Montenegro, a tiny country on the Adriatic Sea, fits all sorts of stereotypes of Eastern Europe--for crime, espionage, political instability, exoticism, and romantic allure. Its seaside cities, including Budva and Kotor, are achingly beautiful. Kotor is on all cruise ship itineraries of the Adriatic. We visited Montenegro on May 9, 2026.
Budva and Kotor are both walled cities. They were trading centers when Venice ruled the Adriatic, from 1200 or so to the 1500s. The walls protected the cities from pirates and other undesirables.
Budva and Kotor are both tourist havens, and within the city walls are hundreds of restaurants and shops.
Albania was Muslim, Montenegro is Orthodox, and its neighbor to the north, Croatia, is Catholic. With such divergent religions, no wonder religious wars have raged across the Balkans.
Budva is a construction site, as resorts are thrown up for tourists from Europe and even Russia. Serbia and Montenegro have the closest ties in Europe to Russia.
Budva and Kotor are also sailing and yachting capitals.
Next stop was Kotor, another walled city.
Wealthy traders lived in homes with balconies, above St. Tryphon's Square.
We toured a church on St. Tryphon's Square and looked down, from the balcony of its museum, onto the cafes and tourists milling about the square.
I wished I had time to sample a "krempita", the distinctive pastry of Kotor. It looked like a "Napoleon," a French pastry made with puff pastry and custard.
Outside the city walls, we toured a bazaar selling olives and olive oil, honey and honeycomb, cured meats and cheeses, and other delicacies of the region.
The last adventure of the day was a boat ride from Perast, a town on Kotor Bay, to the "Our Lady of the Rock" church on an island in the bay. The island was created artificially in 1452 on the spot where an image of the Madonna was found.
I enjoyed the art gallery above the chapel, with great views out to Kotor Bay.
We continued driving north until we reached our resort just outside of Dubrovnik, Croatia.
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