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Published: September 21st 2017
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Montenegrin traffic jam on the way from Budva to Sveti Stefan - a line of about 4 or 5 cars had to reverse up the hill to make way for the bus.Geo: 42.2431, 18.9068
It was a lazy morning after managing over 6 hours of sleep last night - woo hoo! Bummed around a bit in the morning, then headed out to Sveti Stefan after an epic breakfast at the hostel. I could've gotten full at any of the bakeries down the street for 2 Euros, but the hostel breakfast offered killer value and variety for 3 Euros, so it was tough to pass up.
Sveti Stefan is probably the highlight of the area known as the Budva Riviera, kind of like the Montenegrin version of Le Mont St. Michel in France. It's a little town on an island connected to the mainland by a narrow natural causeway, and was developed into one massive hotel in the 50s. The richest of the rich and the most famous of the famous were the guests, and individual rooms, villas, and even the entire island were available for rent. It was recently shut down for renovations by a investors, and is supposed to re-open at some point, and will be available for peons like me to visit for a day rate of something like 12 Euros.
The sun in Montenegro is incredibly strong, so it
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Sveti Stefan, seen from the highway above. was nice to walk from the main Sveti Stefan beaches to a rock formation jutting out in the Adriatic, that was covered in trees - shaded, cool, and breezy, it was a nice spot to stop for a while and catch your breath. The views were phenomenal, and sitting there was one of those moments you never want to forget.
Around the other side of the rock was Milocer beach - I couldn't decide which was better, the beach itself, or the Hotel Milocer that sits just behind it. There are so many beautiful little spots in and around Sveti Stefan that you could spend the whole day just wandering around and chilling out at each and every one. Of all of them, Przno was probably the most disappointing, and Queen's beach was the best.
A couple of loungers and an umbrella went for 15 Euros on one of the beaches. On the private side of Hotel Milocer's beach, they were going for 50 Euros!!! If I paid 50 Euros for that, the second lounger better be occupied by a Spanish lingerie model, who would feed me grapes by hand, drip sangria into my mouth using an
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Sveti Stefan beach. eyedropper, spritz me with water when I got hot, and whisper sweet nothings in my ear! Come to think of it ... I'd pay 500 Euros for this service. And thinking of it further, 5000 Euros would still be a reasonable price to pay ...
Unfortunately, I never got to sample any of the beaches around Sveti Stefan, as traveling solo and carrying a camera meant not being able to take a dip in the water, so it was back to Budva and it's incredibly-packed beaches (not that the earlier ones weren't packed, they just seemed less so). The Chino stares continue - it's to be expected. So far, I have seen one other Asian in Virpazar, one other as I was walking back to the hostel to drop off my camera before heading to the beach, and I saw another three staying at the hostel.
Montenegro caters mostly to Russian tourists, but I've noticed a fair number of Italian ones as well. Apparently, they only come during August, when pretty much all of Italy shuts down for the holidays. There seemed to be many Italians near the little patch of beach I managed to find for myself.
Budva is so busy
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Flight from London to Montenegro: $280
Night in a Budva hostel: $20
Bus from Budva to Sveti Stefan: $2.60
Dipping my toes in the Adriatic for the first time in 4 LONG years: PRICELESS!!! that it's a bit overwhelming - so many people, techno blaring from beach-side bars, guys sailing by on motorboats yelling out advertisements over a bullhorn, and even a large crane erected for bungee jumpers. Imagine the pressure ... one guy was taking his time to psych himself up before jumping, so the crowd went from cheers, to boos, and then even heckling by children. The loudest boos of all were reserved for the guy who hesitated up there for almost 10 minutes, before finally asking to be lowered back to safety.
But still, Montenegrin beaches are an incredible sight - when you think of the typical beach, the elevation gain is quite gradual as you move inland. That's not the case here - many times, you have a short little beach, and it almost instantly rises up into the mountains, full of lush, green trees. Phenomenal!
The night was spent wandering around the boardwalk, a bizarre, yet extremely entertaining combination of amusement park, carnival, market, blaring techno, and strip joint. Hardly family-oriented, kids seemed to barely noticed the go-go dancers at the open-air bars, and the scantily-clad hostesses (described by the Lonely Planet as glorified strippers) who worked hard to
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As morning turned to afternoon, the beaches became more and more packed. entice the men into their bars. Well, they actually didn't have to work TOO hard - like I said before, Montenegrin women are very beautiful, and they didn't have to say a word or make a gesture to entice guys in. And believe me, they are VERY enticing.
It took quite a while to finally reach the old town, Stari Grad, as there was much to entertain on the boardwalk. Stari Grad is described as a mini-Dubrovnik - I'll buy that! Beautiful architecture, an intimate feel, and great energy - it's got all the elements of Dubrovnik, but is probably 1/10 the size. There's lots to see and do in Stari Grad, but after an hour or so of wandering, I needed some peace and quiet, and grabbed a seat outside of the walls to admire the incredible moon that was out tonight. What a great way to finish the evening :..
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rachelkw
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It all looks so beautiful there. I gotta get me to the Balkans. :o)