Exciting little country that holds Mediterranean beauty in a nutshell
Once again fellow motorbike travel lovers from around the globe, we give you an introduction to one of the countries that is part of MotoTrip’s No border tour. At this time our Balkans motorbike tours cover the some of the most beautiful parts of Croatia (part 1, part2), Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. As you may have already seen on our blog, we’ve already presented you the essentials for the first two countries, but now it’s time to get to know a little more about an interesting Adriatic country Montenegro (the translation of the countries name is Black Mountain).
Montenegro is a lovely small country in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea which borders Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the north, Serbia to the northeast, Kosovo to the east, and Albania to the south. The beauty of the west of Montenegro is washed by the magical blue of the Adriatic Sea. Although perhaps not as well known as Croatia, Montenegro is nothing less impressive for awesome natural beauty, national parks, coastline, cultural richness, etc. A lot of hard work followed country’s economical and political recovery and brought its tourism and world recognition in general to boom.
As magical as it sounds
This small country is really something special, even more special when you compare it with other European motorcycle touring destinations. Montenegro combines features of both the Balkans and the Mediterranean. Despite its small size (it’s 4 times smaller than Croatia, and its population is less than that of the Croatian capital – Zagreb) Montenegro offers great diversity and natural beauty. When we describe all the countries and places around the Adriatic Coast, we don’t want to bore you with repeating words like: beautiful, stunning, magical, diverse and unique, but all these countries, including Montenegro, really are something special and you can rest assured that every word we write is pretty much true to reality.
Montenegro is officially divided into 21 municipalities, which can be grouped into five main regions:
- Bay of Kotor – This bay is considered one of the most beautiful bays of Europe, and features the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Perast and Kotor, as well as other typically gorgeous Mediterranean towns.
- Budva Riviera – Country’s tourist hot-spot with nice beaches, historic villages and wild nightlife.
- Central Montenegro – This is the heart of the country with the state capital Podgorica, the historical capital Cetinje and the industrial center Nikšić. It is also home to natural beauty, such as Skadar Lake National Park and Lovćen National Park.
- Montenegrin South Coast – The Mediterranean coast around the towns of Bar and Ulcinj, the latter one having an Albanian majority.
- North Montenegrin Mountains – This region is entirely situated within the Dinaric Alps, famous for its untouched wild nature. A must is the Tara River Canyon in Durmitor National Park. You can see the beautiful region of Tara in the photos we posted here. Žabljak is Montenegro’s winter sports capital.
Montenegro may be small geographically, but it really boasts stunning mountainous landscapes, dramatic coast lines, historic monuments and truly beautiful walled towns. The Montenegro coast shares the similar kind of beauty that Croatia has, and more and more people from around the world recognize this so the destinations can get really crowded in summer time. But don’t even think about bothering with crowded tourist places with all the noise and clamor because MotoTrip crew knows how to get around all this and take you to most interesting spots. What’s even more exciting, there hasn’t been much motorcycle touring around this area, especially guided motorcycle tours. And we are quite familiar with the roads and area around the country of Montenegro, so don’t worry about getting the most out of your motorcycle vacations.
Balkans motorbike tours: Ride from the top of the mountains all the way until you dip your front wheel into sea
Now let us mention some of Montenegro’s top spots. The Bay of Kotor is probably one of the prettiest bays you’ve ever seen. Some swear that it is the world’s most beautiful natural bay. In its inner side lies the equally stunning town of Kotor, a beautifully preserved fortified, medieval town with an interesting and vibrant history. Budva is the country’s most popular tourist destination and this charming little town has some stunningly beautiful beaches as well as a lovely, old, walled town centre. The centre is fittingly located on a small peninsula, and its narrow, winding streets hide numerous historic buildings, churches and small squares. It’s really something.
Although not as spectacular as nearby Kotor, the town of Herceg Novi is another charming Montenegrin town with a beautiful old centre and a good number of interesting churches, squares and fortresses and it’s Riviera is worth visiting for sure. There are many other coastal towns in Montenegro that are worth every kilometer under your bike, but the country’s inland has its own beauty too. The large freshwater Lake Skadar is on the border with the neighboring Albania. It’s a National Park and it offers some wonderful opportunities for hiking, bird watching and wildlife spotting.
One of our favorite Montenegrin inland places and a real must-see is the Tara River Canyon, with its steep banks rising up to 1300 meters above the River Tara waters. It’s the second longest canyon in the world (!) and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The canyon is located in Durmitor National Park, which is a World Heritage Site of its own and boasts a rich flora and fauna as well as snow-covered high peaks, several canyons and many glacier lakes.
There are many other inland and coastal locations and spots that we could mention, but we will leave that for another occasion and perhaps another article or two. As always, make sure that you get your camera ready because there is so much to capture in this charming little Adriatic country. With destinations like Montenegro, motorcycle touring in Europe goes up for a whole level, and rolling your wheels, or our BMW wheels across this country is an unforgettable experience to say the least.
Thing you need to know
- Population: around 630.000
- Language: Montenegrin, Croatian and Serbian
- National currency: Euro
- Capital city: Podgorica
- Time zone: Central European Time (GMT+1)
- Personal documents you need: all you need is a valid passport. People from most countries don’t need a visa if they’re staying for less than 90 days
- Climate: warm and dry summers and fairly cold winters
- Electricity plug: standard European Type C plug, 220V, 50Hz
- MotoTrip’s motorcycle tour covering the area of Montenegro: No Borders tour
how do I find out more about motocycle tour of Montenegro?
Hi Chad, thanks for inquiring! We have two different tours through Montenegro. One of them is paved (asphalt only) tour and you can find all information here:
https://www.mototrip-tours.com/motorcycle-tours/no-borders-tour.htm
2nd one is an adventure dual-sport tour including both asphalt and a lot of off-road. More information here:
https://www.mototrip-tours.com/blog/off-the-radar/albania-vs-montenegro-enduro-adventure-tour/
We’ll e-mail you the same information too. Many regards!