This wasn’t the first time we’ve taken a long journey on one form of transport. To get to Paris for the Olympics last summer, we took a 12 hour Flixbus - with a brief ferry - which was long and uneventful. It was a necessity due to the price surging for flights to Paris during the Olympics. So when we decided to take an 11 hour overnight train from Belgrade in Serbia to Bar in Montenegro we sort of knew what we were getting ourselves into. In one seat, maybe some sleep and quite start stop.
Luckily, we’d gone to the station a couple of day prior to book seats as when our old, graffiti covered and clunky train pulled into the platform, it seemed like half the population of Belgrade were also heading towards Bar. Our booked tickets weren’t actually right next to each other so after some confusion and a helpful woman translating for us, a middle aged Serbian woman kindly swapped seats with one of us so we could at least have some company for our long, slow journey down to Montenegro. We departed around 8pm looking to arrive in Bar around 7am the next day.
The train itself was surprisingly comfortable. Whilst it was an older train, the seats were roomy and comfy to sit on. Our fellow passengers were considerate with no one playing music once it got to a more natural time for sleep (11pm onwards). And thankfully, no smoking in the carriage! However, there were designated smoking areas between the carriages. Fair enough, if you’re a smoker 11 hours without a cigarette is a long time - especially when there isn’t much to keep you occupied. The one flaw in this arrangement was the fact the doors between the carriages and the smoking area didn’t work and were wide open. Thus completely defeating the admittedly well intentioned thought of having a separate area for smokers.
Our fellow passengers were made up mostly of families travelling (presumably to see relatives in Montenegro as the schools have already ended for the summer here), a few other backpackers and a group of teenagers who I’d imagine were from more rural Serbia on their way home after a day in Belgrade. Sleeping was quite sporadic, for me at least. One man had a cough that I hope he’s been to see a doctor about. A small child was watching Peppa Pig in Serbian. There was a panic when a family thought they’d left dad on the platform. Grumpy Serbian and Montenegrin border guards woke us up at 4am to check passports. And then we arrived in Bar. Tired, thirsty and smelling like stale cigarettes.
Bar was a stop of necessity. It made sense to stay for a couple of days after the train as we’d be too tired to travel onwards and it was by the sea. Something we both wanted after being largely in landlocked countries for the past few months. Our apartment was a short taxi drive away, nice and spacious and most importantly, had access to a shared pool. We arrived, showered, slept for a while before lying by the pool. There’s not really much else to say about Bar as to be honest, it wasn’t the most exciting place. We were aware there was an old town a 10 to 15 minute drive away but decided to forgo that in favour of resting and relaxing by the pool. Which is largely where we spent the next two days.
The drive to Budva was stunning. Our bus took barely any hour but we were treated to glorious views of the Adriatic Sea on one side and towering mountains on the other. The suspension was springy to say the least and the driver was playing songs that were a combo of Eurodance and Montenegrin folk (which we would later find out was a genre called “TurboFolk”). I don’t really have much to say about Budva beyond it was like any other costal resort city. Everything was about 25% more expensive than it needed to be, it was quite crowded (although not unpleasantly so for this time of year) and the food and drink was ok at best. The old town was nice to be fair. Lots of little streets to wander around but they were mostly filled with souvenir shops and over priced cafes. It even cost €2 to walk along the city wall. There was a second, more secluded beach which was nicer. However our highlight was probably buying tinnies and listening to ‘Dracula’ on audiobook.
After a couple of days we headed in land to Cetinje - which is the old capital of Montenegro. It was a peaceful and much quieter place so a welcome change of pace. We hadn’t however managed to escape the full throng of the tourists as Cetinje had a regular supply of coach tours arriving for a couple of hours before departing to make way for the next round. One thing we did find about Montenegro was that it was difficult to get about without a car. This meant getting a number for a local taxi company to ferry us about. We did mange to get to a cave, a winery and a restaurant with a fantastic view of the valley below.
Our next stop was Kotor. Another place on the tourist path so we crossed our fingers that we weren’t walking into another Budva. Thankfully, it was far from that. Whilst it was definitely tourists (the old town being a larger albeit more enjoyable version of the one in Budva and there being a number of huge cruise ships in the harbour in the day) we definitely felt more of an affinity with the place. We’d heard about a wine bar that was a raft in the bay where the wine was kept at the bottom of the ocean with divers going down to collect them - although not whenever you order one it turns out, which does make sense. A group of lads next to us ordered some mussels to share and one of the people working there walked to the edge of the raft, grabbed a rope, pulled up a box and took a bowl full of mussels out. Elen ordered some prawns and when they were brought over, he said to her “When you’re done, just throw the shells in the sea.” Much to the delight of the fish nearby.
The next couple of days were a mix of land and sea. We took a boat trip around the bay, including a swimming stop at some blue caves and an ice lolly stop at an island with a church. The final day saw us walk up “The Ladder of Kotor” an 8km walk up then down a mountain to see the view which included 72 switch backs and a random house about halfway up where the owners sold beer and soft drinks and let you drink them under a shaded area with homemade wooden chairs. The walk itself - especially on the way down - was fairly unexciting but was made up for with the view from the top and the rest stop.
We could have probably stayed in Kotor for one more day but next we headed to Virpazar, a small town on the edge of Lake Skadar national park. Initially, we were planning on staying in the nearby capital city of Podgorica but pretty much everyone we spoke to said a variation of “I wouldn’t bother, not much to do there”, so we heeded their advice and stayed in Virpazar for four nights. It was a small place but stunning. We had tea on a pirate ship in the river one night, went for a drink at the skybar of the fancy hotel (every night) and found a fort that was also a restaurant. The lake itself was stunning. We made the most of it by going on an organised boat trip and hiring kayaks on two separate days. Virpazar is also well known for being a wine region so we visited a local family owned vineyard for a tasting. The final day we had planned to do a 12km walk, starting out in the mountains and returning to Virpazar. The woman in the tourist information place had assured us the trail was clearly marker and we would be able to get a taxi from the town. This turned out to be half true as yes, we easily found a taxi but also no, as after a 15 minute drive, the driver had no idea where to drop us. In order to avoid “Doing a Michael Mosely” (RIP) on a hot day in a country we don’t know, we changed tact and returned home for a walk nearby. This was a lot less interesting but it did mean we found a place for a wild swim in a natural pool.
Our final morning in Montenegro saw us get the early train to Podgorica to see if there really was nothing to do there. Nothing felt like an exaggeration. We found a beautiful park to walk around and stop for another listen to ‘Dracula’, a museum which featured a really interesting exhibition about life in former Yugoslavia in the 90s as the country began to split into the modern day Balkans and another park where I wrote the majority of this post. Make of that what you.
I can’t say I’ll rush back to Montenegro. It was beautiful don’t get me wrong. It just didn’t seem to have the same appeal as other places we’ve visited. I’m sure if we had a car there was more we could do but it wasn’t just that. Everything felt either too touristy or touristy without having the facilities (if that makes sense). Two English brothers we met in Kotor had said the other national park was beautiful - so maybe I’d go back there. But probably not.
