The location of the hotel is very good:
1. Opposite the hotel is the only supermarket in the city
2. On the left, five minutes walk, the market.
3. City beach and promenade right after 300 meters.
4. On the right is the Maslina restaurant.
5. Slightly up baker (mini-bakery) and apothecary.
Now, as for gastronomy. In the supermarket, prices are no different from ours (everything is in euros). You can buy ham for 4.5 euros, you can buy it for 12 euros. Only bread is a little more expensive - a loaf of 0.7 euros (but my husband and I ate it for a week). Beer - from 0.9 euros and above. The notorious wine "Vranac" depends on the year of release, starts from 2.5 and above (it's good that they bought a small wine - they didn't like it). Prosciutto and cheese can be tried once in a supermarket, a second time in the market - there is a difference, it is tastier on the market, but more expensive. Fruits - peaches 1.8 (when we have 2.2) and raspberries, blueberries, figs are more expensive. Wine on the market 8 euros - they took raspberries, there were not enough degrees, like compote.
My husband and I went, so we couldn’t manage with dry food, a peasant needs meat for kindness. There is such a thing as a daily menu, it costs from 4.5 to 6 euros per person in cafes / restaurants. It includes cherba (soup), main dish, bread and salad. Of course, there was no point in hoping to get something of high quality for this amount, but we tried. Our first sad experience was at the Oliva cafe, if you don’t value time, then you can, but waiting for an order for two hours is too much, and no one understands any languages except Serbian. Soup - Galinablanca, salad - usually cabbage with vinegar, the main course is always worthy (potatoes with meat, cabbage with meat). We found the Maslina restaurant, which is a couple of minutes from the hotel. Everyone liked it there. The waiter - a middle-aged man who knows Russian well, can advise. We always left tips, for which he was friends with us (although, perhaps, he is friends with everyone). Service is fast, portions are huge. Soup - 2 euros (broth with noodles), pork - 7 euros (these are 2 large pieces of pork + french fries + lettuce + pickled onions), pasta bolognese - 6 euros (300 grams of pasta - this is another test for the stomach). At first we did not understand his phrase - you should share a portion, seeing the hungry eyes of my husband, I immediately refused. Then it became clear. We tried the fish menu (10 euros per person) big fish + 2 shrimps + mussels + french fries + boiled potatoes + bread. Why do I always write about bread, if you order separately, then a basket of bread costs 1 euro. Tea 1.5 euros, brandy (fruit moonshine 45%) 30 grams 1.5 euros.
Now about the beaches - this is the scourge of Montenegro. The beaches are all beautiful, but small, there are few of them. There are a lot of children, loud Montenegrin women try to shout each other down, they smoke a lot, bulls hide in the sand. Here we remembered Crimea at the height of the season. You can take a sun lounger and an umbrella - 7 euros. The city beach disappeared immediately. Thanks to the reviews, we went to look for the Lucice beach. Walk to the left of the hotel for about 15 minutes, there are fewer people, but not as few as we would like. All the negativity is covered by the riot of nature and the clear Adriatic Sea. We took excursions to the Bay of Kotor and a fish picnic (all excursions by sea, so as not to waste a day on the beach). The excursions are very informative, if you don’t go on excursions, then you won’t learn anything about Montenegro, and you will leave home with the thought, why did I overpay so much money, you could also relax in Crimea.
And here is the bold point - Tivat Airport. This collective farm facility is not capable of serving such a number of tourists. The crush, the abuse of our compatriots is justified, the flights were late due to the fact that people could not go through passport and customs control on time....There is even a queue in duty free. Montenegrins do not know and do not even try to know languages, which is surprising, it is easier for them to say I do not understand than to sell a product. Their commandments (the Montenegrin was born to not rush to live, if you can leave the matter for tomorrow - leave it) prevent them from earning money. There is no production, animal husbandry is poorly developed, which is why our cheap chicken costs fabulous money, unwillingness to please leads to a dead end. They are very far from the European Union (despite the fact that even the money was transferred to the euro) and gave the name to my opus “with a Soviet past”. Some minor note turned out, look at the photos and you will understand how beautiful it is there - go, it's worth seeing.
