Montenegro

80 Senses: #67 - The Secret Valley in Kotor Montenegro

80 Senses: #67 - The Secret Valley in Kotor Montenegro

The secret's out.

No wonder the Serbs were so miffed when the Montenegrins chose to go it alone a couple of years ago. Overnight Serbia lost its complete coastline, and what a coastline it is - 200 miles of beaches (117 in total, if you like a good stat), coves, fjords and dramatic cliff faces.

 

The great wall of Kotor

If - and it's a big if - you can drag yourself away from the beaches and lovely hotels thereon, there's plenty else to see in Montenegro, and a particular highlight is the UNESCO heritage town of Kotor. At the end of the Bay of the same name which snakes, fjordlike, inland, the walled town has pristine cobbled alleyways and churches, and an imposing wall that stretches back up into the hills behind so that no invading army ever had the chance to rain fire down on the town below.

If you want to work off some of the excess eating and drinking that will no doubt form part of your itinerary, we recommend walking to the fort at the top of the Kotor walls. It's a steep climb up a fairly big hill, but the views back along the Bay of Kotor Montenegro are truly magnificent. Even better, half way up you can pop through a hole in the ramparts and walk down to a beautiful deserted village with as picturesque a church as you could wish to see. You should have this utterly tranquil spot to yourself. Unless someone else who has read this blog turns up too.