Wild. Beautiful. Montenegro. Montenegro in detail: transport, accommodation, cuisine Language and mentality: “Pricas crnogorski?”

Hi all! 😊
My name is Alexandra, I have been living in the country of the Black Mountains and the turquoise Adriatic for 8 years now 🌅I moved from a multimillion-dollar Kiev to a 15-thousand city with a considerable amount of adventurism, deciding to leave my comfort zone at 1 night, I really wanted to change my life. And what can we hide - the warm climate, ecology, evergreen coast and the Adriatic Sea played an important role!🌄 It wasn’t for the sake of work, citizenship and other social benefits that I exchanged my homeland for abroad, there are no such “guests” here, Montenegro is poor and It’s not a stable country, so I won’t say anything about the legislation. But there is no such thing as easy emigration!

I guide around Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia 🚙 I also organize exciting events together with a young man ⛵

I recently realized that I am not just guide... and a teacher on assimilation in the country 😁 My guests are taking a course on “how to become a Montenegrin.” For example, on one of the excursions in the morning we ate donuts with honey, washed down with Deutsch coffee, then enjoyed the beauty of the country in the “polaco” style on the coolest panoramic benches in Montenegro in the gorge 🌄 And for dinner there was veal from under the sacha🍖 fish chorba, Shopska salad 🍜 and shouts of “live!” near local Vranac 🍷

Moving to Montenegro for permanent residence

I moved to Budva spontaneously, I was thinking of taking a summer break and returning to Kyiv. But I liked the slow life by the sea, in a warm climate and without office work so much that I stayed for an indefinite period. In 2011, obtaining a residence permit for work was very easy; in half of the cases, they didn’t even apply for a company and didn’t pay taxes; in those days they didn’t even issue plastic cards, they just put a stamp in the passport. An annual residence permit allowed me to live freely in Montenegro. Read more


Since 2014, the country’s legislation began to change, I had to collect stacks of documents for legalization, officially pay taxes, etc. Now I am the owner of my own company, which is why I sleep peacefully, because... I don’t depend on any scams, assistants of “friends” and I wish the same for you.

The main rule of moving to Montenegro- do not rush to register a company, a residence permit (Ukrainians have the right to live for 3 months as a tourist, Russians can apply for visas an infinite number of times every month). Don’t rush into buying your own real estate, understand the country’s legislation, look at 20-50 options, talk to uninterested people about good houses and decent developers. Be patient for six months or a year, live in the off-season in winter, when the weather here is not so hot and there is no heating...


Similarly, I do not recommend opening a working business here upon arrival. It’s a very small market, only the service and tourism sectors can generate income, and that’s seasonally, which is bad, but you’ll have expenses all year round. Our schemes don’t work here at all; no one needs Russian, Georgian restaurants, etc. Montenegrins do not trust strangers and will always go to their own people for goods or services, not to us. There are at most 20 thousand Russians permanently living here all year round, scattered along the entire coast and the capital. Who to make money from? The answer is only for the visiting tourist, the emigrant. First, learn the language, observe the life and work of Russians in Montenegro, study the laws and tax system, popular niches and, most importantly, the mentality of Montenegrins. If you don’t do this, 99% of you will be deceived at one stage or another.

The main post of the press tour to Montenegro with the tour operator TUI. Something without which you can’t start a virtual trip around the country from a series of photo reports. The post that the other forty-odd participants of the trip are waiting for and the only one similar to the reports of the others: we experienced these impressions together.

Why did I want to return to Montenegro and agreed to Tui’s invitation? After all, I was already here three years ago and rode on my own. Elementary: I passed through this country the fastest of the seven Balkan states visited then. There are a lot of things left unseen. I didn’t go to tourist places.

So, today I present Montenegro as a purely tourist destination. The one with the slogan that sounds like Wild beauty. For “True Montenegro” it is a little different, but first things first.

1 It is the youngest country in Europe, less than 10 years old. It was formed as a result of falling away from Serbia “on the sly” with the independence of Kosovo. Thus, the Serbs have lost access to the sea and now come here on vacation: the language is the same, the money is just different, euros are used in Montenegro. Along with Kosovo, the country is an unofficial member of the eurozone: this is scary at first, because the dollar is already thirty-eight, and the euro is already fifty. But I have never met such a cheap European country! It’s definitely worth coming here out of season and being amazed by the prices!

