I visited Montenegro in 2016 with my friend Suse on a cruise. After going there, I said we definitely need to come back here one day on our own boat and so we did.
We hired a car for the day so we sent Ian off on his scooter to collect the car from the airport. Our first stop was Lake Skadar which is a freshwater lake which straddles the borders of Montenegro and Albania and is surrounded by mountains. The water levels of the lake varies seasonally from 4.7 to 9.8 metres above sea level. The lake is approximately 44km (27 miles) long and is home to more than 260 species of birds. Obviously, the only way to see the Lake is by boat. We were quite fortunate for most of the trip we had a boat to ourselves. All good things must come to an end and on the way back the guy had an engine problem so we had to swap to another boat which was full.
We next visited Cetinje which was the capital of Montenegro from1878 to 1918. The city sits 670 metres (2,198 feet) above sea level on the Cetinje plateau. We visted the Cetinje Monastery built in 1701 and the Court Church of Cipur built in 1890, on the site where the old monastery was built in the 15th century by Ivan Crnojević, the founder of Cetinje.
On the way back we decided to take the more scenic route along the Kotor Serpentine Road. It is 5.15 miles long (8.3km), narrow and has 16 hairpin turns. Yes eek and with Ian at the wheel!! It is 881m above sea level and drops down to 458m at the end. We stopped on the way down, as you do, at a bar hanging out on the edge of the cliff to take in the views with a beer. They views were spectacular.
Kotor has a cable car which only opened on 14th August 2023 and we arrived just a few days before. So we had to take a ride, not that I particularly enjoy cable cars. I’m ok when I get to where we’re going. The Lower Station was a 45 minute walk from the anchorage. We didn’t think it was quite that far but that’s always the way and it was hot! The ride was 11 minutes to the top over 3,900 metres and 1,316 metres above sea level. The view was amazing. We could see Cuffysark anchored in the bay. Obviously there was a bar at the top, so nothing for it but to have a beer and take in the view.
The area of Montenegro we visited is surrounded by high mountains which causes Katabatic winds. We had some strong winds while we were here. One night we had torrential rain and 45 knots of wind. Thankfully our anchor held.
We moved the boat into Kotor Bay and anchored opposite Kotor town itself, out the way of the cruise ships than anchor here. There is St John’s Fortress which you can climb up to, the views are supposed to be spectacular. We decided against this as we’d seen the views from the top of the Cable car and I don’t think Ian’s knees could take the steep walk.
As in many parts of Europe there are lots of cats about. Legend says that the cats were brought to Kotor by sailors who believed they brought good luck. Others a more practical reason to control the rats. Whatever the reason they are part of Kotor’s culture and tradition and there’s a festival every year in honour of Kotor’s cats.
August 2023