Budva

Budva is the main beach resort in Montenegro that much differs from other resorts in the country. If you come to Bar, Ulcinj or Herceg Novi, these towns will seem quiet villages as compared to Budva. Budva has not only successful location and all standard attributes of a seaside resort, but also a classic old town, which was completely rebuilt after the earthquake of 1979.

The town beach is crowded, though we had no problems with finding a place near the water. In Montenegro, half of the beach is usually with sun beds and has entrace fee, while another half is free of charge. The water isn't very clean, so there's no sense in snorkelling at the main town beach. Budva is closed from the sea with a huge St. Nicholas island, so the water is always quiet. There are boats that go to the island during the day (10 euro with return ticket). We went there and swam on the seaside of the island. There's a little place, but the water is clean and we found some beautiful fish, even saw a stingray.




Since we were traveling by car, we visited Budva beach only once and that was enough. It's much better to walk along the path near the rocks to the beaches Mogren 1 and 2. At 4 pm, when we came there, almost all free area was empty. Water on Mogren is much cleaner than in the Budva downtown, there's plenty of fish and reefs.










Unlike Turkey or Egypt, there are not many big hotels in the Balkans. Almost all tourists live in small villas. In September 2011 we easily found accommodation for 35 euros per day. It was near the sea, with kitchen, refrigerator, air conditioning, parking and free Wi-Fi. Air conditioning is important, as the town is very noisy at night and it's better not to open the windows.

If you're going to travel around the country, Budva is an ideal option for accommodation, no matter how you plan to travel: by car or by public transport.

Map of Budva










Getting there: Tourists get to Budva through the Tivat airport. Like everything else in Montenegro, the airport is tiny and often crowded. Just in front the airport is a road where you can catch buses to Budva (30 minutes to go) and other towns (200 meters to the bus stop). The buses have signs and they all stop here. A taxi to the Budva downtown costs about 20 euros, although the taxi drivers can ask for more money. A taxi from the Podgorica airport costs about 50 euros.