2 And it’s really beautiful here, as you noticed. As elsewhere in the Balkans, red-tiled roofs dominate. Girls think it's sexy, men think it's natural. Over there on the peninsula is the old town of Budva. Every Montenegrin settlement on the coast has an Old Town. This is great. This means tourists will wander around there and a million shops can be opened. Tourists are also interested in seeing one of the Old Towns to choose from. There is no point in driving around all of them, they are all the same. And not only in Montenegro, but along the entire coast: in neighboring Croatia they are exactly the same.

3 It’s not for nothing that for the first time I remember Montenegro as the most high-altitude and vomiting serpentines. No other Balkan country has such a road chopper. Except Albania. Albania again. Exception country. But there is added to all this bad asphalt and terrible traffic, smoking trucks climbing the hill at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour, and reckless drivers in old Mercedes flying centimeters from the cliff.

4 A trip on such roads on a large bus is a good test for the vestibular system for passengers and honing driving skills for the driver. If there are grandmothers on the bus, they will squeal, complain about life and say: “Well, how do they live here?” Verified.

5 Our first destination is the village of Njegusi, where the famous prosciutto is made. In fact, they make prosciutto in every basement here, but it’s the Negush variety that’s popular. For this reason, buses travel for an hour and a half along those same serpentines.

6 A village is like a village. Very small. And you cannot say that the only Montenegrin royal dynasty of Petrovich-Njegus originated from here. I strongly advise you to read about this dynasty, although it will not convey even a tenth of the expression with which our guide Biljana chewed on the microphone on the topic of Montenegrin kings.

7 In Njegushi, everyone also does what they chew. Nice village. If there's anything they come here for, it's to eat. There's nothing else to do here. This most famous prosciutto and less famous cheese are sold on every corner.

8 Russians are the main foreign tourists visiting Montenegro. Therefore, a lot of things are found here in Russian. They don’t consider Serbs and Albanians as foreigners, for example.

9 So what is prshrut? Dried meat is like jamon or prosciutto, but a million times tastier. Frankly, when I first tried it in Montenegro on that big Balkan trip, I only ate it every day, bought it in all countries. Hamon wasn't even close.

10 But the cheese is so-so. No. Fresh. Absolutely no taste. So, answering the question, was it worth the hassle of an hour and a half along the serpentines to come to the village for lunch - it was worth it. Here we were fed wonderful meat, whereas on the coast tourists are treated to nothing but fish. And this despite the fact that Montenegrins themselves practically do not eat fish.

11 But we never bought the prosciutto. I convinced the group that it would be cheaper in the supermarket in Budva.

12 The reverse serpentine was no less amazing.

13 And from the point of view of species, it’s even more so. Panorama of the Bay of Kotor.

14 I had already ridden along this road on my own and remembered it. Almost next to the highway there is an abandoned one, very interesting and colorful. For our bloggers, climbing is the best! How I tried to persuade the guide to taxi there for a minute. She almost agreed, but then it turned out that the path to her was too narrow, or the bus was too wide.

15 Frankly, I almost didn’t take photographs of our group. They are all interesting and bright people, and you probably already subscribed to half of them. Real artists. Every stop, when we broke out of the cage of the bus, we rushed to photograph every branch. And then suddenly there won’t be enough material for the post!

16 Serpentine shoulders.

17 The bus driver explains to the tourist that he will have to turn back. Otherwise we won't leave.

18 But here we had to surrender. There's no point in explaining it to cows.

19 Coast again. What's good about it is its straight roads!

20 We went for a walk in the Old Town of Budva. I haven't been there before.

21 Biljana says something fascinating. Probably about Pyotr Petrovich Njegush. I just don’t remember about the first and second. But it's not that important. Both of them were smart and handsome.

22 There is an interesting ship on the pier in Budva, right next to the police station. Isn't he arrested?

23 Yacht “Severina”, home port of Taganrog. Interestingly, this is not just a yacht owned by a Russian: it was made in Russia to a special order. Perhaps we don’t make such ships today. The project is called "Ob-47". For the Owner and his guests, there are two blocks of VIP apartments with an area of ​​about 100 square meters each, consisting of a bedroom, living room, office, dressing room and a large bathroom equipped on the principle “for him and for her” with separate entrances. The owner's salon is connected through sliding doors to a spacious balcony forming a common relaxation area. On the deck below there are four more large passenger cabins and a special staff cabin, all with separate bathrooms. If you're interested, you can Google it further. At the same time, find out who the owner is. I'm betting on Abramovich!

