BAY OF KOTOR
Flying into Tivat Airport was probably the most exciting and beautiful airplane rides of my life. Tivat is actually located a bit in the mountains, but these mountains are right by the water, so watching the contrast of high and low was very unusual yet exciting. The sun was setting, so the last rays of daylight hit the mountains, and turned the sky from blue to pink, which was the cherry on the cake.
In the bay of Kotor, lies a small town of Herceg Novi, which is about an hour away from Tivat Airport using the ferry to cross the bay of Kotor. The interesting thing about this bay, is that it has many small bays inside the big bay. As all the towns in the bay of Kotor, Herceg Novi is located on a mountain, so the city is filled with dozens of steps. We were lucky enough to have friends who owned an apartment right by the water, so it didn't take too much energy to go to the beach. Most of the time we were at the Yachting Club Beach, which you have to rent a deck chair to actually stay on the beach. Montenegro isn't really known for it's sand beaches, but actually cement beaches, which have a small ladder to go in and out of the water. Of course there are a few really small ones, but they are mostly filled with rocks, and don't have a place to rent a deck chair. To rent a chair at the Yachting Club was about 3.50 euros, which is pretty cheap for renting a chair.
If we weren't at the beach we were wandering around the town, finding hidden gems, and looking for the best viewpoints of the whole city. Exploring the Old Town is simply a must, but it contrast different cities with old towns. Budva, another famous city in Montenegro, has it's old town right next to the water, while Herceg Novi has it more in the mountains. Basically, there are many steps you have to climb to get to the center, but don't let that scare you away, it's worth it. Although we didn't spend much time there, the center is filled with tons of cafes and boutiques, where you can do some shopping and eat lunch and dinner. It's practically empty around 1-2 pm, since everyone is either home hiding from the sun, or at the beach, soaking it up. We did stop at Gradska Kafana, which has one of the best ice creams in the city, and is know for it's panorama view of the bay.
BUDVA
On our last day in Montenegro, we decided to take the scenic route to the airport, and well stop by Budva before heading towards Serbia. We went around the first half of the Bay of Kotor, and stopped at Perast and Kotor, to get a few quick shots before heading to our main destination. Our time limit in Budva was about 3-4 hours, and our main goals was to see the Old Town.
Like I said before, Budva's Old Town, is right next to the water, and locating it isn't hard at all, since it is surrounded by large stone walls. We wandered through the small cobblestone streets of the Old Town, searching for anything that catches our eye. The most interesting thing about the old town, is the quantity of small tight streets where residents who live in the streets, can practically reach over to the other side of the wall.
After we finished walking around the Old Town, since really it all takes 30-40 minutes to walk around all of it, we decided to find a beach to cool off. The one right next to the Old Town was very nice and clean, but to enter you have to rent a deck chair and an umbrella. Instead we wandered around Budva, looking for some nice beaches that don't require any purchase, which led us to a great lookout point of the beach and the Old Town, so of course we stopped by and took a million pictures.