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Contents
1. Introduction
4. Solila Beach
1. Introduction
1.1. Kotor as a Base
We stayed in Kotor for 6 nights as it was a good base for visiting:
Budva to the south. See my blog Budva, Montenegro: Travel Guide.
Perast & Herceg Novi to the north. See my blog Perast & Herceg Novi: Travel Guide.
Lovcen National Park & Lipa Cave to the east. See my blog The Kotor Serpentine Road to Lipa Cave.
I had thought about splitting our time between Budva and Kotor. I am pleased we didn't as I found Budva to be too developed and congested.
1.2. Cruise Ships at Kotor
In summer, on average 2 or 3 cruise ships dock at Kotor most days. Some of the ships have as many as 5,000 passengers!
Unfortunately the influx of so many passengers and tour groups can overwhelm the Old Town of Kotor. It is therefore necessary to plan your visit according to the cruise ship schedule.
Luckily there is a good website called Cruisedig.com that lists which cruise ships are visiting each day, the number of passengers and the arrival/departure times. This information enables you to determine when Kotor Old Town will be inundated with cruise ship passengers.
1.3. Traffic & Parking in Kotor
The traffic going through Kotor can be very congested. The traffic island to the south of Kotor's Old Town can sometimes be totally blocked.
There are several parking lots in Kotor and they are all busy. We used a parking lot on the seafront just opposite the main entrance (Sea Gate) and it cost Eur 1 per hour (payable on exit). If it is full you can queue at the entrance and places soon become available. We only had to do that once. You can locate it by entering "Kotorska luka Parking" on Google maps.
1.4. Tourist Tax
Officially all tourists staying in Montenegro must pay a tourist tax and for Kotor the tax is Eur 1 per day. Hotels and a lot of other accommodation include it in their rate. Our accommodation didn't pay for it and we were tempted not to either.
However, I had read that you could be asked for proof of payment when leaving the country. We therefore went and paid the tax at the office in the Old Town. I wish we hadn't as we weren't asked about it at the border with Croatia. From what I have read on the Tripadvisor forum it is extremely unlikely that border officials will ask about payment of the tourist tax.
2. Kotor Old Town
Kotor's Old Town was destroyed in the 1979 earthquake and then totally rebuilt. It is a historic Venetian town like so many coastal towns in both Montenegro and Croatia. It is very pleasant wandering around this interesting town when it isn't swamped with tourists.
There is a tourist office just outside the Sea Gate and they can provide free maps of Kotor's old town. The map isn't very easy to follow and we preferred just wandering around.1.5 to 2 hours is sufficient for wandering around the old town.
3. Walking up the Walls to St John's Fortress
3.1. About Kotor's Walls
The old and impressive defensive walls, surrounding the Old Town of Kotor, date back to the 15th century.
On the eastern side of Kotor the walls go up the hillside to the Church of Our Lady of Health and then onto St. John's Fortress. It costs Eur 8 to walk up to St. John's Fortress.
It is free to walk along most of the lower town walls that back onto the Bay of Kotor and the Skurda river. You can climb up to the walls near the South Gate and walk all the way to the North Gate, or vice versa. It is definitely worth doing this, but choose a time when it's not too hot or busy.
3.2. Entrance to Kotor's Upper Walls
There are 2 entrances:
At the end of an alley near Kotor's North Gate. It is signposted.
Near Pjaca Skaljarska Square and south of St Tryphon's Cathedral.
Although the entrances to Kotor's upper walls have gates I don't think they are ever closed. There is a sign on the gate stating it is forbidden to stay on the ramparts after 22.00. I don't believe the attendant at the entrance stays that late.
Some people on the internet have posted ways of avoiding the Eur 8 entrance fee:
It used to be possible to hike part of the way up the Ladder of Kotor and then gain free access to the fortress walls through a small hole near St John's Fortress. I have posted a photo below showing that this has now been blocked. It's a shame as this hole in the wall enabled people to do a circular hike rather than hike up and down the same way.
You might be able to enter for free before the ticket office opens at 07.00. However, when we arrived at the ticket office at 08.30 the attendant asked some people who were leaving to show their tickets.
The only way that you may be able to enter without paying is by going in the evening after the ticket office closes. I don't know when it closes but it might be at 19.00.
