Montenegro is only a third of the size of Denmark, yet it packs in a 293-kilometre coastline, medieval towns on UNESCO’s World Heritage List and mountains rising above 2,500 metres. The country uses the euro despite not being an EU member, and you can drive from the coast to the mountains in a couple of hours.
Most visitors stay on the coast, but its towns are very different. Some sit within the sheltered Bay of Kotor, while others have long sandy beaches and nightclubs. In summer, traffic can turn even a short drive into a lengthy journey. Where you stay will shape your holiday, so here are my recommendations for seven good places to stay in Montenegro, with hotels for a range of budgets.
Contents
The Best Places to Stay in Montenegro
- Kotor - best for first-time visitors
- Budva - best for beaches and nightlife
- Tivat - best for a relaxed stay by the marina
- Herceg Novi - best for travellers on a tight budget
- Perast - best for couples
- Sveti Stefan and Petrovac - best for a peaceful beach holiday
- Ulcinj - best for sandy beaches and kitesurfing
I’ll go through each town, covering the advantages, drawbacks and three places to stay at different price points. The prices are those I found for two people on a weekend in June; they are higher in July and August.
1. Kotor - best for first-time visitors 🏰
- 📍 Location: At the innermost end of the Bay of Kotor, 8 kilometres from Tivat and around 22 kilometres from Budva.
- 🚌 Transport: Buses to Budva run every 30 to 45 minutes and cost €3 to €4. Blue Line buses to Perast run roughly hourly and cost €2. You can easily manage without a car.
- ✈️ Journey from the airport: Tivat Airport is 8 kilometres away, a journey of around 12 minutes. Dubrovnik Airport is about 60 kilometres away, with a drive of an hour and a half plus any waiting time at the border.
- 💰 Price range: € to €€€. Apartments were around €75 to €165 per night, hotels in the Old Town €180 to €330, and the five-star hotel in Dobrota just over roughly €535.
- 👮 Safety: Safe and car-free within the walls. Expect music from bars and restaurants late into the night in the Old Town.
Kotor is the town most people associate with Montenegro. It sits at the end of a long bay surrounded by steep mountains, and the entire area has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 1979. The Old Town is a maze of lanes, small squares and churches enclosed by town walls, with St Tryphon’s Cathedral dating from 1166. The town’s many cats have become a symbol of Kotor and even have their own museum.
Above the town, the old fortifications wind 4.5 kilometres up the mountain. The climb to San Giovanni Fortress involves 1,350 steps and takes up to an hour. According to the latest information, admission costs €15, payable in cash. To get higher without the climb, the cable car towards Lovćen takes 11 minutes and costs from €20 for a return ticket.
See places to stay in Kotor here.
You should know about the cruise ships before booking. The port has more than 500 calls scheduled for 2026, with five ships arriving on the busiest days. The lanes are most crowded in the morning, so head up to the fortress before 9am or late in the afternoon. Once the ships leave in the evening, you get the town back.
Kotor isn’t the place for a beach holiday. None of the Old Town hotels I looked at has a pool or beach, and they don’t have parking at the door either. To swim straight from your hotel, look at Dobrota instead, which stretches along the waterfront 2 to 3 kilometres to the north.
Places to Stay in Kotor
Hotel Forza Terra - best luxury hotel on the waterfront
Hotel Forza Terra has five stars and a guest rating of 9.6. It sits on the waterfront in Dobrota, 2 to 3 kilometres north of the Old Town. With just 12 rooms, it has indoor and outdoor pools, its own beach area in front of the hotel, a spa with a sauna and free parking. It’s my choice for combining Kotor with swimming and a peaceful setting. You’ll need a taxi or car to reach town, and one guest felt the pool was a little small.
One guest writes on Booking.com: “The hotel is small, with just 12 rooms, and the staff make you feel very welcome.”
See photos and book Hotel Forza Terra here.
Hotel Vardar - best hotel on the main square
Hotel Vardar has four stars and a guest rating of 9.0 from over 1,000 reviews. It stands on the Old Town’s main square, with a lift, a breakfast buffet, a sauna, a Turkish bath and a gym, plus spacious rooms. There’s no pool, and parking costs €10 per day and is a five-minute walk from the hotel.