In principle, it corresponds to the declared 4 *. The hotel is small and quite cozy. Breakfasts presented in the form of a buffet are quite satisfying and will satisfy different requests (standard: scrambled eggs, cold cuts, cheese cuts, cold cuts, cereals, fruits, etc. ), however, the menu is repeated every 2 days. The air conditioning in the room was cool enough even on the minimum. Satellite TV, free fast Wi-Fi, noisy refrigerator, safe. There is no minibar, but given that the supermarket is 1 minute walk away, this was not too much of a concern. Upon check-in, we were given a room without a terrace - we asked to change it and received a room with an excellent terrace overlooking the sea and furnished with a table + chairs. The staff is friendly and helpful in all matters. The burned out light bulb was changed in 2 minutes. Towels are changed every day, cleaning seems to be every few days - I didn’t pay attention to be honest.
Nutrition
Independent: A minute's walk from Volya's supermarket. Something like our "gut". Everything is available at very affordable prices (water 0.5 euros, beer 0.7-0.9 euros, cold cuts from 1 euro per 100g, fruits on average 2 euros / kg, sweets from 0.5 euros). Also a minute's walk in the other direction is the market. On it all the products in the main. homemade, fruit from 1.5 euro/kg, house wine 10 euro/1l. .
Restaurants: their greatest variety and here it all depends on personal preferences. Prices: pizza (enough for two) from 6 to 9 euros. A plate of meat + garnish weighing 600 grams 12 euros, salads 2-3 euros, grilled dishes 6 euros, fish by weight 40 euros / kg.
Nuances: in some restaurants there are “happy hours” (somewhere from 3 to 5 in the afternoon) some kind of dish or drink for free, as well as business lunches for 6 euros (alas, I didn’t get them in time, so I can’t judge). From an unpleasant surprise in the Sutjeska restaurant, an indistinct “kuver” of 0.5 euros / person was included in the bill. as the waiter explained to us, this is not a tip, but a payment for having a tablecloth, salt, etc. on the table. We haven't seen this anywhere else in other restaurants.
Fast food restaurants: a lot of tiny pizzerias where they sell pizza in slices (really huge) for 1.5 euros - quite tasty. For the sake of interest, I also recommend taking the national fast food "Cobra" - you choose a piece of meat from the grill (pork, beef, chicken) that you put in pita bread or a bun, and then you are free to add it yourself from nearby trays: tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, a variety of local spices and sauces - at the exit you get a semblance of a home-made hamburger weighing a pound and priced from 2 to 3 euros.
Ice cream from 0.6 to 1 euro per scoop.
Beaches:
The city is long, but narrow and very noisy. There are areas for relaxing on their own towels, there are sunbeds (from 2 euros) with umbrellas (3 euros). Rent a jet ski 50 euros / half an hour. There are dozens of agencies along the promenade offering sightseeing tours on a glass bottom boat for 6 euros / person.
In 15 minutes there is an order of magnitude better beach "Lucice" and we went there every day. The prices for everything are the same, however, there are an order of magnitude fewer people, cleaner and given the lack of a pier, as in Petrovac, it is much calmer without all these boats, etc. + There is a great place right under the pine trees in the shade of which you can spend the whole day without dying from the heat and do not burn out in the sun. There is also 1 water slide: 1 euro for 5 slides from it.
There are also 2 other beaches, but they are further away and we did not go to them. fully satisfied Lucice
Sea: one day before our arrival, a storm passed and garbage was brought to the shore (mainly plastic packaging and gobies), but the next day everything was removed and there was almost no garbage except for pine needles that were every day in the water near the shore, but it was enough to swim them in 3 seconds and then the sea became perfectly clean and transparent right up to the buoys (I didn’t swim further) from which both the fish and the bottom were perfectly visible at a depth. The water was on average +24 degrees.
