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21 June 2023 - Sighteeing in Perast & Herceg Novi
This morning we drove along the north side of the beautiful Gulf of Kotor to see the village of Perast and the town of Herceg Novi. We left fairly early as I was concerned about finding parking at Perast and wanted to see Perast before the arrival of tour groups.
We did find parking and also got there before the tour groups. Perast is an attractive village with numerous old buildings. The main attraction though is the Our Lady of the Rock island which is about a 5 minute boat ride away.
We took a small boat ride over to the island for Eur 10. Unfortunately there wasn't much to see and the church only opened when we were leaving by 09.30. Initially there were very few people on the island, but after 10 minutes of peace a large group arrived.
We continued our drive along the Gulf of Kotor until we reached the large town of Herceg Novi. Our guide book had warned that parking was difficult and it was! Fortunately as we were struggling to park a friendly man directed us to a multi storey car park near the historic centre.
I liked Herceg Novi as there is quite a bit to see and there is a nice seafront promenade. The sights are a bit spread out and we didn't attempt to see everything.
On the drive back to Kotor we took a short ferry ride from Kamenari to Lepetane on the southern side of the Gulf of Kotor. The road is very scenic, but in many places it is only a single lane. It was a bit nerve racking whenever traffic came the other way.
See my blog "Perast & Herceg Novi: Travel Guide" for further information.
22 June 2023 - Kotor Serpentine Road & Lipa Cave
The Kotor Serpentine Road is a narrow historic road that snakes up the mountains to the east of Kotor to Lovcen National Park. There are 25 hair pin bends and the road is too narrow at places for vehicles to pass.
It was another nerve racking drive and I was pleased to see that tour buses were coming the same way as us. It would have been very difficult to pass them and vehicles were having to reverse back to allow them through.
Unfortunately there weren't many places where we could stop and it wasn't safe to admire the views whilst driving! I was pleased when we reached the top and got on a good new road going through Lovcen National Park.
We stopped off at Njegos Mausoleum, but we didn't pay the excessive charge of Eur 8 a person to enter. There are meant to be excellent views from the mausoleum but it was very hazy today. Lovcen National Park was very scenic.
We drove on to the Lipa Caves and joined a 1 hour tour. It is an extensive cave and there are several galleries with colourful stalagmites, stalactites and other formations. We really enjoyed the tour.
See my blog "The Kotor Serpentine Road to Lipa Cave" for more information.
23 June 2023 - Budva & Solila Beach
Budva is Montenegro's main resort and the roads can be very congested as a result. We therefore had another early start in order to avoid the congestion and find parking. Our drive to Budva went well and the additional benefit of being early was that Budva Old Town was deserted.
It was a hot day and after walking around Budva's Old Town we walked eastwards along the seafront promenade. Budva's beaches were heaving with people and I hate being on beaches like that. We did have our beach stuff in the car, but we decided not to swim here and go elsewhere.
See my blog "Budva, Montenegro: Travel Guide" for more information.
Sveti Stefan Island is near Budva and it is the most well known landmark in Montenegro. There are good views from a couple of pull ins off the main road. However, there are even better views from St. Sava Church on a nearby hillside.
Afterwards we drove back towards Kotor and stopped at Solila Beach. There was a restaurant and good facilities there. It was much nicer than the beaches at Budva and we spent the afternoon there.
24 June 2023 - Walk up Kotor's Fortress Walls
It costs Eur 8 per person to access Kotor's city walls that climb steeply up the hillside to the Church of Our Lady of Health and the Fortress of St Ivan. Neither of them are that special, but there are excellent views of Kotor and the Gulf of Kotor the entire way. It took us 45 minutes to reach the fortress but we had numerous photo stops.
See my blog "Kotor, Montenegro: Travel Guide" for further information.
25 June 2023 - Kotor to Trogir, Croatia
There had been warnings on the Tripadvisor forum there could be long delays at the Montenegro/Croatia border at this time of year. They recommended using the smaller border crossing on the coastal road and said that it should only take an hour to cross.
We therefore left Kotor as early as we could (08.30 a.m.) and drove to the border on the coastal road. There were no other cars there and it took us less than 5 minutes to enter Croatia! It took us about 6 hours to reach Trogir. Along the way we had an excellent view of Dubrovnik.
In the evening we walked into Trogir for dinner and wandered around. The tourist season was in full swing and it was very busy. See my blog "Trogir, Croatia: Travel Guide" for information on visiting Trogir.
26 June 2023 - Sighteeing in Split, Croatia
It took 45 minutes to drive from our apartment in Trogir to Split. I had researched the car parking in Split and knew that it might be difficult. It was! We had to circle around the car park 3 times before finding a vacant spot. Each time we had to exit and then reenter the car park.
We got to Split about half an hour before the tour groups started to crowd out the main sights. It is a very interesting town packed with ancient sights. We spent the morning there and returned to our apartment after lunch in Split.
See my blog "Split, Croatia: Travel Guide" for information on visiting Split.
27 June 2023 - Sighteeing in Omis, Croatia
Omis's Old Town is very compact. It mainly consists of one long street with restaurants and shops and with a castle above it. The castle is interesting and there are excellent views. It is a steep climb up and the roof of the castle is reached by climbing a metal ladder.
Omis is very scenic and many people take a boat ride up the river. We just missed the hourly boat by a few minutes and decided not to wait an hour for the next one. There is also a decent beach in the Omis's new town. However, we didn't want to walk back to the car in the heat to get our swimming things.
See my blog "Omis, Croatia: Travel Guide" for further information.
28 June 2023 - Drive from Trogir to the Island of Brac, Croatia
I had made a booking on the ferry from Split to Supetar, which is on the Island of Brac. In Croatia ferry bookings for vehicles aren't for a specific time like with the Greek ferries. Boarding of vehicles is done on a first come first served basis. If there isn't space left you have to wait for the next ferry.
We arrived 75 minutes before the ferry we wanted to board was due to depart and had no problem boarding the ferry. I was relieved that we were directed to park on the main deck. Vehicles behind us were directed down a very narrow ramp to the next level. The ramp was so narrow that the vehicles' tyres were almost touching the sides of the ramp.
I had booked a small apartment on the edge of Supetar which was convenient to reach by car and only a 10 minute walk from the centre. See my blog "UK to Greek Islands Accommodation - Part 2" for further information about the apartment.
Supetar is a small and pretty town and we wandered around and had dinner there.
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