Montenegro has Many Riches on Offer

Montenegro 

- has Many Riches on Offer 

Isabel Conway was charmed by its superb coastline, elegant old towns, 

laid back affordable resorts, food, wine and friendly people

Photos: Pat Keenan

Coming down the mountain: to Kotor

     Montenegro has been tipped by the bible of travel, Lonely Planet as on a fast track to tourism superstardom this year and beyond.

     It is easy to see why. Few small central European countries have made such an impact in the charm stakes. Combine a superb coastline with a mysterious wooded remote interior, add beautiful Venetian style elegant old towns, a few laid back affordable resorts, plus friendly people and you soon realize that Montenegro has many riches on offer.

     Our tour bus crawls around impenetrable hairpin bends on a mountainous marathon, to be precise a 500 km round day trip from the coast into the interior all in one day.. I must be mad but am persuaded to visit the famous Tara Canyon close to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. When you reach it…eventually…a spectacular rip in the earth, bisected by a crashing rive awaits. It is the second deepest canyon in  the world after the famous Grand Canyon.

     Back on the coast - if you have not yet visited, imagine a sort of Italian lakes meets Greek islands - rocky shoreline, emerald sea, forest clad islands dotted around the bay, stretched out from the balcony of my hotel aptly named’ Queen of Montenegro.’

A relatively new tourism kid on the block – an enticing reason to visit

     Montenegro (meaning Black Mountain) is still a relatively new tourism kid on the block – an enticing reason to visit - along the Balkan Riviera but that is all changing fast. One of the top ten destinations of 2013 get there before they put up the prices and the place is over run.

Budva Old Town

     Down the coast at Porto Montenegro, whose luxury yacht marina and waterfront community with exclusive boutiques, expensive restaurants and luxury waterside properties hope to emulate Marbella’s Porto Banus the scale of this little country’s ongoing ambitions to create a jet set resort is evident.

     The elite tourism renaissance has drawn people like Puro group founder Mats Wahlstrom, whose name is associated with exclusive beach resorts in Spain and Portugal  and who has created a high end yet cosy Beach club here.

     Modest by comparison adjacent Tivat is where you can find a pizza and beer for €8 at a pavement terrace along its pleasant promenade. If you stretch your neck and look to the right you can still view the gleaming super yachts moored at nearby Porto Montenegro .

     Arrival in Montenegro from Ireland involves a one and a half hour transfer from Dubrovnik Airport to where direct flights from Dublin and Cork operate. My base for the next four days was the beach resort of Becici, less developed than nearby lively Budva, a €1.50 bus ride away.

Bubva Café with a view

The atmosphere here is so wonderfully chilled that you might fall asleep     

     Budva  old town –a mini Dubrovnik jutting out into the Adriatic is charming and so accessible. It combines ancient ruins, a church with faded frescoes, the citadel and cobble stoned streets and squares, streets crammed with colorful boutiques and affordable restaurants within its fortified walls. The atmosphere here is so wonderfully chilled that you might fall asleep as I nearly did under the shade of a giant olive tree, basking in warm  October sunshine, lulled, it must be said by a glass or two of excellent local Vranac red wine.

     The absolute jewel in Montenegro’s crown is Kotor, about half an hour by taxi from Budva and well worth the journey with buses and tours also regularly ferrying tourists back and forth.

Kotor

     The bay of Kotor, a spectacular fjord sets the scene and the elegant walled town much of it built by the Republic of Venice in the 15th century is car free and  only just a little less impressive than  Croatia’s Dubrovnik. Tucked away a few miles around the coast is Perast, a Baroque village, which could be some place in Italy, and is visited for its quirky pilgrimage island Our Lady of the Rock. The tiny island built on the wrecks of seized pirate and enemy ships is reached by boat taxi and is a short but lovely excursion (and a steal at €3 for a return ticket).

     The Balkan Riviera enjoyed jet set status once upon a time when the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Marilyn Monroe and other former  super stars made one of its famous beauty spots fashionable.

