At the beginning of June, together with friends, we went to Montenegro (meaning Black Mountain) to visit Durmitor National Park and the Adriatic coast. It was exciting not only because we hadn’t been visiting this country before.

On June 3rd, 2006 Montenegrin Parliament declared independence of the country (previously it was a part of Yugoslavia and various incarnations). It was interesting to find out what people think and to see how a small country starts its independent living. Montenegro has a territory of less than 14 thousand square kilometres and a population of less than one million.

Arrival to Montenegro

To reach our destination, we crossed Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, and arrived in Montenegro from Serbia, crossing those days very recently established border control points. The first stop we made was at a petrol station soon after crossing the border and were really surprised about the cleanliness and order prevailing around.

Large rest area and surrounding landscapes let us to relax after a long trip through Serbia. It was late afternoon, however, we didn’t have a hotel booking, so after a short break we continued driving and had to find suitable accommodation before sunset.

Driving from Mojkovac to Zabljak, we found a convenient motel “Ravnjak” with separate bungalows (address: 18th kilometre of the road Mojkovac-Zabljak, phone: 084 472 144). The next morning we ordered a really excellent breakfast. In case you don’t need an apartment, it is worth stopping there even just to have lunch or dinner.

Visiting Durmitor National Park

Our next destination was Crno Jezero (Black Lake) located in Durmitor National Park about 25 kilometres from Tara Bridge and about 3 kilometres from Zabljak. Before arriving at Crno Jezero, we looked around the town of Zabljak which is the highest urban conglomerate in the Balkans (located 1450 metres above sea level).

Zabljak is surrounded by 23 mountain peaks over 2200 meters high. There are 18 glacial lakes in Durmitor National Park, however, Crno Jezero is the largest and the deepest of them.

It is situated at the feet of the mountain massive Medjed. Crno Jezero is formed by receding glaciers and it has 2 halves – Big Lake and Small Lake. There is a 3.5 kilometres long walking path around the lake (we used only some part of it).

There is a parking place near to the lake. About a kilometre before the lake, car traffic is prohibited, however, access to the lake is very convenient – trails are covered with asphalt. There is also a restaurant on the coast available. More than 3 hours we spent walking in this area, enjoying nature and the beautiful landscape around the lake before moving forward to other parts of Durmitor National Park.

Tara river canyon

We continued our trip and the first site to visit in Montenegro was a bridge across the Tara River (this bridge called Djurdevica Tara is a symbol of the Tara River). Tara River cuts the Tara River Canyon (Tara River Gorge) which is the longest canyon in Montenegro and Europe and the second longest in the world after Grand Canyon in the United States (Arizona).

It is 78 kilometres long (there are also sources mentioning that it is up to 82 kilometres long) and 1300 metres high at the deepest point.

The canyon also is a part of Durmitor National Park and it has been listed as a UNESCO Heritage Site since 1980. Tara Bridge was built between 1937 and 1940 (rebuilt in 1946 after the Second World War). The bridge is 365 metres long, has 5 arches and the largest span is 116 metres. The roadway stands 172 metres above the Tara River. For sure, this is one of the most interesting sites in Europe to be seen.

Off-road driving in the mountains

To have more fun, we decided to cross the mountains before going to the Adriatic coast. And we had a lot of fun and challenges! Mountain road was very challenging to drive because sometimes it was covered by melting snow. There were some sections covered by asphalt but some were not.

We even reached mountain pass Sedlo (1907 metres above sea level) and continued driving, however, a few kilometres before the crossroads we had to stop because heavy road machinery was still cleaning the road after the winter season (it was June 12th but the depth of snow covering road was still about 3 to 4 metres). We found out that at least one more day should be spent cleaning the whole section of the road to get to the crossroads.

After a short interview with the reporter of the local newspaper who was preparing an article about snow clearance work, we turned around to get back to our starting point to continue the trip to the capital of Montenegro Podgorica. Late in the afternoon, we reached the Adriatic coast and continued our trip to the next destination – Dobrota, a small town near Kotor.

We had booked a guest house there to stay for a week and enjoy our vacation on the sunny beaches of Montenegro, explore interesting places in the surrounding area and enjoy local food specialities..