy warning: this restaurant attracts many of the feline variety which beg for food next to your table. The silly creatures beg when you have just got your dish and are determined to eat it all. However, when you are full and have some scraps to offer them, they’ve moved on to the next person just tucking into their food.
It was a huge meal and sadly we could not finish even half of the vegetables. However, they tasted incredible, and the dish itself was extremely impressive to the eye and satisfying to the tastebuds. There were calamari, a large fish each, two small fish each, mussels, octopus, some crab, large prawns and I probably missed something off. They say it feeds two, however I would say three comfortably and four when having dessert/starters. Click here to read my TripAdvisor review! This bad boy was 38€ and the restaurant brought us a teeny wee fishy salad kind of starter on the house. Check out the platter!
Voluptuous Veal
Veal is incredibly popular in Montengro and is served in a variety of ways… and I revered all I tried! The first time I tried a local veal dish, it was so simple: just roasted veal and potatoes, served with a wee bit of salad on the side. Simple? Maybe. Delicious? Most definitely. It’s a must-try. This dish was approximately 17€ which is pretty pricey for what it is but I loved every mouthful.
The second time I consumed veal was while exploring Herceg Novi Old Town, and we were recommended this very local restaurant Konoba Karaca by the barman in the Pub Grot. As a native to the area, he said he would go there for a good meal; it did not disappoint.
We ordered some local cheese to start and it was really good. As a main, I got veal and mashed potatoes and it came doused in a rich, thick, gravy-like sauce. It was sensational. I didn’t want to leave a single morsel. The price was exceptional too at just 4€ for the dish, assumingly as it’s so local. My partner got steak which came with chips and rice and this was pricier (think maybe 16€) but he also enjoyed it greatly. The food is cooked by grannies in a small kitchen and you know it’s going to be good when it’s cooked by grannies.
The vintage table cloths and ‘well-worn’ vibe gave the impression this restaurant had not changed much over the years. Here is the Tripadvisor page because we highly recommend Konoba Karaca! Our waiter was a seasonal worker from Bosnia Herzegovina. He was so friendly and interesting to talk to with impeccable English. We obviously likewise made a good impression as he offered us a free drink at the end of our evening. Without delay, we opted for the local liqueur Amaro Montenegro which, upon further research, was found out to be an Italian digestif liqueur. It did taste a little bit like Jägermeister, as we were described, but a more orange-flavoured version. It was certainly a more palatable and pleasant version. Check out the mouth-watering veal and potatoes.
On our last evening we ate at Tri Lipe. You can read my full review here but let me tell you now, the veal soup I got as a starter was incredible. My third instalment of veal, it was a hearty, tasty soup with great texture. I adored soup and this was approximately 4€’s worth of goodness. My portion of fried cheese was huge for the price, came with chips, and was comforting although not sure how local it is. I ended up taking home a doggy bag… all the way back home to Scotland! Have a gander at the veal soup.
Perky Pizza
Pizza, I suppose, must be mentioned too due to the availability and variety we saw. With this in mind, we chose to eat in Bel Paese Pizzeria. Walking past the establishment, you can see a huge red Italian pizza oven which won us over. I ordered the salmon pizza as you do not often see that flavour, if ever, in the UK and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I wished I had garlic mayo for the crusts but of course, that’s far from traditional.
My boyfriend got a Bel Paese pizza and this was his first encounter with burrata: an Italian soft cheese. It sits in a ball and is almost gooey inside. He didn’t really know what to do with it but ended up dipping his pizza into it. He said it tasted good like that, although he wouldn’t just eat the ball by itself. I think, it looks fairly like a round and perky…. never mind 😉. Feast your eyes on our pizzas.:
Colourful Cocktails
It’s not a holiday without some colourful cocktails and we had some pretty good ones in Montenegro.
I love a nice glass, colourful insides, fun added extras and fruit etc. It’s got to be exotic and an experience; a fun and fancy-free drink. That doesn’t mean it’s got to taste weird and/or have strange experimental botanical elements in it as seems to be the fashion today. I honestly hate paying good money for a cocktail only to receive a small boring glass, with a boring-coloured liquid inside, and that’s it. If I wanted that, I wouldn’t have ordered a cocktail? Anyway, rant over.
The cocktails we had in Kotor were fairly boozy but they did taste really nice and they actually had the same glasses as the Beach Club Raffaelo we visited in Herceg Novi, tikki tikki-style glasses. We had Blue Frog and Red Frog (wouldn’t recommend, boozy but not wonderful. In Kotor, they brought my partner the frozen cocktail shaker to pour himself into shot glasses for drinking), Pina Colada, and my favourite was the Black Sabbath from the Beach Club Raffaelo (first photo, black glass). This was made with Raspberry Liqueur, Pushkin Vodka, Vodka, Lemon Juice and Blueberry Juice. You can check out my review of The Square Pub, Kotor here and some cocktails we had are below.
Coming up next! The third instalment of the Mountainous Montenegro series: Volume Beer. Here we’ll look at, you guessed it, the local beer of Montenegro and some other goodies thrown in.
If you missed Volume 1, shimmy on over to read it here and catch up. I’d love to hear about your foodie experience in Montenegro! Perhaps you found something awesomely local you want to share, or visited a place I didn’t? Let me know below or get in touch!
