Europe’s Hidden Gem, Montenegro

A little hidden European gem!

Located next to Croatia, Montenegro is a sweet place of serenity. Once upon arriving at the airport, grab a rental car and hit the coastline for a nice drive up to Kotor. The drive is about 1.5 hours but there are beach towns to visit along the way. This little country is a perfect location for a 1-2 day stopover before heading home or off to another country.

Day 1: I recommend staying at the Porto Hotel located on the Main Street across from the water. This hotel offers a nice full service breakfast included with your stay and the coffee is delicious.

From the hotel you are able to take a short 5 minutes walk to the Old Town and explore the narrow streets. We found a delicious restaurant right in the center where we had traditional sea bass with a bottle of local grown wine.

After you fuel up, take a hike up the side of the mountain to see the old fortress, Castle Of San Giovanni, overlooking the city. It is about a 30 minutes hike up so bring comfortable shoes. The view is so worth it!

Day 2: Book your boat ride out to Our Lady of the Rocks. This small island is located off of  the coast of Perast. This man-made island is built upon sunken ships and has a cute church to tour. Perk, is the amazing view of Kotor.

Honestly, there isn’t much of a “to-do” list for this place because it was so fun to take it slow and to explore sights your eyes lay upon. You can’t do tourism wrong here.

I highly recommend visiting Kotor, Montenegro during the off season of the cruise ships. It’s a quiet place with great wine and coffee, what’s not to like?