Montenegro
july 2023

12 days (700 km) of bike riding around Montenegro.
Hiking in Durmitor National Park

A circular cycling tour around Montenegro with start and finish in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

This time we took our own bicycles with us. For air flight we packed our bicycles in cartboard boxes. Before the trip I wrote some letters to different guesthouses in the village of Močići, closest to the airport, to ask if they could store these boxes for 10 days for our back way. And the best host was found immediately. This is the most convenient method of transportation, requiring minimal disassembly of the “iron horse”, just remove one wheel and turn the steering wheel. The only difficulty is to find a place to store the box for the return trip, because if you try to look for a box at a place, it will require time, money and might not manage .

We had a tent, rugs, and sleeping bags with us. However, we only used all this stuff once. In 2021, prices for accomodation were so low in Montenegro that it would be a sin to spend the night in a tent, instead of a room with a hot shower and a soft bed for 15-20 euros. Cycling travel is convenient because it is not necessary to stay for the night in big expensive cities. You can stay in small authentic villages and family guesthouses for almost free. The exception was Kotor, where we wound up paying 50 euros per night with breakfast included. After this trip, I decided that I would no longer take a tent to the Balkans. A year later we also traveled without a tent in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and two years later in Croatia.

Cycle Route 14082276 - via bikemap.net

September 7, 2021

Today is the first day of my Montenegro adventure, if not to count yesterday’s flight to Dubrovnik and pitiful attempts to assemble the bike in the dark.

In the morning, final adjustment and tightening of all bolts and cables and 30 km to the Croatian-Montenegro border along fabulous landscapes, up and down hills, accompanied by the aroma of herbs and figs bursting from ripeness, as well as their constant companions – hundreds of wasps!!! The border crossing was easy, without a single question in a matter of minutes and… the fabulous Bay of Kotor opens up to your eyes! From a distance and from a height it is beautiful, but riding a bike along the “promenade” for 25 km is a dubious pleasure. Old Herceg Novi is nice, it took me less than an hour to run around and see the main attractions. It took more time to find gas, which was a problem as always, because I had to buy a new camping gas cylinder. Annoying that they have different standards in different countries. Buying a SIM card for the phone was not so simple either. We could not enter a mobile phone salon without a mask (hello, Covid). We did not have masks with us on the trip, because all this Covid-stuff ended in Finland a long time before.

Result of the day: only 60 km, elevation gain of 700m, daytime air temperature up to +27 and… absolute pleasure, as can only happen on the first day of a trip, while you still have a lot of energy and your butt doesn’t hurt from the bike yet.
For the night we stopped at a semi-wild campsite in the village of Morinj, right on the seashore with a five-star view from the tent.

September 8, 2021

It was a very difficult day! Of course, I remember that mountains are not hills, when the total elevation gain can be large, but at least there is an opportunity to recover on descents. Mountains are much harder and today was tough!!! The climb from the Bay of Kotor along the serpentine road is 15 km with an ascent of 1000 m – it’s 2 hours slowly uphill with no way to stop, because it is impossible to start again with all my heavy bags, tents and other stuff. But it was just the beginning. Then I turned from the main asphalt road to “my” planned route, called “small roads are the most beautiful,” which led to a soft loose trail. At first I decided that somehow I’ll make 40 km, but after 5 km started a climb over loose sand and I got up. It is impossible to pedal or even push the bike uphill, the ground is so soft. We had to cut back to the official route. This 10 km loop took almost an hour and a lot of effort to no avail.

At the end of the day, we covered 80 km with a gain of just over 1500m, and had no strength left. It was not a question of whether to pitch a tent or spend the night in the guesthouse of the city Nikšić.

The next day, according to the plan, was a “rest” of no more than 70 km before the toughest climb on the fourth day of the journey.
In fact, physical fatigue was compensated for by the aesthetic ecstasy of the beauty around.

September 9, 2021

That day I had to admit that I overestimated my strength. My “minimum” route turned out to be my limit. Setting out on the journey, I had 3 trek options: realistic, optimistic, and “worst case.” So, I had to accept, my maximum was precisely “the worst.”

Today I rode from Niksic to Pluzine, only 60 kms with a 1080 m climb. Long, enduring multi-kilometer climbs are the killers. No, not even a single muscle hurts (except for my butt, of course, but we don’t count it), I’m just so tired that my head orders my legs to stop working. I’m so tired that I don’t even have an appetite and I have to force myself to eat (oh, how they cook lamb and veal here!).
The descents also don’t give any relief, they wind, and it’s impossible to accelerate with my load. You have to slow down so much that sometimes it seems that the brakes will boil and brake.

