Montenegro

The country that first came to mind for our idea of ​​emigrating.

Montenegro is a beautiful country, and we were already captivated by it as our plane was landing.

It was absolutely wonderful.

The airport in Tivat is so tiny that only a large plane can really land there.

We picked up our rental car, which was totally straightforward. (Montenegro car 🚙)

Then we drove to our accommodation in Strp. (Stella de Mare Apartment)

On this drive, we were able to see a lot of the beautiful scenery.

It took us about an hour to reach our apartment.

The drive was lovely because it followed the coast the whole way.

The apartment was very nice and clean. We had a fantastic view of the water.

What was really cool was that we were right across from the entrance where the large cruise ships sailed into the Bay of Kotor.

After a great night's sleep and a delicious breakfast, we set off to visit an old church in the mountains. The view was magnificent ☺️.

However, as the path became increasingly steep and narrow, and the church was no longer visible, we decided to turn back and head towards Herceg Novi.

It's worth a visit, but not a must-see.

The beach was our reward.

Back at the apartment, we ended the evening with a glass of wine on the balcony.

The next day we drove towards Kotor and had a fantastic breakfast in Perast. Highly recommended (Conte Hotel and Restaurant).

After breakfast, we took the newly opened cable car up the mountain. The view of the Bay of Kotor was breathtaking.

And as is typical for us, we naturally need a bit of adventure.

The newly built summer toboggan run was unfortunately closed, but there was also a bike rental shop up there, and we were quickly in the saddle.

We took the cable car down to the valley station; the view was so beautiful.

The next day, we spent the day at the beach.

Although I have to say, we had a really lovely beach right by the apartment.

(Stella die Mare Apartment)

The landlord was so incredibly nice that we were even allowed to use his canoe.

Rainer was thrilled; he's not much of a swimmer, unlike me.

Unfortunately, we didn't have as much action this time.

The zip line and the rafting were too far away.

So we drove to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, which was just loud, dirty, and totally overcrowded.

We quickly changed our plans and went to Niagara Falls in Montenegro instead—absolutely fantastic! 👍

Unfortunately, the river was dry, but the scenery was beautiful.

So that didn't work out either. Oh well, we'll just go to the nature reserve that was nearby.

There we were, full of energy, and wanted to rent a canoe.

Let's go birdwatching for a bit, yeah right, it was just a tourist trap.

The canoe cost five euros per person, plus another five euros just for being allowed into the so-called park.

And all that for just one hour.

Of course, they tried to lure us in for longer, but we figured one hour was enough.

The canoes were filthy, and the life jackets were so wet and dirty we couldn't even put them on.

Yeah, right. After half an hour had passed and we were still in the channel leading to the bird islands, we paddled back.

It's just a money-making scheme.

Well, that wasn't the end of it.

So we continued on to the next big city, Bar.

Loud, ugly, and the old town was nowhere to be found.

It was already late, so we got a hotel room there.

You won't believe it.

We would have been better off going back to Strp.

Absolutely nothing was right (Hotel Princess Bar).

But dinner made up for the whole day.

We had a very, very good meal in an old, converted greenhouse.

The food was definitely worth five stars.

(Knjaževa bašta) was the name of the restaurant.

The next day, we drove back to our apartment along the beautiful coast.

We spent another day at the beach before heading out to see the town of Budva.

You don't really need to see Budva itself, but the beach promenade and the old town are simply amazing.

The old town, with its many little alleyways and shops, is absolutely beautiful.

We spent the next few days swimming, reading, canoeing, and relaxing.

Then, unfortunately, the rain caught up with us in Montenegro, so we had to buy jackets and shoes.

Not exactly easy in Montenegro.

We left our apartment a day early and chose a small, charming hotel with a spa in Budva.

It was such a wonderful hotel, with attention to every detail.

(Boutique Hotel Tate by aycon);

Everything was perfect.

Very friendly staff, and everything was spotlessly clean.

After a great breakfast, we drove towards Tivat and spent our last few hours on the beach there.

We really enjoyed Montenegro, but ten days would definitely be enough for such a small country. Also, take a look at Rainer's report on the pros and cons we noticed in Montenegro.