24 Well, God bless them, the Russian rich, there will even be a separate post about them. Let's go see the color, because if there is any, it will be in the old city.

25 The most colorful thing here is the old gate with an icon.

26 The boy and the dog are fine too.

27 Beach with tables - nice.

28 But that's all. The old town of Budva is completely dull. You can hang yourself on these very gates. There is absolutely nothing there. Well, that is: narrow streets made of stones, a million shops with souvenirs and another thousand shops with clothes. Thirteen restaurants with fish. All.

29 The next morning there was a second attempt to fall in love with the Old Cities. We were taken (already along a relatively straight road) to the city of Kotor. By the way, it is much larger and more interesting even for an experienced bus tourist. Well, again, this is directly the Venetian heritage of those times when they were an independent state.

30 Beautiful fortress wall and river. Which of the blog tour participants did not take such a shot, admit it!

31 Inside (if you compare it with Budva) it’s interesting. But I was bored, because I had already seen hundreds of thousands of exactly the same cities, including in Italy itself.

32 City guests carefully study tourist maps.

33 Inside - real Italy. Those who have never been there will really like it.

34 See for yourself, am I not right?

35 Many fellow bloggers did the best thing: they climbed up to the fortress wall and the church. Firstly, there is a cool view from there, and secondly, very, very few people get there. I didn't get there, for example.

36 The church where everyone takes pictures.

37 An attempt to portray something original. dmitry_trunov , ilyavaliev , dervishv , nasedkin and an unknown young lady.

38 Finally, having finished with Kotor, we drive along the coast to another city. Traveling by bus is incomparably cooler than sailing on such a huge ocean liner. I've never tried it and don't want to.

38 I like small boats better.

39 Another small town on the shores of the Bay of Kotor. Which, however, I liked the most. It's called Perast.

40 It is exactly the same grey-red, stone-tiled, but there is room to climb. And there are no people.

41 I tried to climb this tower, but the streets were so deserted that I didn’t even have anyone to ask where the keys might be.

42 But I found an ancient cat man.

43 And the Yugoslav banner. In Montenegro, people are as nostalgic for Yugoslavia as in Russia for the Soviet Union. Not understanding that we need to move forward.

44 Tables right by the water are some kind of distinctive Montenegrin feature, I like it.

45 What's wrong with men's faces?

46 Fifteen minutes were allotted for independent exploration of Perast, but in general our goal was to travel to this small island. It is man-made, built about a hundred years ago and is called Our Lady of the Reef.

47 There is nothing here except the church. All that was left was to walk in circles. It was possible to come up with an exciting reality show: leave bloggers here for a day and offer to film the most original report about this place. Despite the fact that there is absolutely nothing to film on the island. They took pity on us: we spent only an hour on the island.

48 The third day of the trip around Montenegro was independent. As I already wrote, we, together with aquatek_filips And sicheslavets took the car and left for Albania. The car was rented for two days, why should it sit in the parking lot? We went to explore the beauty of the country following the bus.

49 It didn’t work out for the bus: our conductor sasha0404 , who has been living in Budva for three years, kept showing us really interesting places that are rarely visited by tourists. Here, for example, is an old staircase on the top of a mountain above the Budva Riviera.

The staircase was built by a Russian man, Yegor Stroganov, who emigrated to Montenegro and became a monk. The story of his life is just a legend, but there is such a Santa Barbara mixed in there! Like, this guy had a daughter who slept with someone before the wedding. He went berserk and cut off his daughter’s hand, and then his own. Afterwards he moved to the Balkans and became a monk. There is indeed a monastery nearby. And when he was sad, he built this staircase. I built with one hand for ten whole years.

A hundred years later, grateful residents erected a memorial plaque for him. Here's the story.

50 And from here there is a good view of the island of St. Stephen.

51 Bloggers were so busy writing posts about this island hotel that they didn’t notice a couple more islands just a kilometer away. Or these are not even islands, but reefs. On one there is a mini-forest with ten trees, on the other there is a single house. It would really be interesting to get there.

