Montenegro was a place we were quite excited to be returning to. We’d more or less just transited the place on our way up to Amsterdam back in May, so this time we wanted to do a little deeper dive into the country. It’s a very small place, taking only a few hours to drive across, but within that rather short distance, there are a number of worthy attractions.

Things actually didn’t start so well given that there was a massive lineup on the Croatian – Montenegro border as we were passing through. It took much longer than we thought, and to make matters worse the border insurance office was not open when we crossed. Since our green card insurance only covers those countries in the EU, Montenegro, of course, is excluded. It requires a separate policy, typically purchased at the border. The border officials couldn’t help with getting us insured, but fortunately didn’t prevent us entering the country – we just had to drive for the first 30 or 40 km without any insurance. Extremely careful driving I might add…! 

The busy border and insurance issue meant that we were not just arriving at our intended campsite as night fell ( a habit we steadfastly avoid ), but we were also navigating without the aid of any GPS since we now had no data. Our eSIM provider, while declaring our card covered “all of Europe”, failed to mention that it really only meant those countries in the EU. Of course Montenegro is not one. No SIM card providers at the border either…! No navigation aid, no insurance, and driving as night fell – quite a stressful reentry into Montenegro !

Things turned much better in the a.m. as they so often do. Our incredibly helpful campground host pointed us to a nearby SIM card provider, which meant we were quickly back online and could travel with the aid of GPS. With the aid of some British folks we met at the campground, we also got the name and address of a border insurance provider inside Montenegro. Drove down to Tivat and took care of that first thing which reduced the stress level considerably. Now, free to explore…!

If Dubrovnik is the jewel in Croatia’s coastal crown, then Kotor is the Montenegro equivalent. A stunningly beautiful historic old town dating back millennia, it sits at the end of a deep bay surrounded by high mountains. It has a beautiful little beach right by the town, and unusually, a well run campground ( of sorts ) right in the heart of the town and right on the beach. A bit of an oasis you might say for those in vans, we’d heard about it and had hoped we could find a spot. Fortunately, the campground manager made room for us, but of course it was cosy camping Euro-style, something that by now we have come to know and expect.

The couple of days there were just delightful – weather was fine, the sights were great and we appreciated having the old town, the beach, and all the amenities literally at our fingertips. That, and being taken care of by the absolute friendliest campsite manager in all Europe….! His reputation absolutely preceded him and his tips and insights just made our stay that much more enjoyable.

Heading down the coast took us to Budva, another popular beachside community, where we managed to spend a couple more days. Another superbly located campsite made sticking around just way too easy. Budva, too, has a very “old” old town so took advantage of its proximity, exploring its charms. Its walls we did walk – €2 vs €40 at Dubrovnik !

With the weather still being very hot down here the decision was made to skip Montenegro’s Durmitor National Park – a decision we hope we don’t regret but it looked very much like a combination of the Dolomites and Plitvice National Park and since we’d spent time in both those, Durmitor seemed like overkill. 

Beyond Budva, and once past Sveti Stefan, there’s not much left of Montenegro ( that we’d not seen before ) so prepped ourselves for Albania. A closed section of road on our planned route made that drive a little more “interesting” than we expected but we made it through without mishap.  More on that in the following blog.

Till next week….. 

In Case You Wondered:

Q: Roaming charges are so high when you travel, how do you manage your communication with folks at home and others ( and the data needed for the blog and IG uploads ) ?

A: We try to kill 2 birds with one stone here. These days everyone is using either local SIM cards purchased in your destination country, or ( more commonly ) “E Sims”, assuming your phone is compatible ( all new ones are ). These can be bought online easily and inexpensively and can cover just countries, regions, or the globe. We’ve been using a JetPac European ESim, but there are countless others, too. One can’t text nor make traditional phone calls ( you don’t get a “number” but you can use WhatsApp, FaceTime etc etc). It works very well. Unlike North America where free WiFi service is ubiquitous, such coverage is not as widespread in all parts of Europe so a local SIM card ( at least ) is definitely recommended.

I quickly got tired of looking for WiFi locations to upload blog content and social media posts so instead I now just buy big data packs each month ( anywhere from 40 to 100gig). Costs about what we pay at home for a monthly phone plan. So far so good.