The landscapes around are extraordinary! Every turn and pass brings surprises. The temperature can change by 10 degrees in a 10-minute drive! And these wonderful villages, the ringing of bells of freely grazing cows, fields strewn with crocuses, cute dogs that greet you at the entrance to the village and see you off to the next one! There are so many emotions that it’s even scary whether I’ll be able to digest the next day with its emotions, because tomorrow there should be the most beautiful and most physically difficult stage – Durmitor Nature Park, included in the UNESCO World Heritage Register.

Final location of the day – Plužine

September 10, 2021

That day I was in some kind of fairy tale! I looked around and couldn’t believe my eyes, was this beauty real? Words are not enough to describe this beauty. I’m posting a few photos below. However, photographs do not convey colors, depth, or scale. Not to mention the sounds and smells.
Physically it was a very difficult day. Climb 1570 meters in just 48 km of route. But I’m ready to drive back and forth this route many times to see this beauty again and again!

You can look at such landscapes forever. Stupid thoughts came to mind, why not establish a hippy settlement here? But, looking at how much firewood the locals store for the winter, I understand that hippies still need to be in Asia.
The next two days – no bicycles! I want to slow down here!!!
Geolocation – Žabljak.

September 11, 2021

It was a hiking day. The final track is 16 km, elevation gain is 1240 m, with a climb to the highest point of Montenegro – Bobotov Kuk, 2523 m. Descent 1750 meters.

In Zabljak we stayed for 3 nights in the Snam guest house on a small quiet street close to the center of the village. We ordered a transfer to the beginning of the trek at 7 o’clock in the morning from our host. I really didn’t want to go back and forth the same way and 20 euros for the taxi sounded convenient. Oh, what a good job I made studying everything and planning it out in advance – we were the first ones at the peak and the views on the ascent and descent were completely different.

The entire trek took 7 hours. The trail is advertised as “moderate”, but I found it difficult. Especially the last stage of the climb. Climbing skills came in handy. In some places there were cables and ropes. This made it safer and easier to get to the top, but I also saw people who did not dare to make the final push. The views from the top are stunning, but you cannot stay there for more than 5 minutes. The platform on the very top is very small and new hikers constantly come. The descent to Zabljak was even more difficult than the first part of the trail. At the beginning of the descent there is no trail as such, there is only a direction somewhere there, through the pass between two neighboring peaks. And you have to walk on large, unstable cobblestones. I lost count of how many times I fell.

The last couple of kilometers the trail goes through a dense spruce forest. On the approach to Zabljak there is a very beautiful Black Lake. Those who do not see themselves as heroes and do not strive for peaks, but are ready to admire the peaks of Durmitor from the side, can take an easy trail around the lake.

This is the track we walked along.

September 12, 2021

I really needed rest on that day! After yesterday’s ascent I’m not feeling so good. My head is pounding, my pulse has gone off into space, my eyes are red, all night I could sleep only on and off for 15-20 minutes at a time. Legs and feet needed rest too. Yesterday’s descent over unstable rocks forced me to strain the muscles I had never used at all, it seems. If the legs recover and the abrasions heal some day, then the pants were out of use and were thrown into the garbage .

One day off from the bike! Only 25 km with a climb of 545m. First we went to the cable car and climbed to Savin Kuk, 2313, then through the cool Durmitor spruce forests to the Tara canyon. For once I am lucky with the weather in the mountains! Visibility is at least 40 km from the peaks. But the photographs do not allow one to feel either the height or the depth. The canyon is simply amazing! Houses in the river valley and houses on top of the plateau – the difference is almost 1 km and I see them like a bird from the sky.

It’s cold here in Zabljak, +5…+7 in the mornings, no more than +20 in the afternoon. For me, these are simply the most optimal conditions! I think with horror that tomorrow I will have to go down into the heat. But the vacation is not a rubber band to stretch. It’s time to hit the road. Honestly, I would like to stay for a couple of weeks in Durmitor, it offers many hiking trails.

