Bay of Kotor (Boka Kotorska)

Boka Kotorska is the largest bay of the Adriatic Sea. It is sometimes called a fjord, but it's not a fjord, it's a former river. If you are traveling around Montenegro by car, then you should definetely go around the bay. We spent the entire day here.

The bay is accessible from all sides, we came to Kotor through the tunnel from Budva. If you have no car and don't want to take a tour, then you can come to Kotor by bus and take a boat trip around the bay with stopover in several towns.

Many people choose Kotor as a resting place in Montenegro, as its scenery is much more beautiful than in Budva. Kotor has everything - beach, mountains, old town. There's also a large old fortress on the hill. You can climb to the top if you have enough power.










The area between Kotor and Perast is pretty deserted. We stopped in the north-east corner to take pictures, the place is very picturesque, especially in the morning.




There are many churches on the shore, some are a place of pilgrimage. We didn't visit them, but went to the Gospa od Shkrpela (Madonna on the Reef) island near Perast, with the church on it. The road goes above Perast. We left the car near the road and went down to the sea through the picturesque streets. It's not a problem to find a boat on the waterfront that will take you to the island for 5 euros.
















The next town was Risan, where we planned to find a way to Grahovo and view of the bay from the observation deck (the view). We didn't find the correct road and went further to Herceg Novi, along many small towns.

Herceg Novi is the largest town in the bay. Like other towns (except Kotor), it's located on the hillside, so it's not easy to walk in the town on a hot day. There's a small beach where we swam. By the way, the water was quite clean, we saw lots of medium-sized fish.












There's a ferry at the narrowest point of the bay (between Kamenari and Lepetane), by which we went back from Herceg Novi.


Getting there: There are several entrances to the bay: the main entrances are via Herceg Novi and Kotor, the secondary ones via Risan and Tivat. It's possible to go on a boat trip from from different towns of the bay.