Not knowing much about Montenegro and having a limited amount of time, we decided to take a day trip with Amico Tours.

We left Dubrovnik at 8am, when we were greeted by our guide, Zof. He was friendly and well-informed, providing commentary along the way. There were eight of us in a minivan.

The tour goes around the coast with amazing scenic views all the way. There were two main stops: Kotor and Budva.

KOTOR:

Kotor is very deservedly a Unesco Heritage site. The Old Town is a lovely little maze with stunning mountain views in the backdrop. The streets are full of cafes and restaurants, touristy but still very authentic.

We were extremely lucky with the weather, very sunny but mild, making it an ideal day for this trip. This was an absolute highlight – I’d definitely come back to spend a couple of days exploring the little corners of Kotor.

BUDVA

Our second stop was in Budva, which is more popular than Kotor with the tourists. Having said that, it doesn’t seem to have the same character.

It also has a little charming old city centre and nice views to the beach, where we had a nice pizza.

Finally, we hopped on a ferry from Tivat and started making our way back to Dubrovnik, where we arrived at about 6h30. It was a great day trip, and a very good introduction to amazing places I had never even heard about. It was just really great to go there.

HOW TO DO IT:

• Getting there: it can be a bit tricky to get to the coast of Montenegro, so a day trip may be the easiest approach. Otherwise, fly to Podgorica (the Montenegrin capital) as a starting point. From Croatia, there are twice-daily buses from Dubrovnik, but the timings do not work very well for a day trip.
• Tours: there are lots of tour operators in Croatia offering day trips to Montenegro, but booking before you get there can be a bit tricky. I chose Amico tours because they had good reviews online. We booked it over email and paid on the day – friendly and easy, recommended. The day trip cost 50€ per person, a fair price.
• Money: Montenegro is not part of the EU, but their currency is the Euro, which makes things nice and easy. It’s not particularly expensive – our nice pizza by the sea cost around 8€.