Montenegro alone 2021
Part 1: Preparing, Waiting, and Implementing
I don't know if everyone does this, or just us, but often trips don't add up on the first try.
We have long wanted to see Montenegro, but were stopped by high airfare.
Bay of Kotor, Church of Our Lady on the Reef
And package tours often offered accommodation options with the pretentious name "Villa", from the "room in an apartment" series, somewhere in a noisy area, and only RO, that is, without meals.
In the end, we ourselves chose an apartment in a quiet village, away from the bustle of the city.
The apartment where we stayed
We booked a year in advance, back in the prosperous 2019, in the fall, with an eye to visit in June 2020.
Probably due to the high popularity of Montenegro, the booking of apartments on Booking was only non-refundable.
The flight was ordered from the Polish airline LOT, both there and back with a change in Warsaw. The transfer lasted 4 hours or more. But this did not stop the stubborn tourists. And in the gray cold winter we were warmed by the anticipation of our journey.
And so, at the beginning of 2020, our entire structure collapsed due to COVID-19.
Who would have thought how drastically our lives would change in 2020!
I won't describe how long we butted heads with Booking and the Polish airline LOT to get our money back.
I can only say that after we swore to the owner of the apartment that next year we would come only and only to him, and to no one else, he agreed to transfer the Booking reservation to the category of returnable, and even without a fine.
Then we knocked on Facebook for a long time to the Polish LOT, they also reluctantly answered, please wait, we are doing our best. Everyone thought that this was about to end by itself.
But time passed. The money for the air tickets was returned to us only in December 2020, at the same time we canceled the Booking booking with a full refund. This, of course, is good, but when will we see Montenegro now?
The Blue Grotto in Petrovac
Winter passed in search of recreation areas with the lowest mental and material costs. Covid raged. I really did not want to take tests back and forth. We hoped that due to the disastrous season of 2020, some concessions for tourists would still be made.
On the streets of Budva
And now, in April 2021, Montenegro announces that it opens the season for tourists from Ukraine without passing tests! And our air carrier Sky Up organizes direct flights to Tivat airport. It must be fate!
Without thinking twice, we bought tickets and booked apartments (the same ones we wanted a year ago). Moreover, the appetite of the owners of apartments in Montenegro has fallen dramatically since last year (last year's tourist season in Montenegro was a complete failure, and tourism is the first item in filling the state budget) and now they all vied with each other, offering reservations without prepayment and with the possibility of cancellation a day before intrusions.
For our holiday in Montenegro, we chose the small cozy village of Buljarica, very close to the resort of Petrovac, on the very edge of the Budva Riviera.
Sea in Buljarica Bay
When you get used to traveling on your own, without a package tour, you really don’t want to return to it, you begin to appreciate your freedom. We won nothing in terms of “money terms” compared to the packers, but we gained the opportunity to live in the chosen place and move at the chosen pace.
From Tivat airport we ordered a transfer from GetTransfer. The company is reliable, we use it for the second time, it works almost all over the world. What is convenient: you can choose a car at home, a driver with knowledge of the language you need will meet you with a sign at the exit of the airport.
Pay with a card, and a voucher will be sent to the post office immediately, which contains the driver's contacts, route, transfer time, make and license plate of the car, the languages u200bu200bof which the driver speaks.
We chose drivers with knowledge of Russian and were not mistaken: our former compatriots drove us from Tivat and back to Tivat, with whom we had a pleasant conversation on the way, and also received a lot of useful information.
From Tivat, along the entire Montenegrin coast, there is a main route called the Jadran Way. The road is laid along the slope of the mountain, above the sea, and along the way you can admire beautiful views, passing all the charming towns of the Budva Riviera, from Budva to Petrovac.
Sveti Stefan Island from the bus window
From above, the bays and beaches of the Montenegrin resorts are perfectly visible, and the “visiting card” of the island of Sveti Stefan, and, of course, the azure, magical, inviting Adriatic Sea.
Since the check-in time was at 12.00, and we arrived at 6.00, we asked the driver to take us directly to the beach. The central beach of the village of Petrovac no longer accommodates everyone (I am writing this for those who remember the free beaches of this town 10-15 years ago).
