Montenegro, a hidden jewelry

Here, we are on our first trip by car from Romania to Montenegro, 1000 km, approximately 13 hours drive. First, we started by planning the route 2 months ago, searching for information regarding the road. Then, we booked the hotels, we bought a GPS and a map with Europe because we didn’t know how it will be the internet there.  I remember that I even had an emergency number from a car trailer in case of something going wrong. You would think by doing all these, everything should be working out just fine👍

Well, not exactly. 🙁

So, we arrived at Novi Pazar city in Serbia (our first stop) at 12 AM. We were tired, hungry and all we wanted was to arrive at the hotel and get some sleep. We followed the GPS and surprise, surprise the GPS couldn’t locate our hotel. So, we stopped near a supermarket to ask the cashier about the hotel location. But, the lady didn’t speak English. She was very kind, even tried to draw a map but it was impossible to understand it.
After 1 hour walking through the city center, you can imagine how edgy we were. Luckily we found a nice couple willing to help us. But, guess what, the couple didn’t speak English. So, my boyfriend tried to speak in French, Spanish and suddenly the guy said a german word and thank God, we could communicate. They walked us to a hotel from the city center and we could finally sleep. We lost 30 euros on the booking but we didn’t care. We were just happy. It’s amazing how the little things like sleeping become so, so important.

Tip: Before booking a hotel, check the map and make sure is in the city centre and not 30 km away.

After 7 hours of sleep, we were again on the road heading to Montenegro. We had to drive through the mountains and we stoped a lot to take pictures because the view was amazing. I love the mountainous regions especially the craggy ones. I have to admit though, it was also very dangerous because of the narrow roads. One wrong step and you could go off the cliff. Luckily, my boyfriend is a very good driver and everything was fine.

 

At 4 PM we arrived in Rafailovici, 4 km away from Budva city. Our hotel was near a fisherman port  with a sea view room. Honestly, I couldn’t stop starring, the Mediterranean sea with its blue waters was just amazing. The best part, in the early morning you could see the fisherman’s preparing their fishing nets. We spent many nights drinking wine and listening the waves. Check out our view from the hotel.

Rafailovici is an old fisherman place with restaurants and hotels across the sea. Is ideal  for families with children, because the water is calm and there is sand on the beach.  If you are looking for parties, you have to go to Budva because the restaurants are closed at 12 AM. I like the fact Rafailovici is connected with Budva by a footpath of 3.2 kilometer, which stretches along the coast. It’s a great way to do some exercise after so much food.

Montenegro is indeed a hidden jewelry. You have the same sea as in Croatia but much cheaper and less crowded.

We stayed only a week and we tried to visit the most important places. Here is my list.

Near Budva, 20 minutes by car, you can find the Sveti Stefan location. There is a castle, an exclusively place surrounded by water and you can enter only if you stay there! A night is only 5000 dollars 😰. What can I say, if you have money, go for it. I know I will do it.

After 10 minutes walking, you will find a private villa with beautiful gardens and a beuatiful beach with pink sand. Is near the sea and the view is amazing, you can see the Sveti Stefan castle closer surrounded by the blue sea.

In my opinion, Sveti Stefan is a very expensive place, just to stay at the beach you had to pay 80 euros per person. For our surprise, we saw there is a beach on the other side and we paid only 30 euros. I don’t get why this difference because the water is the same.

Another beautiful place is Kotor, an old city recently renovated. It looks like an old fortress with narrow streets and squares. The city has many churches, cute boutiques and restaurants. I recommend visiting the Kotor’S Castle Of San Giovanni. You have to pay 10 euros and you will climb 1,350 stairs to a height of 1,200 metres.

Just make sure you’re armed with water, sun hat and a pair of adidas. Or, you can go like me in a pair of sandals without water or sun hat!

I still can’t believe it I climbed 1200 meters with no water and the sun burning! That’s way I look like a reddish.  The funny or not so funny thing, in the middle of the road, there were people selling water for 10 euros per bottle! 10 euros per a 0.5 l instead of 1 euro at the supermarket. I didn’t think at the price, I just wanted to drink it because I was thirsty. So, bring your water and you will not have to pay 10 euros like me.

I admit, it wasn’t easy to climb because the stairs were from wooden. But, in the end it worth it because the view is spectacular! You can see the entire Kotor city and the  Bay of Kotor. So, yeah I’m very happy I did it even though sometimes I felt I will die right there. The best part, after climbing 1350 stairs, I ate a whole pizza. It was delicious!

Dubrovnik  from Croatia is at 2 hours drive away so you can go to visit! I liked Dubrovnik because everything is renovated and the building looks very nice! We stayed at a nearby beach  hence, we paid 60 euros per 2 sun beds and they didn’t have sand but rocks! I heard Croatia has beautiful beaches, definitely I will return and discover them.

Tip: Do some research before visiting it ! You will save a lot of money!

In conclusion, Montenegro is a very nice location, it has it everything, very nice beaches with sand, old cities and amazing views. Best of all, Montenegro is a hidden jewelry and cheap. I didn’t see everything and I’m looking forward to return to discover more.