Montenegro-the first 6 days

Montenegro was on my list of places I wanted to go to for a long time. I’d seen photo’s and it reminded me of New Zealand. It’s a very small country, two thirds the size of Wales.

We were very close to the border in our last park up by lake Shkoder in Albania. We did all the exit part from Albania. Next was Montenegro. The Officer asked if we were carrying any drugs! We said ‘No’ and he waved us on. We were expecting another stop where we would buy insurance but there wasn’t one! We were on our way with no insurance and no SIM card!

We drove to the nearest town of Ulcinj where we pulled over. There was a tourist information booth that was closed, so I walked on a little further to a hotel. I managed to speak to the owner, he said if no one mentioned insurance at the border then it is not compulsory. He did however explain where the building was if we wanted to buy some insurance. Perfect!

I headed back to the van where I’d left Dee, we didn’t really want to leave Jovanna unattended whilst we had no insurance! He did manage to buy some, it cost €28 for a month! Not really sure what it actually covered us for!?

Dee also managed to get a local SIM card, another excellent deal with a company called Mtel, just €20 for 150gig of data to use in a month! Well that was all a relief, we had insurance and internet! We were on our way.

Long Beach- Cabo Restuarant

We headed back to the coast to an area called Long Beach. We had a park up next to a restaurant that we’d found on park4night app.

It was a vast area with other camp sites and restaurants but everything was closed. Hopefully just because it was out of season.

It was all completely deserted and wild. The restaurant we were next to was all completely shut up. It was a big place as well, the photo below does not show it all.

After spending the night here we decided to move on! I didn’t even swim here! It just didn’t seem worth it. I hope that the place tells a different story in the summer months.

Camp Podkraj, Virpazar

In the morning we decided to head to Virpazar and Camp Podkraj. This site had been recommended by someone on instagram. It was €15 which included use of a washing machine. This alone made it worth going to as it usually costs around €15 for the launderette!

Although the nearest village is Virpazar, the actual campsite was out in the countryside, literally in the middle of nowhere. The road getting there was very narrow and one turn especially over a bridge was very tight and a bit challenging! Luckily we made it! We all had to breathe in!

As it was still out of season we were the only ones there. The campsite was run by a really friendly family. As soon as we arrived they made us coffee.

For anyone with children it would be great, there is loads of space to run around. The family have pet rabbits which run around freely and also chickens .

I loved the rabbits, I would have loved a cuddle with one but they were way too fast!

It was such a relaxing peaceful place. We loved it there and stayed for 2 days. The first day was all about getting our washing done.

On the 2nd day we cycled into Virpazar. It took about 20 minutes and was a nice little fishing village with a river that flows into Lake Skadar. There was lots of options to go on a boat trip but we declined, instead we just had a walk round and went to the supermarket.

The photos below show how scenic our bike ride was to get to Virpazar and the a photo of me by the river/lake Skadar at Virpazar.

The real highlight though was getting to swim at the waterfall on the way back. I’d already seen it and couldn’t wait!

The owners of the campsite told us about the waterfall and when I asked if I could swim there they were surprised! They said I could but it would be very cold!

I prepared myself and was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn’t that cold! At least not by my estimation! I was expecting colder!

As you can see from the photo’s below I absolutely loved it. I wasn’t brave enough to go right up to the waterfalls. They were very powerful and the water did get deep very quickly.

When we got back to the campsite the owners gave us some eggs from their chickens which was a lovely gesture.

We may have stayed another day but when we woke up we’d had some rain in the night and more was forecast to come! We didn’t fancy getting stuck in the mud or the road out! As the road out was so narrow the owner very kindly escorted us out in his car to ensure no one came the other way.

We would definitely recommend this campsite if you are planning to go to Montenegro, such a wonderful place to relax in nature.

Budva

We decided to head to Budva which is one of the main towns on the coast. There was a free park up on the beach and we were walking distance from The Old Town of Budva so we thought it would be a good place to ‘sit out” the rain.

We arrived and went for a walk to see the Old Town. It was about a 25 minute walk along the beach that led to a harbour which is where you can see the walls of the old town.

The Budva Bell and the anchor are both located at the walls of the old town. Inside there were quite a few shops, cafes and bars. It had a really nice feel to it.

We headed back for some lunch. It was a case of dodging the rain!

Later on we went out again and ended up at a bar inside the old town. We walked in to find Tottenham and Chelsea being shown on the TV screen! My brother was actually at the game! Luckily Tottenham won so we were all happy. The bar had a nice atmosphere and we met an Irish guy who lives in Montenegro, it was nice to chat to him.

The following day the sea had calmed down and I managed to get a swim

After lunch we met up with some Turkish people who I’d been following and chatting to on instagram. They were living in Montenegro.

We went for a walk and they took us round the harbour to see the statue of the ballerina. According to legend the girl was waiting for her lover to come home from sea and every day she danced there for him. Sadly he never returned.

Sveti Stephan

After seeing the statue of the ballerina the weather was still dry so they very kindly offered to take us to see Sveti Stephan.

Sveti Stephan is about 6km to the south east of Budva. It consists of a small island which is now connected to the mainland by a narrow walkway.

The small island is actually a 5 star luxury resort owned by Aman Resorts. The hotel has been closed since early 2020 due to the Covid 19 pandemic. There has been no announcement of it reopening.

It is possible to walk up to it but of course everything is locked. We also had a walk around the beach on the ‘land’ side. The sea there was so clear and turquoise. I wished I’d brought my swimming kit!

After a lovely day we went back to Budva and had a coffee together. We just made it before the rain came so was perfect timing.

The next day was forecast to be a sunny one so we decided to move on to Kotor. Our next post starts with Kotor and continues with our time in Montenegro.

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