One guest says on Booking.com: “The room was large and very well equipped. The bathroom was excellent and beautiful.”
See photos and book Hotel Vardar here.
D & Sons Apartments - best budget option in the Old Town
D & Sons Apartments has a guest rating of 8.8 from over 800 reviews and is inside the Old Town. You can choose between apartments for two and larger apartments for four, all with air conditioning. The host receives plenty of praise. There’s a pub on the ground floor, and one guest reports noise until 1am. There’s no lift or parking, even though the listing mentions parking.
One guest writes on Booking.com: “The host responded quickly. The rooms were beautifully decorated, with lots of extra touches.”
See photos and book D & Sons Apartments here.
2. Budva - best for beaches and nightlife 🏖️
- 📍 Location: In the middle of the coast, around 22 kilometres south of Kotor and 6 kilometres from Sveti Stefan.
- 🚌 Transport: Buses to Kotor run every 30 to 45 minutes, and those to Sveti Stefan roughly every half hour. You don’t need a car.
- ✈️ Journey from the airport: Tivat Airport is 21 kilometres away, around 27 minutes without traffic. Podgorica Airport is just over 60 kilometres away, a drive of a little under an hour and a half.
- 💰 Price range: € to €€. Apartments and guesthouses were around €35 to €70 per night, four-star hotels €125 to €160, and a five-star hotel around €220.
- 👮 Safety: Safe, but with heavy traffic and crowds in July and August. Expect nightlife noise if you stay centrally.
Budva is Montenegro’s largest beach resort and its liveliest town. The Old Town sits on a small peninsula and is more than 2,500 years old, making it one of the oldest settlements on the Adriatic. Inside the citadel walls are lanes, churches and restaurants, with beaches beginning just outside.
The 1.6-kilometre Slovenska Plaža runs along the town’s waterfront. West of the Old Town is Mogren, two small sandy beaches linked by a tunnel through the rock. For more space, neighbouring Bečići has a sandy beach almost two kilometres long. Budva is known as the nightclub town of the eastern Adriatic coast, with venues including Top Hill.
See places to stay in Budva here.
Budva is also where you get the most hotel for your money. When I searched, a five-star hotel with a rooftop pool cost the same as, or less than, four-star hotels in Tivat, and the choice of apartments is enormous. Frequent buses to both Kotor and Sveti Stefan also make it a practical base without a car.
The drawback is extensive development. So many tall apartment blocks and hotels have appeared that Montenegrins have a word for uncontrolled construction named after the town. In peak season, more than 30,000 cars a day use the road between Tivat and Budva, so allow plenty of time to reach the airport. Choose somewhere else for peace and quiet.
Places to Stay in Budva
Iberostar Waves Slavija - best-value five-star hotel
Iberostar Waves Slavija has five stars and a guest rating of 8.9. There’s an infinity pool on the roof, plus a spa, a sauna, a Turkish bath and a gym. The beach is 450 metres away and the Old Town just under two kilometres. The pool only opens seasonally, and one guest was disappointed to find it closed during their stay, so check the dates if you’re travelling early or late in the year. Parking costs €10 per night.
One guest writes on Booking.com: “Lovely hotel. The rooms are huge, clean and very comfortable.”
See photos and book Iberostar Waves Slavija here.
Casa Mia - best mid-range hotel with a pool
Casa Mia has a guest rating of 9.4 from over 900 reviews. It has a lift, a breakfast buffet, a 24-hour reception and a seasonal outdoor saltwater pool, and the beach is around four minutes away on foot. Parking is free if you reserve in advance. The hotel is in the eastern part of town, so the Old Town is about half an hour’s walk away.
One guest says on Booking.com: “The property was well located next to a supermarket, shops and restaurants.”
See photos and book Casa Mia here.