Sea view of Petrovac
Several high-rise hotels have been built in the town, and a couple more are on the way. Already at 7 am the apple had nowhere to fall. Of course, part of the beach with paid sunbeds and umbrellas for 15 euros per set was not crowded : ), but the free one, where people sit on their towels, every minute became like a game of "tags" (I write this for those who remember that this is) or Tetris (for the younger generation). People were packed so tightly that there was no passage between their beds at all. Among other things, a cafe was located above the beach and the smells from it began to block the smell of the sea. But that's not all: vacationers on the beach were mostly Serbs and Montenegrins. They all smoke! Constantly, from all sides! For the most part, women of all ages! Mothers, breastfeeding a baby, do not take a cigarette out of their mouths, bathe babies in the sea, also with a cigarette. And so everywhere. At 9.30 we, people who had long since given up this addiction, realized that it was time to run away from such a beach! And the sun got too hot, and we were still quite white.
Embankment of Petrovac
It was necessary to carry out the second point of our plan - to register at the local tourist information center. In Montenegro, every tourist is required to register and pay a tax of 1 euro per night of stay in the country. Now the procedure has been simplified: you can register and pay on the spot, in the information center. Until recently, you had to go to the post office to pay, and then, with a receipt, go to register. The hotel will do this for package tourists, but the owners of apartments are not always ready to register guests. We decided not to strain anyone and do it on our own. The procedure is simple: they came, showed their passports and Booking booking, the girls counted how many nights we would be here, and took payment. They should issue a pink receipt, you need to keep it until you fly home, it can be checked at the border. In addition, this receipt is required if you take an excursion outside Montenegro, say, to Dubrovnik or Albania. Registration must be done within 24 hours of arrival. There are information centers in all seaside towns.
Castello Fortress in Petrovac
If the border guard at the airport finds an unpaid resort fee and no registration:
You can be fined 60-240 euros and forced to write explanatory notes. The most common fine is 200 euros. If you are indignant, they can delay the procedure, as a result of which you will be late for your flight.
On foreign excursions, they may not be allowed out of the country.
If you refuse to pay a fine, they can be deported from Montenegro with an entry ban for 5 years (It happens rarely, but, according to reviews, regularly).
We successfully coped with the registration. On the way we went to an institution with the sonorous name "Pekara" (I think no translation is needed), but either the heat, or fatigue after a night flight, but we did not want their delicious, huge pies with meat or cheese called "burek". It was really hot. I just wanted to drink. As it turned out later, these days in the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica, which was not far from us, the heat was +52.
The beach of Petrovac "Lucice"
We began to move towards Buljarica. We passed Petrovac and on its edge we saw a stunningly beautiful beach called Lucice, which will become our favorite in the future.
The beach of Petrovac "Lucice"
The water in the sea there is of unreal beauty, it is surrounded by small green capes, there is all the infrastructure necessary for a tourist (showers, toilets, changing cabins, cafes). Of course, as elsewhere in Montenegro, most of it was also occupied by paid sunbeds, but still there was always a place.
Lucice beach in the evening
After climbing another hill with a steep climb, we finally got to our apartments. The owner was at work, could not meet, we got a little lost, but he sent his teenage daughter for us with the same niece friend and a retriever dog. These three girls made it safely and brought us home. They showed us to our room, gave us a cold fruit drink, and, to be honest, we passed out. I didn’t even have the strength to enjoy the stunning view from our balcony.
View of Buljarica bay from the balcony of our room
After waking up in the afternoon, we went to explore. It turned out that we were 10 minutes walk to the sea, 3 minutes to the supermarket, and 4 minutes to a small tavern. We decided to replenish our energy reserve with a complex lunch worth 4 euros in a local konoba. The waiter warned that the second would be a chicken leg.
Do you agree?
Yes, of course!
Who knew that after soup-chorba they would bring us THIS?
And a salad to go with it! Even after a sleepless and hungry night, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon we were not able to master it! They pecked, of course. Very tasty! But… a lot!
"Everything, dear, we have begun! ". I once heard this phrase from a young woman after the plane landed in Tunisia. And, now, every time, I start our vacation with it. "It has begun! ".
Monastic liquor made from dried grapes (we haven't tried anything tastier! ) Even "Vinsanto" on about. Santorini didn't like that much
Continued by here >>>
