Exploring Montenegro in the van was high on our list of things to do when working out a (very) rough itinerary for our year long adventure. Below are some of the highlights of our one month Montenegrin road trip. There are many places which we didn’t visit, so this is by no means a full list but hope it helps you with a bit of planning or inspiration.
One of our favourite views of Skadar Lake is from the Pavlova Strana Viewpoint along the road to Rijeka Crnojevića. Here this tiny little village boasts great views over the river which feeds the lake and you can sit and enjoy in one of the many bars and restaurants or take a boat or kayak out to explore the waterways. Here we just parked on the roadside in the village over night but then spent the days just down the road at a mini jetty type space: 42.35135789838294, 19.040599260974165.
The wildlife in this country is some of the most abundant that we have seen throughout the whole trip, and we thought Albania had a lot, Montenegro definitely is diverse! There are about 351 bird species registered in Montenegro. Apparently, it also has more breeding birds than the UK.
The mountain ranges here are spectacular. We particularly liked Durmitor National Park. From the carpark in high season they charge you €3 per person to enter and a ticket lasts only for one day which means it could end up quite expensive if you were to park in the official car parks for each walk, however, we found some locations to camp on Park4Night and only paid once. Not that I have an issue with paying as the money goes into the upkeep of the parks, litter clearing, toilets etc. We stayed at this really cool park up next to an abandoned ski lift. Parking grid reference: 43.163385, 19.096200.
Durmitor National Park became a UNESCO site in 1980 and has over 23 mountain tops over 2300m. It is the perfect place to base yourself for a week of hiking.
The sunsets we have witnessed have been stunning, especially around the mountains. We parked up high above the clouds at 2000m in Durmitor National Park for a wonderful light display, followed by a night of howling winds and rain, but it was worth it 100%! Parking grid reference: 43.098699, 19.051080.
The roads in this country are fantastic. Prevoj Sedlo mountain pass in Durmitor National Park was awesome. Driving here has provided us with some of the best scenery of the whole road trip.
Finally, Biogradska Gora, proclaimed a National Park in 1952, is one of the smallest, but still rather big by that means and hosts one of the few rainforests of Europe. It has about 86 different tree species, 10 kinds of animals about about 150 types of bird.
To conclude, we have really enjoyed a place where many people we speak to only drive through. Montenegro feels more European that Albania, it is a whole lot tidier than Albania too. We have enjoyed our time here and look forward to popping back in on our way to Turkey for winter.
You can read about our whole road trip adventure here.
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