Guesthouse Bogdanovic - best budget option in the Old Town
Guesthouse Bogdanovic has a guest rating of 9.2 and is inside the Old Town, just 50 metres from the nearest beach. Choose from rooms, a studio and a sea-view apartment, all with air conditioning. When I searched, the price was below roughly €60 per night. The host receives excellent feedback. There’s no pool, lift or parking, and one guest complains about a broken, noisy bed.
One guest writes on Booking.com: “The owner was incredibly kind. Of everywhere we stayed on our trip to Montenegro, this was where we received the most sincere smile and the most honest advice.”
See photos and book Guesthouse Bogdanovic here.
3. Tivat - best for a relaxed stay by the marina ⛵
- 📍 Location: In the outer part of the Bay of Kotor, 8 kilometres from Kotor and around 20 kilometres from Budva.
- 🚌 Transport: Blue Line runs local buses between Tivat and Kotor. The Lepetane-Kamenari ferry crosses the bay towards Herceg Novi and costs around €5 for a car.
- ✈️ Journey from the airport: Tivat Airport is just 4 kilometres from the centre, a five-minute journey.
- 💰 Price range: € to €€€. Simple apartments were around €60 to €80 per night, four-star hotels €220 to €255, and five-star hotels €270 to €550.
- 👮 Safety: Peaceful and well maintained, including in the evening.
Tivat is the youngest town in the Bay of Kotor and has no medieval centre. It does have Porto Montenegro, a marina that opened in 2009 on the former naval shipyard. According to the marina itself, there are over 500 berths for yachts up to 250 metres long, with upmarket shops, restaurants and hotels around the quays.
The Pine waterfront promenade leads from the marina into the centre. At the former shipyard, you can visit a maritime collection with restored Yugoslav submarines. The town’s tourist office highlights Opatovo and Donja Lastva beaches, as well as the sandy beach at Plavi Horizonti.
See places to stay in Tivat here.
Tivat is a good choice for a late arrival or early flight, with the airport only five minutes away. It’s also a peaceful base within easy reach of other towns: Kotor is 15 minutes away and Budva under half an hour when traffic is clear. The atmosphere is more polished and international than elsewhere in the country.
That comes at a price. Four-star hotels in Tivat were roughly twice as expensive as those in Budva when I searched, and you don’t get the historic setting of Kotor or Perast. For an affordable stay here, look at apartments outside the marina area.
Places to Stay in Tivat
SIRO Porto Montenegro - best luxury hotel in the marina
SIRO Porto Montenegro has five stars, a guest rating of 9.3 and a location within Porto Montenegro itself. Fitness and wellbeing are central to the hotel, with a large gym, yoga, tennis, squash, a spa and a sauna, plus a seasonal outdoor pool. Accommodation ranges from double rooms to three-bedroom apartments. Parking costs €25 per day, and one guest reports an overcrowded pool and too few sun loungers.
One guest writes on Booking.com: “The hotel’s location was absolutely fantastic, and the staff were wonderful.”
See photos and book SIRO Porto Montenegro here.
Hotel Pine - best hotel on the waterfront promenade
Hotel Pine has four stars and a guest rating of 8.9 from almost 1,200 reviews. It stands on the waterfront promenade, around 300 metres from Porto Montenegro. There’s a breakfast buffet, a lift, a sauna and a gym, and many rooms have sea views. There’s no pool, but the beach is 160 metres away. The hotel has no private parking, but you can use the nearby public car park free of charge when the hotel stamps your ticket.
One guest says on Booking.com: “The sea view from the room was excellent, and the hotel’s location was very good.”
See photos and book Hotel Pine here.
Apartmani Tamara - best budget option near the airport
Apartmani Tamara has a guest rating of 9.1 from over 800 reviews and offers studios and apartments with balconies and air conditioning. Parking is free, and Belane beach is around 400 metres away. The property is southeast of the centre, about two kilometres from the airport and one and a half kilometres from the town centre. There’s no pool, breakfast or lift, and one guest mentions a slightly dated bathroom.
One guest writes on Booking.com: “The host was so kind, and the apartment is spacious, clean and has everything you need.”
See photos and book Apartmani Tamara here.