September 13, 2021

I don’t know if there is anything better in Montenegro than Zabljak, but today I felt sad to leave it behind. After crying in the morning in a cafe over a portion of chichvara (terrible tasting greasy corn poridge), I received the most valuable advice of the entire trip from the smoky waitress. She advised not to take the new road to the Djurdzhevich Bridge, but to give an extra 10 km along the old one. It was a dubious pleasure to cut an extra 10 km, but she convinced me of the quality of the “views” and the uniqueness of the lakes. Well, the views and the lakes were so-so, but the Stećci (local medieval necropolises) turned out to be very interesting, even though I’m not a fan of this kind of attraction at all. But here they are scattered right in the middle of the field and deprived of the attention of tourists, although they are in UNESCO and look rather amazing against the background of the mountains of Durmitor. They are not as impressive as, for instance, Armenian khachkars, but quite nice too.

Afterwards there was a terrible descent into the Tara canyon, Đurđevića Tara Bridge, constant braking, replacing brake pads, speeds of up to 60 km/h, terrible serpentines. For me it’s easier to sweat for many kilometers on the climb than to experience the stress of 15 km of descent. Then along the Tara canyon on light hills up and down with gorgeous views or in the forest shade.

Result of the day 84km, climb 875m. Easily! The descent is more than 1500m, but this is difficult! Location for the night – Mojkovac. The most satisfying meal of the entire trip was eaten at a local cafe, a kilogram of grilled veal for 5 euros! Impossible for one person to eat that amount. I had to share it with a family of homeless dogs on the way to the cabin.

September 14, 2021

Not much to tell about this day. There was no chance for photographs: very difficult descents, a total of almost 1500 m, along serpentines and poor quality asphalt. The body gets very tired under tension, especially the hands. The fear of losing the brakes is terrible. Therefore, I had to stop to recover and cool the brakes often. Fortunately, the blackberries had just ripened and there was something to profit from along the roads. Out of today’s 94 km, 30 were downhill. I admit that it would have been easier for me to go in the opposite direction.

Today the route is Mojkovac – Kolašin – Podgorica (not the main E65, but along the smaller road P19)
I liked Podgorica. For the first time I see that the capital is cheaper than the rest of the country. The check in the best restaurant in the center of Podgorica is 2 times less than in Zabljak on the only street in the village. Locals are simple and nice. In the old town, grapes and figs are bursting into freedom from every yard, just stretch your hand and grab it. There is only one problem in Podgorica – heat!!! Unbearable! That day it was +35, but felt like +50.

The result of the day – 94 km, climb 850 m, descent 1500 m.

September 15, 2021

In the morning, before leaving Podgorica, we had breakfast at the best (as advertised, and actually turned out to be) restaurant in Montenegro, Pod Volat. Even at 8 am the waiters are dressed in white shirts with bow ties! Before my trip I read in internet that people were not impressed with Podgorica and that you can skip it . Yes, there are 3 attractions here and they require 15 minutes maximum, but I felt comfortable BEING here and slowly flowing with its provincial life. I would stay here to rest for 5-6 days. But not at this time.

Next there was a choice: to go to the sea along Lake Skadar to Bar and then about 50 km more towards the Bay of Kotor. Or to take a shorter, but steeper trek through the Lovcen mountain National Park to Kotor. Since the weather forecast predicted almost +40, the Lake , in the middle of which the border of Montenegro and Albania passes, won. It was amazing, some views reminded me of Halong Bay in Vietnam. Scenary was again so different/ Every new day, every pass, every turn… A completely new landscape, like a new page of a book, like changing scenes in a movie. Montenegro is so small on the map, but has so many faces! It’s so hard to comprehend!

Today’s bike route is only 52 km, with 700 m of elevation gain. The plan was for 80 km, but the unbearable heat made adjustments and the last 30 km through the pass were replaced by a half-hour train ride, and this was quite an experience! For the last two days, on the way from the north to Podgorica, I saw here and there rails jumping out of tunnels and amazingly high railway bridges. Last night before going to bed, I studied the issue of Montenegro’s railways and immediately picked up a “cut off” of the route.

On the way to the town of Virpazar, on the shore of Lake Skadar, we met a couple of European pensioners on bikes, they asked where we were going. We replied that we go to Bar. It turned out that they were also going to Bar. In Virpazar we had 1.5 hours before the train and we walked along the tourist promenade and met that couple again, they were drinking beer in a bar. So, turned out they were going to the bar, not the town of Bar))

The railway station was one of the most vivid impressions of the trip. At first we thought it didn’t work at all. The building looks abandoned, the windows are broken, it stinks of urine, and homeless dogs and cats roam around. And nobody around! There isn’t even a ticket office. But later other tourists came and we decided to give it a try and wait. The train appeared on schedule, but it looks like something from the 60s. There’s even a smell inside, like in old Soviet trains. It is a short stop – 2 minutes. The doors open and I understand that it is simply impossible to drag a loaded bike up the vertical ladder into the vestibule of the car. In a terrible hurry we toren all our bags, rags, tents off the bike and piece by piece began to throw them into the door. Only God knows how we got there with our belongings. Well, the railroad to Bar is not particularly picturesque, almost half of it goes in a tunnel through the mountain.

