Kotor Itinerary: A 5-Day Sample Plan and How to Build Your Trip

Quick answer: Five days on the Bay of Kotor: the walled Old Town and San Giovanni fortress climb, Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks, the Lovćen serpentine road to the Njegoš Mausoleum, a Budva-or-Blue-Cave day, and a Vrmac or Porto Montenegro farewell.

Day 1 — Old Town & the Walls

Enter the walled Old Town through the Sea Gate and let yourself get lost — it’s tiny enough that every wrong turn ends at a marble square. See the Romanesque Cathedral of St Tryphon (a few euros) and say hello to Kotor’s famous street cats, semi-official mascots with their own museum. Two hours before sunset, start the climb up the San Giovanni fortress walls: about 1,350 steps (entry around €15 in season), with the bay turning gold beneath you at every switchback — carry water, the karst holds the heat. Descend for dinner in a stone konoba: black cuttlefish risotto and a glass of Vranac red.

Day 2 — Perast & Our Lady of the Rocks

Catch the local Blue Line boat or the coastal bus (~30 minutes, a couple of euros) to Perast, a one-street baroque town that once out-sailed Venice. From the waterfront, small boats shuttle out to Our Lady of the Rocks (about €10 return including the church museum) — an artificial island built stone by stone by sailors over centuries; the votive silver plaques inside tell shipwreck stories. Climb the St Nicholas bell tower for the bay panorama, then settle into a long seafront lunch — mussels buzara style — and swim off the stone jetties before heading back to Kotor for the evening passeggiata.

Day 3 — The Lovćen Serpentines

Rent a car (or book a tour) and drive the old Austrian Kotor serpentine — 25 numbered hairpins climbing the bay wall, each view more absurd than the last; the classic photo stop is around hairpin P14. Continue into Lovćen National Park (about €5) and climb the 461 steps to the Njegoš Mausoleum (about €8) at 1,657 meters, where Montenegro’s poet-prince overlooks half the country — on a clear day you see the bay, the mountains and the Adriatic at once. Loop home via Cetinje, the sleepy old royal capital, for coffee among the faded embassies. Drive slowly: the road is narrow, and that’s part of the charm.

Day 4 — Budva or the Blue Cave

Choose your blue. Option one: a morning boat trip out of Kotor to the Blue Cave on the Luštica peninsula (group tours roughly €20–40), swimming in electric-blue light, with stops at the submarine tunnels and Mamula island viewpoints. Option two: the bus to Budva (30–40 minutes, a few euros) for its Venetian old town and Mogren beach below the cliffs, then the roadside viewpoint over Sveti Stefan — the fortified island-resort that launched a thousand postcards. Either way, be back on the Kotor waterfront for a sunset spritz as the cruise ships slide out of the bay.

Day 5 — Vrmac or Tivat Farewell

Walk off the week on the Vrmac ridge: the trail from the Trojica pass rises through pine woods to views over both the Kotor and Tivat sides of the boka — two bays for the price of one, and rarely another tourist in sight. The lazier finale is a 15-minute drive to Tivat and Porto Montenegro, where superyachts idle beside waterfront cafes; coffee here costs marina prices but the people-watching is elite. Spend the last afternoon on a final lap of the Old Town — pick up local olive oil, mountain pršut (smoked ham) and a bottle of Vranac — then one last gelato on the walls as the lights come on.