4. Herceg Novi - best for travellers on a tight budget 🌺
- 📍 Location: At the entrance to the Bay of Kotor, close to the Croatian border.
- 🚌 Transport: The bus to Budva takes around an hour and a half. The shortest route to Tivat and Kotor uses the ferry from Kamenari, where queues of 45 to 60 minutes are common in July and August.
- ✈️ Journey from the airport: Dubrovnik Airport is 28 kilometres away, around 50 minutes by car plus any waiting time at the border. Allow around an hour from Tivat Airport.
- 💰 Price range: € to €€. Apartments were around €40 to €95 per night, four-star hotels €105 to €150, and those in the best locations €200 to €255.
- 👮 Safety: Safe. The town sits on a hillside, so there are plenty of steps between the promenade and the centre.
Herceg Novi was founded as a fortress in 1382 by the Bosnian king Tvrtko I. The Ottomans, Spanish and Austrians are among those who later left their mark on the town. You can still see their influence in the Kanli Kula and Forte Mare fortresses, the Spanish fort on the hill and the clock tower from the Austrian period. The town’s tourist office has a useful overview.
Down by the water, the long Pet Danica promenade passes cafés and swimming spots, while the spa town of Igalo is known for its therapeutic sea mud. The town has around 200 sunny days a year.
See places to stay in Herceg Novi here.
This is the cheapest of the towns around the bay. I found good apartments from around €40 per night and four-star hotels with pools for about €150. It’s also the obvious choice for flying into Dubrovnik or combining your holiday with a trip to Croatia. I’ve written a guide to where to stay in Dubrovnik if you’d like to visit both.
You’ll need to be comfortable with steps. The national tourism board jokes that Herceg Novi has 100,001 of them, and guests at several properties mention the climb up from the beach. The town itself has no long sandy beaches, and many of the best swimming spots are reached by boat. For day trips to Kotor and Budva in peak season, add the ferry queue to your driving time.
Places to Stay in Herceg Novi
Hotel Perla - best hotel directly on the promenade
Hotel Perla has four stars and a guest rating of 9.3. It’s on the seafront promenade, around a 15-minute walk from the Old Town. There’s an outdoor infinity pool overlooking the bay, a private beach area, a spa and a sauna, and the best rooms have sea views. It was the most expensive of these three hotels. One guest reports too few sun loungers by the pool, and although parking is free, spaces are limited.
One guest writes on Booking.com: “Beautiful hotel with a fantastic sea view.”
See photos and book Hotel Perla here.
Wellness & Spa Hotel ACD - best mid-range hotel with a rooftop pool
Wellness & Spa Hotel ACD has four stars and a guest rating of 8.3 from over 900 reviews. It has a spa, a sauna, a Turkish bath, a gym and a seasonal rooftop pool, plus free parking and a breakfast buffet. Meljine beach is around 250 metres away. The hotel is just under three kilometres east of the Old Town, and one guest describes the room as rather small with a low ceiling.
One guest says on Booking.com: “The rooftop pool is fantastic. Clean and with a very beautiful view.”
See photos and book Wellness & Spa Hotel ACD here.
Apartments Jadran - best budget option
Apartments Jadran has three stars and a guest rating of 8.7. It offers air-conditioned studios, several with a terrace or balcony and sea views. The nearest beach is around 400 metres away, and the promenade is a five-minute walk. The price was below roughly €60 per night when I searched. It’s east of the centre, and one guest puts the walk to the Old Town at around 20 minutes.
One guest writes on Booking.com: “Everything was perfect. A well-equipped apartment close to the Old Town and the beach.”
See photos and book Apartments Jadran here.
5. Perast - best for couples 💕
- 📍 Location: On the waterfront within the Bay of Kotor, 14 kilometres northwest of Kotor.
- 🚌 Transport: Blue Line runs from Kotor roughly hourly. The journey takes around 35 minutes and costs €2. A taxi costs €15 to €20.
- ✈️ Journey from the airport: Around 21 kilometres and just over half an hour’s drive from Tivat Airport.