Trips:
You can go to Budva and St. Stefan by regular buses that go from a stop located almost near the hotel every hour and cost 2 euros / person. You can also take a taxi, but it will turn out to be 10-15 euros as you agree.
We personally did not like Budva. Yes, the old city is beautiful and you should definitely go there, but everything else is clearly not for us: the beaches are tiny and simply unrealistically crowded with people, from each bar the songs sounding in the compartment created an unreal noise, noticeably dirtier than in Petrovac. Yes, there is more entertainment there, but if you want relaxation, and not turmoil, this is not for you.
Bay of Kotor: Kotor is beautiful but boring. Keep in mind that they will give you 2.5 hours of free time there and there is absolutely no place to spend them, we managed to go around the entire city on the map, taking pictures, having a leisurely lunch, then wandering again and eating ice cream, visiting souvenir shops and still there was still time. After Kotor, you are put on a tiny observation boat (a group of tourists of 50 people sat there like sprats and there is little pleasure in this). On this boat, you sail along a beautiful bay to an artificial island for about 40 minutes, and during this time it manages to get fed up with the order and all the photos taken at that time ultimately do not differ from each other. On an artificial island, you will be taken to a temple in which there is a small museum and nothing interesting. After the island, in a couple of minutes you will find yourself in the wonderful city of Pirast (the size of the Independence Square) in which there are no beaches (you can dive from concrete slabs) and anything remarkable except for historical facts about the old days in the 15th centuries. You will be given 1 hour to study this nightmare. Please note that there are no toilets there either and you will have to buy at least coffee in a restaurant in order to go to the toilet there. Personally, we liked the tour very partially, although for some reason everyone recommends it. As for me, in only 1 out of 4 cases you may like it there: 1) you are a botanical historian and consider the excursion as part of the work 2) you are already over 82 and you have nowhere to hurry and you can spend hours walking along the architecture of which there are as many like you 3) your children are very guilty and you want to punish them so that they remember it for life 4) you ended up in Montenegro but hate the beaches and the sea with all your heart and soul and want to spend more time away from them.
Dubrovnik: the trip is long 3-4 hours one way (depending on the queues at the Croatian border), but it's worth it. The city itself is very beautiful and there are many places to drop by. The streets are just nice to wander around and oooooochen delicious restaurants. We especially recommend the Toni spaggeteria, we got there by accident, but the people who came there even stood in line until a table was free to sit there. The pasta is simply magnificent, costing from 7 to 12 euros, at the end of the meal you want to lick the dishes. Also on the boat in 5 minutes you will be taken to about. Lokrum, where hundreds of peacocks walk, there is a small dead sea, a beautiful botanical garden, an old French fort and just the opportunity to swim near the island. When you return back to the city, it will be beautifully illuminated and it will be a pleasure to wander around it. In general, the best place where we were in Croatia and Montenegro. Definitely recommend to everyone.
We did not go to the canyons, but the hotel neighbors said that it was very difficult to go there for 4-5 hours one way, and the tour itself lasted 45-1 hour minutes. However, they assured that this is compensated by the beauty of the area from the bus window.
If in general about Montenegro: a stunningly beautiful country, EVERYTHING is beautiful there, except for the block buildings of the Soviet period. Nature is amazing. An excursion to the Bay of Kotor is a must!! ! I have never seen anything more picturesque in my life. And it is better to take it for the whole day. Well, the canyons, of course, cannot be missed. We traveled a lot in Montenegro, Croatia and Albania, a lot of impressions.
I want to note that if you want a beach holiday, then you will be disappointed, because. the beaches are narrow, crowded, not very clean and the sea is rather cold.
They clean every day, and bother with notes _You can’t bring food in, a fine of 100 Euros.