3.3. When to Walk to St John's Fortress
The evening is probably a very good time to walk up to St John's fortress even if you have to pay. It may be more crowded in the morning unless you start very early as:
A lot of people, like ourselves, follow advice to go in the morning. We started at 08.30 and found it busy. Quite a few of the people were from the cruise ships. Even if we had started earlier we would have met them on our way down.
Also the cruise ships usually depart Kotor in the late afternoon and early evening and therefore passengers can't do this walk in the evening.
You may think I am making a lot of fuss about the number of people. The problem with the walk to St John's fortress is that the path is narrow and you have to go up and down the same path. Usually there are only steps on one side of the path and most people want to use the steps! You therefore have to stand aside for people coming the other way.
I would be wary of doing the walk if it is wet as I think the path would be very slippery.
3.4. The Walk to St Johns's Fortress
It took us 45 minutes to walk up to St John's fortress, but we frequently stopped to enjoy the views and take photos. It is a steep 260 metre climb up to St John's Fortress and there are about 1,350 steps to aid the ascent. I didn't count them!
About halfway up you reach the Church of Our Lady of Health, but it is nothing special. St John's Fortress is at the top and it is possible to walk around it, but it is very derelict.
We spent 15 minutes at the fortress and took another 45 minutes to walk down. It shouldn't have taken that long but we weren't rushing.
The main reason to do the walk is for the fantastic views of Kotor and the bay. The walls, Church and Fortress aren't that special.
4. Solila Beach
Most of the time we swam at Muo where our apartment was. Usually we just needed a quick dip to cool off and the estuary was just a couple of minutes from our apartment. It wasn't the best place to swim as the road was close by, there was algae in the water and there wasn't a beach.
One hot day we fancied going to a better beach for a bit of a beach day. After reviewing beaches on the internet I found Solila beach which had good reviews and was only a 12 minute drive from Kotor. The only negative was that the beach access road is at a very tight angle off the main road.
We really enjoyed our afternoon at Solila beach. There was plenty of parking space and the pebble beach and the sea were very nice. It cost Eur 20 for an umbrella and 2 sun loungers. There was a restaurant, free changing booths and free toilets.
5. The New Part of Kotor
There is a 2 storey shopping centre north of Kotor's North Gate. The shops in it are of little interest to tourists, except for the good supermarket on the lower floor. There are free public toilets on the upper level and a restaurant that sells ice cream cheaper than in the Old Town.
North of the Skurda river there is a seafront promenade. It is very pleasant to walk along, except for the boat tour salesmen! Boat tours lasting 3 hours go around the Bay of Kotor to the Blue Cave, Perast and Herceg Novi and cost around Eur 35 to Eur 40. We didn't go on a boat tour so I can't comment on them.
6. Places to Eat & Supermarkets in Kotor
6.1. Restaurants in Kotor
Most of the restaurants are in the Old Town and aren't particularly cheap.
We found a very small and basic restaurant called BBQ Tanjga which is located just before the roundabout in the southern part of Kotor. It is cheap and has excellent reviews on Tripadvisor and Google. We bought a really tasty whole barbequed chicken there for Eur 10 and enjoyed it in our apartment.
6.2. Supermarkets in Kotor
There are 3 main supermarkets in the centre of Kotor:
We liked the supermarket in the new shopping mall just north of the Old Town.
There is a Voli supermarket very near the shopping mal but we didn't use it.
Idea have a supermarket near the roundabout in the south of Kotor. There is parking next to the store and it costs Eur 1.70. We never had a problem finding a parking place.
6.3. Fruit & Vegetable Market in Kotor
There is a fruit and vegetable market just south of the Sea Gate entrance to Kotor's Old Town. Saturday is the main day for the market, but there are stalls there every day. Watch the prices as they may not be competitive on days other than Saturday.
7. Accommodation in Kotor
We stayed in a nice 1 bedroom apartment called Fortress View 2 in Muo, which is a 20 minute walk to Kotor. It can be booked through Booking.com for Eur 77 per night. My review is on my blog "UK to Greek Islands Accommodation - Part 2" (number 10).
They also have another apartment called Fortress View 1, which can also be booked through Booking.com.
8. Driving to and from Budva from Croatia and Albania
We drove to Kotor from Albania. See my blog Albania to Montenegro - Week 9 for details. Afterwards we drove from Montenegro to Croatia. See my blog Montenegro to Croatia- Week 10 for details.
9. Links to My Other Montenegro Travel Blogs
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