52 Serpentines again. In a passenger car, and even when the driver is driving, they are completely different.

53 If I were a nature fan, then this entire post with six dozen pictures would consist of only species. It's really wildly beautiful here. But I'm not a fan :)

54 However, this place was most memorable in landscape terms. Canyon of the Moraca River. Starting out shallow, it eventually turns into adorably scary!

56 There is also beauty from above.

57 Montenegro is the country where hiking and trekking need to be developed. Do you know anything about this?

Thanks to whom?

To friends, comrades, and fellow bloggers with whom we discovered Montenegro together. In the journals of these brave and sometimes desperate guys you can find many stories about the small Balkan country. These are the heroes: sicheslavets aquatek_filips lovigin kuderova mashkind

Summer in Montenegro 2013 and wine tour

Dear friends!

Please forgive me for the unimaginably long silence! We've gone completely crazy here; There was a lot of work this season. But now I finally have time (until next summer 🙂) to continue the story about our life in Montenegro.

This year we had many guests - both tourists and our friends and family. This summer, as in principle in many other countries, was not the hottest; For us it was pleasant, but for those who like to lie on the beach it is not hot enough. And for active tourists who want to visit different parts of Montenegro, it was ideal. By the way, tourists still come, because the thermometer still shows +25-28.

A couple of days ago, our guests left Kazan, who come to Montenegro for the second year in a row. Despite our workload, we managed to organize a wine tour for them, and let’s be honest, for ourselves too 😉! The best time to get acquainted with Montenegrin wines is autumn, because you can see the whole process of making wine and even take part in it yourself! I have never tasted such delicious wine as from private wineries.
In addition to wine tasting, we also had a mind-blowing lunch (in a good sense of the word!) and an easy walk through the ancient village. From one of the mountains that we climbed, the whole of old Montenegro was visible, i.e. that Montenegro, which in ancient times did not yet have a coast.

In just a few hours, this lamb will be cooked and absolutely delicious!
We were offered to try delicious nettle pita with cheese!
The vineyard is guarded by the guests' favorite Magi: the kindest Donkey will gladly allow herself to be petted
Magi and Milyausha: love at first sight!
Tasting lessons.
As part of our exploration of the surrounding area, we visited a rural church complex. In the Church of St. Cosmas and Damyan from the 15th century, ancient church manuscripts have been preserved, which, apparently, will have to be transferred to the museum for preservation - the church is very humid, and moisture has a detrimental effect on such ancient writings.
Climbing to the top of Veli Vrh, we took perhaps a hundred pictures! Podgorica, Ostrohskie Gredy, Skadar Lake are at your fingertips!
Satisfied guests and a hospitable host :)
No trip to the outback of Montenegro is complete without a little mountain conquest!
The unique natural amphitheater on the top of the mountain is hidden from the sun all year round and is cool even on the hottest summer days, and in October it is covered with a carpet of cyclomenes!
Well, we're ready for the main course! Lamb from the sacha.

Before I visited Montenegro, I knew exactly three facts about local wine.

Firstly, wine began to be produced in Montenegro long before Montenegro itself appeared there. For many centuries, these lands were under the serious influence of Rome, which means that winemaking in the territory of modern Montenegro dates back to at least antiquity.

Secondly, Montenegro is the birthplace of the Vranac grape variety, from which the red wine of the same name is produced. However, in addition to Montenegro, this grape is also actively grown in Serbia and Macedonia, so other countries may well have their own opinion on this matter.

Thirdly, Montenegro is home to Europe's largest vineyard, which is owned by local agricultural giant Plantaže.

Going to a small Balkan country, which, if not the cradle of winemaking, is clearly somewhere very close, I expected to find wine there of at least good European quality. If not at the level of recognized winemaking giants like France, Italy and Spain, then at least no worse than the neighboring one, where, along with passable wines for consumption “on the spot”, there are original and very strong examples. In reality, everything turned out to be somewhat different.

Wines in Montenegro are divided into two unequal parts: those produced by Plantaže - and all the rest. This division is especially noticeable in stores, where finding wine from another manufacturer can be extremely difficult. Restaurants, of course, try to include third-party wines on their menu. There is also a completely pragmatic interest in this - it is difficult to sell wines that anyone can buy for more than half the price in the store across the street.