Location for the night – Bar.

September 16, 2021

Today we pedaled all the way along the sea from Bar to Budva. Well, along the sea – this is conditional. It’s always up and down, and if it’s realy along the sea, it’s along the promenade beaches. The shore is harsh here, and if it is possible to go down to the water, then everything has already been built up with hundreds of hotels of all kinds, every available centimeter of the coast has been turned into a beach. Understandable! But in my situation I consider it to be a big minus. There are zero places for a tent!

Missing the north and the mountains, I made it to Budva somehow and stayed here. I looked at the old city, turned into a shopping mall, ate overpriced fastfood (after the capital’s gastronomic delights for pennies!), it did not even come to mind to plunge into the sea.

Result of the day – 47 km with a climb of 700. Mood – below average. Location Budva

September 17, 2021

I don’t know how to explain this, what kind of vibrations and vibes? For two days I suffered on the coast of Montenegro from Bar to Budva, honestly! Some people see beauty and paradise there, I wanted to run away!!! Today I had to “go over” 2 passes and see the Bay of Kotor from the second one to understand that I’m at home! There are places that immediately, like Cupid’s arrow, hit the very middle of the heart! Ten days ago, when I was going to the mountains, already then, after the day we met first, it felt painful to say good bye. Now I was happy to say hello!

Today, the Bay of Kotor greeted me with clouds and refreshing coolness, introduced me to old Kotor, and found me a completely atmospheric and completely unplanned place to spend the night. Even lilac bushes bloomed for me in september!
The result of the day is a lazy 38 km and only 500 m of climbing, + a lot of pleasure, the aroma of the sea and pine trees, coolness, meditation and peace in the afternoon. Location – Kotor.

September 18, 2021

On this day, the weaker part of our team decided to have some rest (was or pretended to be sick), but I had one of the best days of the trip, as usually happens when I travel alone))

In the morning I woke up from very loud noise. It’s as if a freight train or a convoy of trucks was passing under the window. I didn’t realize right away that it was thunder. For the first time, I experienced that thunder could not be separate peals, but simply one wave for about 40 minutes. The rain pouring down like a wall was disappointing, because the plans were to ride around the Bay of Kotor. It poured with such force that you couldn’t see the houses across the street. A wall of water!! However, suddenly blue rays began to pierce the grayness of the clouds, as if someone began to cut the cloud with a knife. At 9 o’clock in the morning there was again wonderful sunny summer weather. I immediately grab the bike and, as the freshness has not yet evaporated, I begin my ride.

42km, marathon. Absolutely flat route, one ferry, free for pedestrians, bike ticket costs 1 euro. I could even go for a run, not biking here. Even a child would manage this bikeride easily. This is a “must do” for everyone who finds themselves in Kotor, fortunately, there are bicycle rentals in every small town. 42 km of aesthetic pleasure! Nature, architecture! Medieval buildings of Kotor, Perast, Risan! Mountains and Sea! Festival!

Believe me, this cannot be compared with a car trip. Narrow roads where two cars cannot pass, mpossible to stop in a place with a view, crowded parking lots in towns. Crazy drivers, traffic jams in towns/ In addition, some towns are pedestrian. You can’t see Boka Kotor Bay by car! And not seeing it while being here is a crime!

September 19-20, 2021

That’s it… the final 65 km from Kotor to Dubrovnik airport, the borders took 1 minute each. And the next morning, a leisurely visit to the Croatian ancient town of Cavtat, surrounded by green pine trees, swimming on its rocky beaches in cool turquoise water. A boat trip from Cavtat to the noisy, restless, expensive, touristy Dubrovnik (it would be better if we spent another day in Durmitor instead!)

RESULTS… A little over 700 km, climb 11,000 m – a very good “angle”. And these are only bicycle kilometers. In addition, there were two days of hiking.

It turned out to be an active vacation! But the numbers lose their meaning compared to how much fun I had in Montenegro! I love! I love it endlessly! Undoubtedly! One hundred percent!