Montenegro SUPER!! !
the holiday was wonderful. We were lucky with the weather - heavenly conditions. there was no wind. it was really hot. the sea is warm and transparent that at a depth large enough you could see all the fish that were spinning around us. We did not like the city beach. a lot of trash. went to a nearby bay called Luchica. it's cleaner and no noise. sea air mixed with pine needles. silence. in order to have fun at the disco and the casino you have to go to budva. but there were no problems with it. could be reached by bus or taxi. By the way, a taxi cost us less than a regular bus. It's like negotiating with a taxi. in restaurants expensive but very tasty cooked fish soup and a choice of fish and grilled vegetables. Montenegrins are very friendly. there were no communication barriers. speaking in Russian and they are in Serbian, we understood each other everywhere
Near the entrance, the bus of the representative of the host party was waiting for us. We arrived at the hotel without incident. It is a little more than an hour to go, taking into account the fact that the bus transported tourists to different hotels. Ours was the last one. The hotel (small, built in 2008) stands by the road, but the noise of the cars did not bother. The room has modern furniture and plumbing, hot water was constantly cleaned in the room every day without wet cleaning. The highlight of the hotel, apparently, is the daily change of towels. We didn’t have time to dry off with towels before they were replaced with clean ones
Our price included breakfast. Naturally - this is a buffet, but everything is monotonous.
There is a good supermarket at 50 m. Five minutes walk to the sea.
The weather was windy all the time (it turns out that in September the winds begin here).
Nature is really beautiful: olive trees, large beautiful palm trees, pomegranates, tangerines, figs all grow right in the city.
In general, this is a holiday for those who want to relax in peace. We liked it, despite some little things.
P. S. once again about the airport: we were the first to check in for the flight (lucky), because. 5 minutes later there was a huge queue. After checking in, we stood in line (which blocked the entire entrance to the airport) for passport control. There is only one door, and when it was our turn, we were stopped and people started to get on the flight, which was supposed to leave in 10 minutes (some of them had not even been checked in yet). A stampede began, Ukraine stormed Russia; We had flight 3392, Russia had 392. In short, a complete mess. Surprisingly, we left on time. But the flight that flew behind us was postponed for two hours, then for another two hours. We learned this already when we arrived in Boryspil.
Yes, the nature there is beautiful, we were on 3 excursions, we chose more nature.
Lake Skadar (an ordinary lake with fresh water, where there are many water lilies and ducks with birds, they take you on a boat on a lake surrounded by mountains, swimming there is like in an ordinary river, the excursion is so-so, I was not impressed).
Bay of Kotor, (it is worth going to, because you will visit the old town of Kotor, there is beautiful architecture, visit the temple on one of the islands, and you will have the opportunity to swim in the bay. I liked such an easy excursion).
Durmitor Canyons, (During the tour we passed Skadar Lake, passed their capital Podgorica, the canyons where the Moraca River flows, visited the monastery, wetted our feet in Biograd Lake, and visited the highest bridge in Europe. The nature is beautiful, we drove, and there are mountains and forests around us, a lot of tunnels, we traveled almost the whole of Montenegro, but the tour lasts 12 hours, and it is very tiring, it can easily get sick and the pressure rise or fall. Everything worked out for us).
Cities such as Budva and Becici are more party and visited. In restaurants, the service is not always up to par. And everyone smokes everywhere. This country only develops its tourism, but does not follow order and cleanliness. We will not go there again, or we will go, but only in 10 years, when all this srach will be removed.
And more important information:
ALWAYS PACK YOUR Luggage (in wrapping film), as SOMETHING MAY BE MISSING FROM YOUR SUITCASES, AND DO NOT PUT VALUABLE ITEMS IN THE MAIN BANKAGE, TAKE THEM WITH YOU IN YOUR HAND Luggage. (Boryspil airport staff steals things, my silver ring was stolen, and the airline is not responsible. )
And regarding prices:
Sunbed 3 euro
Umbrella 2 euro
Ice cream from 0.50 to 1.30 euros
Water 0.5 l. 0.6-0.8 euro cents