The sunny alternative to Croatia with history, beaches and no EES checks

Polako, polako,” slowly, slowly,” is a phrase I hear repeatedly in Montenegro. This is the way of life, befitting a country with narrow roads, dozens of beaches, and around 240 full days of sunshine a year.

“Here we take two hours for a coffee,” says Dejana Stjepcevic from Tivat Tourism. We are sipping cappuccinos while overlooking the yachts in Porto Montenegro – a stylish new development built on the site of a former military shipyard.

Montenegro, meaning “black mountain”, is a developing destination, and its tourism industry is proud of its new hotels, many of which are in restored historic buildings. Most have pools, access to white pebbly beaches and terrace restaurants for languid lunches. This small country of 630,000 people aims to attract tourists to its little towns and vast, unspoilt mountains with the help of affordable prices.

I am staying at one of these new hotels: the Hyatt Regency Kotor Bay. My room is generously sized, decorated in neutral tones and has sliding doors that open onto a long balcony with a waterside view.

Similarly, the Lighthouse Restaurant, where I eat on my first night, is half-glazed, with wide doors that the staff close as the coolness of the night draws in. This, like many Montenegrin restaurants I visit, serves Mediterranean cuisine with a focus on fresh seafood. Tuna tartare and sea bass carpaccio are ubiquitous, tender and luscious (as indeed was the steak carpaccio for meat eaters), while the black squid ink risotto at Casa del Mare was a highlight.

As Montenegro is not yet part of the European Union (EU) (it is planning for accession by 2028), the bloc’s Entry-Exit biometric rules  (EES) don’t apply, which may tempt tourists looking to avoid the airport queues of up to three hours seen at some EU airports.

However, being a small airport, there was a 20-minute wait to get through immigration as two flights had unexpectedly arrived at once.

“[The volume of visitors] to Montenegro has grown steadily over recent years, particularly following the introduction of direct flights to Tivat in 2023”, says Naomi Underwood from Jet2.

“Growth has been driven by increasing customer awareness of Montenegro as an attractive alternative to Croatia. Accommodation rates and local prices in Croatia have continued to rise and, as a result, Montenegro may be perceived as offering better value.”

For instance, in the centre of Kotor, a night at a four-star heritage hotel (with high approval ratings) comes in at around £160–170, while a comparable hotel in Split is £225–280 (based on double rooms with breakfast, in June).

Most holidays are around the Bay of Kotor. Also referred to as Bocce di Cattaro, it is part of a Unesco-listed historic region and consists of a series of fjord-like valleys characterised by sheltered seawater and well-preserved medieval towns, wedged between the water and the mountains.

Ambling through Kotor’s medieval squares, I am struck by memories of Venice with flashes of Split, unsurprising given that much of the city was built by Venetian overlords following an earthquake in 1689. Kotor can be busy in the high season, especially if there are cruise ships in town. However, in late spring, it is quiet with no queues dissuading me from stopping for a scoop of pistachio ice cream (€2 or £1.70).

An hour away by car, Herceg Novi has a similar feel but is less visited. And, where Kotor’s Squares are linked by narrow, shop-lined alleys, Herceg Novi, being a hilltop town, has its squares linked by steps, hence the appellation “the city of a thousand stairs”. The town was founded in 1382 as a hub for the salt trade and became a rich trading post and strategic military port. The abundance of palaces and castles is testimony to the wealth and the battles for its control that were fought by the Turks, Austrians and Venetians.

Several castles are open to visitors – with an entry fee of around €4 (£3.50)(museum fees are similar throughout the country). One, Kanli Kula Fortress, meaning ”bloody tower” in Turkish, is now used as an amphitheatre for opera and film festivals as well as outdoor concerts. I climb to the top of another, Forte Mare, for a view of the bay, the small shingle beach, where one woman was sunbathing, and the 2km-long promenade.

The mountains beckon. Behind Kotor, the zigzagging road proves challenging for the minibus driver. I find myself holding my breath as he edges us between a rock face and a rubbish lorry with millimetres to spare. The reward is lunch in the hills at Oblun Eco Resort, which feels remote but is only a 40-minute drive from Kotor Bay or the capital, Podgorica.

Here, among the olive trees and mirrored eco cabins, I am unable to refuse a welcoming ”rakija” – the Montenegrin grappa, followed by a meal of local prosciutto and cheeses, pumpkin sourdough and crunchy salads all washed down with crisp wine produced on the premises. ”I like to serve everything fresh,” says our host Goran Brnović, who grows produce on his family’s land.

While driving me to nearby Skadar Lake, Goran says: “In Montenegro, every ten minutes you want to stop to take a photo, it is not a country to drive through quickly.”

Case in point: the lake is huge, fringed with wetlands, and offers long views of snow-topped mountains. We get into a simple, wooden boat and weave our way through the reeds accompanied by ducks, egrets and herons.

Skadar Lake is the largest lake in southern Europe and is a protected national park favoured by bird enthusiasts. We end our journey in the quiet village of Virpazar, where there are several boat tour companies, a hotel and some rental rooms. There is a good choice of hotels on the coast at Bar, roughly a 30-minute drive from Virpazar.

We turn into the Rijeka (River) Crnojevica and pootle between its banks, rarely encountering any evidence of human life. As I lounge on the prow birdwatching, luxuriating in the heat of the afternoon sun, I realise that slowly, slowly is extremely seductive.

Booking it 

The writer was a guest of Jet2holidays and the National Travel Organisation of Montenegro.

Jet2holidays offers seven nights bed and breakfast at the four-star Hyatt Regency Kotor Bay in June, with return flights from Birmingham to Tivat, starting from £1,319pp. The price is based on two adults and one child (aged four) sharing, including a 22kg baggage allowance, return transfers and local tourist tax.

Flights from Stansted to Tivat start from £92 one way, including 10kg hand luggage, with jet2.com.