At the same time, Plantaže must be given their due: they really produce relatively high-quality wines, and in different lines for any budget. At the same time, when you open a bottle from a small winery, you don’t know what to expect. In most cases, it is better not to wait at all. True, the local winemakers, one and all, rolled their eyes when I asked about Plantage and said that Plantage is an industry, but I was unable to understand whether this assessment was more of a curse or a respectful one.

By the way, winemaking is a licensed activity in Montenegro, but licenses have been issued for the entire country, if only... about ten of them. This is despite the fact that, in general, every home produces its own wine. But if it is not forbidden to make wine without a license for your own consumption, then the legality of selling it to restaurants is questionable. To my question, how is this possible, the winemaker I interviewed answered: this is Montenegro.

Winemakers also have their own recipe for longevity. It consists of a special order of drinking drinks during the day: at breakfast - a glass of rakia, at lunch - a glass of wine, at dinner - two glasses of wine. The main thing is not to exceed the norm, and you will be a vigorous and healthy long-liver. That's what they told me.

To summarize, there is wine in Montenegro, but if you consider yourself at least an advanced user in this area, I don’t recommend counting on many positive impressions. If you were able to finish an open bottle, say thank you for that. However, this applies less to Plantage and more to everyone else: Montenegro, at least for now, does not encourage wine experiments.

In order not to get up twice, I’ll tell you about beer. The only mass-produced Montenegrin beer is Niksic; the plant, as you might guess, is located in the city of Niksic. A passable lager that quenches your thirst in the heat, but drinking it just for fun is not an easy task. There are several small craft breweries, the easiest way to try their products is to visit the Hoste bar in old Kotor, although I have seen it in a couple of other places.

That's probably all.

The heat was terrible: 39 degrees in the shade and it was only 11 o’clock on a July morning. Well, what kind of wine tasting can there be??? Refuse?
It's awkward because... one month in advance, a meeting was arranged with the chief oenologist of the main wine company in Montenegro.
The coolness of the wine cellars of the 13. July. Plantations” gave an opportunity to come to one’s senses and fully appreciate local masterpieces. Namely: unfiltered dry white Chardonnay from an oak barrel. Yes, I haven’t tried this wine for a long time! Thick, opaque, with a bright aroma of citrus and meadow herbs, barely noticeable notes of oak. The motto of this company is appropriate here: “The truth is in wine, they believe us.”

“2011 gave us a good grape harvest,” the wine production technologist told me. But the indigenous Montenegrin “Krstac” is recommended to be drunk young and well chilled, as an independent aperitif. It is light, with a pleasant minerality, with aromas of local peaches and pears and notes of honey. The vineyards, which stretch over more than 2,300 hectares, border on peach orchards, the aroma of which is captured in the wine.

The next miracle from the barrel was the autochthonous “Vranac”. This is an incredible combination of ripe cherries, blueberries in French oak, very harmonious, full-bodied, with an aroma of spices and a pleasant aftertaste of caramel and smoke.

"Rose-2010" turned out to be a rather pleasant mix of Grenage and Vranac. Bright, juicy, with red currant flavor, excellent balance between acidity and minerality. Great for hot summers, but only chilled.

During the three-hour excursion, I saw various varieties of Montenegrin wines: here are sparkling white wines produced by the classical method of fermentation in a bottle; and the pride of production - “Vranac Pro Kord” - wine, which is prepared in a special way while preserving polyphenols, which have a beneficial effect on the human body in general and on blood vessels in particular.
But “Perla Nera” and “Sasso Negro” are a new project together with Italian winemakers. Here they decided to blend the local Vrantz with Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Negro Amaro. The results were very elegant and unique wines.
I was shown the holy of holies: a room where there are miniature oak barrels with “cognac”.

« We decided to create our own brandy“- the technologist of this department told me. Well done! When there are such opportunities, why not experiment?
Montenegro is now a very popular resort on the Adriatic coast. Many natural wonders, good-natured residents, delicious national dishes and wines!

Friends, travel, enjoy the pearls of nature, try local wines and remember the words of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius: “Wine from the vicinity of Lake Skadar does not allow you to grow old, prolongs life, heals mental and physical wounds!”