- 💰 Price range: €€ to €€€. Apartments were around €80 to €135 per night, hotels started at about €160, and the best cost around €270.
- 👮 Safety: Very peaceful. The town is car-free, so you pay to park at one end and walk in. Several hotels have stairs and no lift.
Perast is Montenegro’s prettiest small town, in my opinion. It’s essentially a single waterfront street lined with Baroque palaces and churches from its 18th-century maritime heyday. Only 237 people lived here at the latest census. A 55-metre clock tower rises above the rooftops.
Two small islands sit out in the bay. One, Our Lady of the Rocks, is an artificial island with a small church and museum. Boats take around five minutes to reach it from the quay. Agree the price with the boat operator, as there’s no fixed fare. The other island is called Sveti Đorđe.
See places to stay in Perast here.
Perast is at its best in the evening. Day visitors from Kotor and the cruise ships leave late in the afternoon, giving you the promenade, waterfront restaurants and sunset over the bay almost to yourself. One or two nights here is enough for most people.
Perast isn’t suited to beach holidays or tight budgets. The choice is small, the cheapest options are apartments, and I found no hotels below around €160 per night. The two small car parks fill up by mid-morning in peak season, and hotel parking costs €10 to €25 a day.
Places to Stay in Perast
Heritage Hotel Leon Coronato - best boutique hotel
Heritage Hotel Leon Coronato has four stars and a guest rating of 9.4. It occupies a historic building on the promenade, with large rooms and staff who are happy to tell you about the building’s past. Vegetarian and vegan dishes are available at breakfast. There’s no pool or lift, parking costs €15 per day, and one guest found that the air conditioning wasn’t working.
One guest writes on Booking.com: “What a lovely building, with a beautiful, spacious room. The staff were so friendly and helpful!”
See photos and book Heritage Hotel Leon Coronato here.
Conte Hotel & Restaurant - best waterfront hotel
Conte Hotel & Restaurant has four stars and a guest rating of 8.8 from over 1,700 reviews, by far the most in town. It’s on the promenade, with breakfast served in the restaurant right at the water’s edge. Several rooms and suites have sea views. There’s no lift, parking costs €10 per day in season, and one guest mentions a long wait for the water to come through in the morning.
One guest says on Booking.com: “Beautiful hotel in a fantastic location. Breakfast was good with plenty of choice, and we could sit right at the water’s edge with a breathtaking view.”
See photos and book Conte Hotel & Restaurant here.
Apartment Mediterraneo Blue Sky - best budget option with a view
Apartment Mediterraneo Blue Sky is a single apartment with a balcony overlooking the bay and a guest rating of 9.4. You get your own kitchen and air conditioning, and the host receives excellent feedback. It was the cheapest good option I found in Perast. There are steps up to the apartment and no breakfast, and one guest describes the bathroom as a little dated.
One guest writes on Booking.com: “The view is incredible. The apartment is very cosy. The host was very friendly!”
See photos and book Apartment Mediterraneo Blue Sky here.
6. Sveti Stefan and Petrovac - best for a peaceful beach holiday 🏝️
- 📍 Location: Sveti Stefan is around 6 kilometres southeast of Budva, with Petrovac further south along the same coast.
- 🚌 Transport: Buses from Budva run to Sveti Stefan roughly every half hour and to Petrovac around every two hours. Both journeys cost a couple of euros.
- ✈️ Journey from the airport: From Tivat Airport, it’s 29 kilometres and around 47 minutes to Sveti Stefan, or 37 kilometres and an hour’s drive to Petrovac.
- 💰 Price range: €€ to €€€. Guesthouses in Sveti Stefan were around €90 to €120 per night, hotels in the two towns €160 to €260, and the five-star beach hotel just over roughly €455.
- 👮 Safety: Both places are peaceful. Sveti Stefan has plenty of steep steps between the main road and the beach.
Sveti Stefan is Montenegro’s most photographed spot. The little island with red roofs began as a fortified village in the 15th century and is linked to the mainland by a narrow strip of sand. Today, the entire island is a luxury hotel which, according to media reports, reopened on 1 July 2026 after being closed since 2021. Only hotel guests can visit.
You can’t visit the island itself, but you can swim right beside it. The public beach along the causeway has sun loungers for hire, and the road above the town gives you that familiar postcard view. The atmosphere is quiet, with few places to go out in the evening.
See places to stay in Sveti Stefan here.
Petrovac is my choice for families. It sits in a small bay with a 600-metre sandy beach, a promenade lined with restaurants and a 16th-century Venetian fortress at one end. Everything is flat and close to the water, and it’s much quieter than Budva. You can also see places to stay in Petrovac here.
Both have drawbacks. In Sveti Stefan, many hotels are up beside the main road, and guests describe the walk down to the beach and back as exhausting. Parking is difficult to find and cost up to €20 per day. Petrovac is further from Tivat Airport, and buses to Budva are infrequent.
Places to Stay in Sveti Stefan and Petrovac
Hotel California by Aycon - best luxury hotel on the beach
Hotel California by Aycon has five stars and a guest rating of 9.1. It’s directly on the beach in Sveti Stefan, with its own beach area, sun loungers and parasols, so you avoid the steps. There’s a restaurant, a bar, a lift and free parking, and the best rooms and suites have sea views. There’s no pool, and one guest reports noisy air conditioning throughout the night.
One guest writes on Booking.com: “Breakfast was fantastic, the beach outside incredible, and the staff so friendly and helpful!”
See photos and book Hotel California by Aycon here.
Hotel Riva by Aycon - best beachfront hotel in Petrovac
Hotel Riva by Aycon has four stars and a guest rating of 9.7. It’s on Petrovac’s promenade, with the beach directly in front. Breakfast is served on a terrace, and there’s a lift and free garage parking. Most rooms have sea views. There’s no pool, and one guest was unhappy that beach sun loungers cost extra.
One guest says on Booking.com: “The hotel’s location is fantastic, and the sea view from the room is both peaceful and uplifting.”
See photos and book Hotel Riva by Aycon here.
Villa Vanty - best budget option in Sveti Stefan
Villa Vanty has a guest rating of 8.6 and is around 150 metres from the beach in Sveti Stefan. There are double rooms, triple rooms and a suite, all with sea views and air conditioning, and breakfast is available at an extra charge. It was the cheapest good option I found in town. There’s no pool or lift, and one guest calls finding parking a nightmare; nearby parking costs around €20 per day.
One guest writes on Booking.com: “Lovely view. Everything we needed was there, and it was well located for walking everywhere.”
See photos and book Villa Vanty here.
7. Ulcinj - best for sandy beaches and kitesurfing 🪁
- 📍 Location: The country’s southernmost coastal town, close to the Albanian border.
- 🚌 Transport: Buses run from town to Ada Bojana, but hotels are 3 to 5 kilometres from the long beach, so a hire car or taxi makes getting around easier.
- ✈️ Journey from the airport: Podgorica Airport is 82 kilometres away, a journey of just under two hours. Tivat Airport is also a long way away, as Ulcinj is well south of Bar.
- 💰 Price range: €. Apartments and guesthouses were around €45 to €95 per night, and four-star hotels with pools €85 to €165.
- 👮 Safety: Safe. The water at Velika Plaža is shallow with a sandy bottom, making the beach good for children.
Ulcinj is quite different from the towns around the Bay of Kotor. The beaches here are sandy. Velika Plaža stretches for around 12 kilometres from town to the Bojana River, making it the longest beach on Montenegro’s coast. At the far end is Ada Bojana island, with another sandy beach and a large naturist area.
The wind makes this area popular with kitesurfers. According to the national tourism board, it blows on around 90 days a year between May and September, and the shallow water suits beginners. The Old Town sits near the town beach, Mala Plaža, and is one of the oldest settlements on the Adriatic, according to the local tourist office. For centuries, it was a pirate base.
See places to stay in Ulcinj here.
The atmosphere is different too. Three out of four residents in the municipality are Albanian, giving the town a different character from the rest of the coast. Prices are low, and nowhere else did I find such affordable hotels with pools.