One of the world’s most photographed beauty spots

      A fortified fishing village, Sveti Stefan, separated from the mainland by a causeway appears so  familiar but that is because it is one of the world’s most photographed beauty spots. The exclusive hotel retreat offers accommodation starting at €700 a night rising to €3,000 if you care to occupy the two story villa, complete with private swimming pool where Sophia Loren used to top up her tan and bathe.  More recent guests include Tina Turner, Mel Gibson and Sylvestor  Stallone and the German fashion model Claudia Schiffer. Convinced that Claudia was in residence a frantic young German couple pleaded in vain to be allowed to briefly snoop around Sveti Stefan. 

     I did manage to have a peek on the island, despite the best efforts of the burly security guards to keep me out. But the place was devoid of star dust, as far I could see.

     All was not lost though. Moving back up the coast for two nights in Dubrovnik - not to be missed, it has been lovingly restored after all the Balkan War bombardments -I had the good fortune to gatecrash a Game of Thrones closing party. I have not watched too many episodes of the blockbuster fantasy historical thriller  in the past, (previous episodes have been filmed in Montenegro, the new series is set in Dubrovnik featuring the usual blood and gore and steamy sex in medieval surroundings)

     It is said that pleasure seekers lose their hearts quickly to Dubrovnik. There is something about the place….the light…the romantic Venetian buildings, lazy evenings chilling out at terraces.. Bombs pounded old Dubrovnik’s 12th. century walls during the Balkan Wars but now, thanks to Unesco  you would scarcely notice, except by taking back alleys and viewing the bullet holes and fractured walls away from the elegant main streets.

The best oysters, this side of Clarenbridge

      For centuries a leading trade centre Dubrovnik museums house wonderful relics of that past. Be sure to take a boat trip out into the bay with a choice of forested islands worthy of exploration. The best oysters, this side of Clarenbridge, are to be found around the Ston peninsula, sold by roadside hawkers or better still prepared from a local oyster bar like Kamenice on Gunduliceva  Poljana 8 Dubrovnik.

If you veer away from the old town main strip Stradun you can lose yourself in the narrow back streets winding up at a café sun trap among the locals. Barely changed since Roman times the Elafiti islands are accessible by inexpensive ferry boats from the old harbor. With live jazz Nonenina is a great place to stop for a cocktail after youäve meandered down the Stradun a couple of times and around the corner you will come across a little square Buniceva Polijana that is a great night time hang out….or at least it was …though the scene moves on, even  though it may appear sleepy, quicker than you think. 

Kotor: Medieval Fort built on location of ancient Ilyrian Hillfort

Further  information 

www.visit-montenegro.com  Croatia Tourist Board  www.gb.croatia.hr
and Concorde Travel at:  www.concordetravel.ie for travel and tours

Getting There: 

Aer Lingus, Dublin to Dubrovnik from March 31-October 26, 2013 ex Dublin every day except Tues and Sat (www.aerlingus.com)  I flew Croatia Airlines ex Cork on a 2 centre package (4 nights Becici and 2 nights Dubrovnik) with Concorde Travel (www.concordetravel.ie ) tel-(01)7759300. Their  2013 packages with flights and accommodation start from  €420 pp, including tailor made holidays and two centre destinations, direct flights  ex Dublin, Shannon, Cork, Knock and Belfast.

Staying There: 

I stayed at the stylish 4 star Queen of Montenegro Hotel  in Becici  (www.queenofmontenegro.com) – a week  from €774 pp sharing with b & b, including flights, transfers etc. in 2013. Award winning   luxury resort hotel, 5 star  Dubrovnik  Palace,(www.dubrovnikpalace.hr)

Not to miss: 

Kotor: explore cobbled alleyways and secluded piazzas with cafes and churches galore. Jaz beach, a horseshoe expanse of terracotta colored sand where tens of thousands watched Madonna in concert a couple of miles north of Budva.

Ulcinj: an air of mystery abounds in frontier town Ulcinj on the border with Albania. Venture into the interior on a bus tour beyond the mountains to beautiful Lake Skadar or a wild national park.

The Food:   

Montenegro and Croatia embrace past history -Turkish, Italian and Greek, not to mention Austro-Hungarian cuisine influences. Pizza, pasta, goulash, moussaka, rich traditional stews and grilled meats from the mountains. Under €30 with a bottle of wine will buy a dinner for two in Montenegro which thankfully has the Euro. Croatia is more expensive on all fronts, from excursions to eating out.