Detour #54: The Marvels of Montenegro
Bring oxygen. If ever there was a view to take your breath away it is that from Montenegro’s coastal route.
The poet Byron wrote: “At the birth of our planet, the most beautiful encounter between the land and the sea must have happened at the coast of Montenegro. When the pearls of nature were sown, handfuls of them were cast on this soil.”
He was not wrong about these pure crystal blue waters with lush green islands bursting from the sea. Blink and you could almost be in the Caribbean.
Our route begins in the capital Podgorica, a city with something of an identity crisis with brutalist communist blocks rubbing shoulders with old Ottoman-era buildings, Austrian-influenced stores and modern malls.
The M2.3 is the road to take, but don’t mistake the M for motorway. It may be a main route from the capital but it is a single carriageway that takes you to the hills on the horizon. You’ll pass through the light industry of the capital and into more open country, then begin to cut through the hills of this incredibly contoured country.
Take a Detour to the Skadar viewpoint – it’s little more than a rutted track and it will be slow going. But it will be worth it for one of the most mesmerising vistas in Europe. Skadar lake’s deep green water, rich with bright algae in the summer, island erupting dead centre to form a U in the foreground with a backdrop of endless mountains, is truly something to behold.
Get back on to the M2.3 towards Lovcen National Park where you can opt to hike into Montenegro’s history or go for a very modern adrenaline rush on a quad bike or zip line. From here you’ll dip down to the beach town of Budva. Given a boost by the communist government in the 1960s and again more recently by an influx of Russian money, it’s a resort that offers a rather gauche five star style. But it is the gateway to the epic beauty of the Adriatic.
So keep on moving (slowly) and taking in the glorious view as you reach the Bay of Kotor and the end of your journey.
A few years ago I drove to Podgorica from Venice, passing through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and it is those last 100 miles or so that will always stay with me. Perhaps one day I’ll even write a poem about it.
Words Nik Berg Twitter | Instagram
Photography Boudewijn Boer / Dragisa Baunovic / Mika / Unsplash / Shutterstock