The drawback is the location. Ulcinj sits at the end of the coastal road, far from both Kotor and Tivat Airport, so it’s a poor base for day trips around the country. I also found no hotels directly on Velika Plaža. If mountains appeal more than beaches, spend a couple of nights in Žabljak beside Durmitor National Park instead. The park has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 1980. The town is 1,456 metres above sea level, around two hours’ drive from the Bay of Kotor.
Places to Stay in Ulcinj
Padam Hotel & SPA - best hotel with a pool and spa
Padam Hotel & SPA has four stars and a guest rating of 9.6. There’s a seasonal rooftop infinity pool with a view, plus a spa, a sauna, a gym, a children’s club and a playground. Parking is free and there’s a lift. The price was below roughly €135 per night when I searched. The hotel isn’t on the waterfront: the town beach is 1.4 kilometres away and Velika Plaža just over three kilometres.
One guest writes on Booking.com: “The view is fantastic, and the pool is excellent.”
See photos and book Padam Hotel & SPA here.
Hotel Pirate Old Town - best hotel in the Old Town
Hotel Pirate Old Town has four stars and a guest rating of 9.3. It’s inside the Old Town, around 300 metres from Mala Plaža beach. There’s a restaurant and a sea-view terrace, with a buffet breakfast. There’s no pool or lift. Parking costs €15 per day and is some distance from the hotel, and one guest feels the rooms could do with a light refurbishment.
One guest says on Booking.com: “We loved staying at Hotel Pirate. The location was perfect and very quiet.”
See photos and book Hotel Pirate Old Town here.
Sun Apartments - best budget option
Sun Apartments has three stars and a guest rating of 9.3. When I searched, it cost just over roughly €40 per night. There are rooms and apartments with balconies for three or four people, several with sea views, plus free parking, air conditioning and breakfast available as an option. The nearest beach is 800 metres away and the Old Town one kilometre. There’s no pool, and one guest received a shared terrace instead of the balcony they had booked.
One guest writes on Booking.com: “The view is breathtaking, and the rooms are lovely and comfortably furnished.”
See photos and book Sun Apartments here.
Where Should You Avoid Staying in Montenegro?
Don’t stay in Kotor’s Old Town if you’re a light sleeper or want a beach. Noise from bars is the most common complaint at the properties I looked at, and you can’t swim from your hotel. Avoid central Budva for peace and quiet, especially if you dislike high-rise buildings and traffic jams. In Sveti Stefan, avoid hotels high on the hillside unless you have a car and good knees.
Ulcinj is a poor choice if you’ve come to see the Bay of Kotor. Herceg Novi is inconvenient for daily trips to Kotor and Budva in peak season because of ferry queues. I wouldn’t use the capital, Podgorica, as a holiday base either, as it’s more than an hour’s drive from the coast.
My recommendation is to split a week-long holiday in two. Spend three or four nights in Kotor for the history and the bay, perhaps including a night in Perast, then the rest in Budva, Petrovac or Ulcinj for the beaches. For a long weekend, choose Kotor.
A couple of practical points to finish. According to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Danish citizens can stay visa-free for up to 90 days, and their passport must be valid for three months beyond the visit. Montenegro is not yet covered by EU roaming rules, so check your mobile provider’s prices before switching on mobile data. A tourist tax is often added to the hotel price; in Budva, it’s up to €1 per person per night.
Norwegian and SAS have both operated direct summer routes from Copenhagen to Tivat, so check whether the route runs on your travel dates. The airport website lists distances to individual towns. Many visitors fly to Dubrovnik instead and cross the border by road. You can read my guides to where to stay in Dubrovnik and where to stay in Split if that’s your plan.
You can also continue south along the coast into Albania.
Travel ressources & websites I use all the time 👇
• Booking.com has the best offers on hotels and unique places to stay
• GetYourGuide is the best place to book tours & activities with free cancellation
• Welcome Pickups is the best & safest place to pre-book airport transfers
Psst 👀 Have you subscribed to my Youtube channel and my Instagram where I provide more useful travel tips?