Urban Sprawl and Feel
When it comes to Montenegro’s seacoast, one of the most popular destinations is Budva. It is perhaps not as scenic as Kotor, or has as many historic buildings as Herceg-Novi. Budva is a resort town with four- and five-star hotels, villas, shopping malls and offers the widest range of services in the region. Billboards advertise real estate for sale, detailing the distance from the seacoast. This town is definitely one of the more touristy ones in the region (Kotor, Herceg-Novi, Tivat). One of the high-end hotels is where scenes of the James Bond movie Casino Royale were shot. Russians and Ukrainians frequent the beaches. A lot of them buy real estate in town and live there year-round. The number of cars with Russian license plates and ads offering housekeeping services, villas and more for Russian speakers is noticeable. Construction sites of hotels and apartment complexes indicate how much the town is booming and expanding.
It Does Have an Old Town, After All
Apart from this somewhat chaotic urban feel, Budva wouldn’t be a true Adriatic seacoast town if it didn’t have a tiny old town on a peninsula stretching into the sea. One of the old town’s hallmarks is a large bell just in front of the ramparts. Turned out it has a door and there were some beer crates inside when I sneaked a peek. To get an idea of how the town evolved, the local history museum in the old town gives a fairly good introduction. Amphoras and pottery tell the tale of an ancient Greek settlement that later fell under Roman rule. The Greeks left quite a mark on the town’s history (most object in the museum belonged to them). Skipping a few centuries, Slavic tribes migrated to the area whose folk attire and everyday tools are exhibited.
The Sveti Ivan (St. John) church, alongside the ruins of Roman baths in front of it, is one of the old town’s hotspots. Tiny Santa Maria in Punta Church next to the sea is the oldest one in town.
The citadel, built during the Middle Ages, retained its current form when Austria-Hungary overtook it. It houses a small exhibition of model ships, but perhaps the best part is walking under the trellis which is full of purple flowers. There is also a library with leather-lined armchairs. All of the books are history books in Serbo-Croatian, German and English. Quite many of them are about the Habsburgs and Austrian rule.
Heading to The Beach
Walking to the west from the old town is Mogren Beach. The beach is one of the most popular ones in the town. Even if you are not looking for a dip in the sea, you should still check out this part of the coast. Amazing cliffs and interestingly-shaped rock formations are along a walking trail next to the sea. The Dancing Girl statue is one of the symbols of Budva. At one point, the path gets so narrow that you have to let oncoming people pass. If you want to continue, you have to do so through a “Door in the Rock” — a hole. Here the path goes across shallow sea across an iron bar — quite a balancing act!
Although most of Budva beaches (and the Adriatic coast) is rocky, Mogren beach has fine sand. It also has nice views of the old town. The downside is that you have to go back across the iron bar again. Jaz fortress above Mogren is an old Austro—Hungarian fortress, which is now mostly just ruins.
Most of the hustle and bustle goes on at beaches like Slovenska Plaža (or Slovenian Beach). This beach is a mishmash of closed down bars, barely functioning bars and overpriced restaurants. It just somehow doesn’t leave the bet impression. However, it is the longest beach in Budva and has a huge potential, which is also true for the rest of the town.
The bottom line: Budva is an interesting combination of historical buildings, unregulated real estate development, pricey and not-so-good hotels, and a great variety of beaches.
Would you like to see my impressions of Budva? Check out this video:
