Kotor on the Bay (Montenegro)

Oh, Kotor.

What a surprise.

(Do you ever get tired of me saying that?)

Actually, I’ve wanted to visit Kotor for a long time. It’s becoming a heavily-pinned jewel on the internet, one of those places you think about for years before actually managing to visit. When we decided we were going to visit Croatia as part of our visa trip (poor us) I knew I also wanted to add Bosnia and Montenegro onto our visit.

By this point, though, we were fairly exhausted and the heat was getting to us, so we only made it to Kotor and Perast in Montenegro. (I’ll be back for you, Bosnia!) It took one of those bus rides where there isn’t really any air-conditioning and inexplicably it takes much, much longer than advertised to arrive. It was strange, in Europe, to get stuck for hours at a border crossing–one nice thing about the Schengen (or drawback, depending on your point of view) is the ease of moving between countries. Not so between Montenegro and Croatia, as neither are part of the Schengen zone and only Croatia so far is part of the EU. Despite this difficulty, the first views of the Bay of Kotor were worth waiting for.

We spent four days in Kotor, and it is one of the most unique parts of Europe that we visited. Not only is it a completely charming walled town, but it has a certain roughness that we didn’t find in many other places. For example, the tap water wasn’t very safe to drink–which we only found out after a horrified look from our waitress when we requested some…and after one full day there already imbibing the water. Oh well, it’s not so unsafe, just not…recommended.

Anyway, I don’t mean to say that the roughness is a bad thing, just that it’s not as polished as much of heavily visited tourist sites in Europe. I daresay it won’t last long–we saw many a cruise ship, they just can’t resist that bay and who can blame them–so it was refreshing to visit it before some of that charm disappeared. There are a lot of stray cats, and buildings overtaken by trees, and many people smoking in the tiny alleys. The alleyways are a true maze and directions seemed to be more instinctual than helpful. All of this simply added to the charm of little Kotor and I am thrilled we were able to visit.

The Bay of Kotor is technically a fjord and it is one of those magnificent sights that stick with you. The blue, deep waters pushed right up against soaring peaks…and the little walled city of Kotor was barely distinguishable from the rocks. High above the town are the remains of a lovely little fortress that protected the town for many years. The second I saw the fortress, I knew we would have to climb it, because I am a sucker for views. We woke up early one morning in a fruitless attempt to dodge the heat as we climbed–at least we were mostly in shadow! I couldn’t believe how many people we saw hiking up on our way down, suffering from the blazing sun–I guess I’m not the only one who is a sucker for a view from a fortress, eh?

Now, in Europe it is not so uncommon to find yourself visiting a fortress or the ruins of a castle–but the one in Kotor seemed spookier, somehow. As if it was abandoned in a fight and never reclaimed by a rich family to use a museum (which it hasn’t been, unlike many other fortresses in Europe). And for that, it also seemed more authentic. We spotted one or two people selling water, and a few people on the way up by the gorgeous little church were selling religious items, but it was refreshingly free of that kind of thing. In fact, the fortress itself ended up being free, even though we were told it would cost us. We looked for the ticket booth to no avail–E in particular is honest to a fault about things like this, while I can’t help but hope we will somehow avoid paying…I think being cheap might be a family trait I can’t quite avoid.

Kotor will be remembered as the town of stunning views and charming hidden corners, and absolutely breathtaking sunsets. We made sure to watch the sun set near the water every night, and to watch the lights on the wall–which goes all the way up to the fortress, mostly in ruins–come on every night right after dusk. Other than the fortress and the sunsets, our days were filled with exploring the skinny alleys, climbing to the top of the wall surrounding the city, swimming in the bay (it was way too hot), and boating to nearby towns/islands…more on that later. Soaking up the atmosphere is really the thing to do here–and so is tasting Montenegrin wine!

In Kotor, you can’t help but feel a bit as if you have been transported back in time–which is exactly why you’re there.

Have you been to Kotor or Montenegro? Would you go if you could? 

Linking up with Travel Tuesday.