Montenegro | Best of the Montenegro Coast from Dubrovnik

I'm never a big fan of a rush-through-a-country approach but I was told countless times that a day trip to Montenegro should not be missed and I'm so glad I took the advice. Our group booked our trip through Adria Luxury Travel, a reputable company with many positive reviews, now including mine. We were picked up directly from our house at 8am and started our travel to the farthest point of our Montenegro adventure. Our driver chose the Konfin checkpoint, a smaller border crossing along the coast. This route is not used by the tour buses and is a bit out of the way of the main crossing point so is more often than not a faster option by car. The gamble, however, is that it is one lane so if there is an issue (from what I understand, typically minor drug smuggling) the road gets blocked until it's resolved. Luckily for us this was not the case!

The approach by our guide was to drive to the farthest point of our trip that day and then make our way back along the coast. The pros to this route meant less traffic in the morning to contend with and a shorter drive at the end of the day. The alternative is to start in the north and save the longer drives for hotter times of the day. I was happy with our approach so we could get the bulk of the driving over and done with, and visit our last stop at Our Lady of the Rock during the magical evening hour.

Our first stop was a viewpoint of Sveti Stefan, a small walled in village whose only entry point is across a narrow strip. A favorite of celebrities, people can only enter with a hotel accommodation which puts off paparazzi. Apparently the Beckhams were just here on holiday this past July and prefer the island for its privacy.

Up next we visited Budva, a small town with Medieval tourist center just a few minutes away. After a brief history lesson from our guide we explored the old town. We spent a few Kuna to walk through the Citadel which has gorgeous views of the larger city and seas, then wandered a few of the streets before taking a quick beer and snack break to cool off from the heat. The city could easily be explored in a half hour and makes for a nice, if brief, stopover.

Our third stop took us to Kotor, a larger and bustling walled city with walls that span up the hillside in an elaborate pattern. Kotor has a large bay and thus the cruise ships are able to come right up to the city walls. We arrived early afternoon and the city was filled with tourists. It wasn't too much to manage but was certainly on the crowded side. In cooler weather I would have loved to scale the walls up the hill to take on the coastal sights and see the city from a bird's eye view however with temperatures mid-afternoon reaching nearly 100 Fahrenheit our group opted to stay in the city center. Apparently it takes about 45 minutes to climb the stairs to the top and another 45 to wind back down the other side.

On recommendation from our guide we stopped in for lunch at Pescaria Dekaderon. While most eat on the first floor surrounded by tourists passing by, we were lead to the second floor which offered misting machines to help us cool down. For reasons unknown to us we were the only patrons on the second floor so had a lovely private dining experience for our leisurely lunch. The food was fantastic! We had the peppercorn steak, stuffed pork, octopus and shrimp. Every dish was memorable but the crowd favorite was the thoroughly tender octopus, one of the most delicate I've ever had.

For our last stop we pulled into Perast on the Bay of Kotor to see Our Lady of the Rocks, a 15th century church on a man-made island that is truly stunning. After a quick walk down the city's waterfront we boarded a small boat and were on the island in a few minutes. Our guide took us through the church and several other rooms containing artifacts taken care of over the years by the priests who oversaw it. Interestingly there were quite a few weapons apparently used to fend off the island. The stop was a quick one and after a few pics we took off back to Perast and on to Dubrovnik.