LET'S EXPLORE BUDVA TOO.. June / 2023

After dedicating 2 days to our Kotor-Perast tour, we decided to spend the remaining 3 days exploring Budva and enjoying the sea. Leaving Kotor Old Town behind, we headed towards Budva. By the way, the road between Kotor and Budva is much more comfortable than the one we mentioned in our Kotor article. It's almost entirely composed of a coastal road. Despite being winding and two-way, it is a quite enjoyable and comfortable route.

Now, let's talk about where we stayed.

We chose to stay not in the center of Budva but about 10 km away, in the Sveti Stefan region, which is approximately 15-20 minutes away. Our hotel is located on the coastal road we took, overlooking the Sveti Stefan island.

• Overall, we were satisfied with our stay at this hotel, which has a beautiful location, large breakfast portions, and spacious rooms, but the hotel is a bit old, and the rooms need some more revision.
  

• You need to descend about 200 stairs to get to the sea, and of course, you have to climb the same stairs afterward.
  

• In Montenegro, when you book hotels with breakfast included, they don't offer a buffet; instead, they provide everything on the menu. Therefore, you can order whatever you want. At least, that's how the places we stayed were.
  

• Despite missing the last day's breakfast time and leaving the hotel without requesting, they prepared large portions of packages consisting of sandwiches, crepes, and fruits for us. They are truly hospitable in this regard.
  

• The view shared on the hotel's Instagram page really enchants you, and captivated by it, you say, "This is the hotel I want to stay at!" But even if you choose a sea-view room, when staying on the lower floors, you cannot see the view. That's what happened to us. They didn't revise it because the hotel was full.
  

If you want to check the hotel we stayed at: Adrovic Sveti Stefan

The view from our hotel:

• The hotel does not have its own beach or a designated area on the shore. Therefore, when you go to the beach, you can choose to swim without paying a fee or rent sun loungers and umbrellas to spend time on the beach. Sun loungers and umbrellas cost 15 Euros per person. Drinks range from 2 to 5 Euros. Again, since there were no french fries, we ordered a Margarita pizza, which cost 9 Euros.

PLACES WE VISITED IN ORDER

Sveti Stefan: Setting out with the determination of "This is definitely the place we want to stay and swim!" we arranged a hotel here and spent our first day in the sea. I won't mention the prices again as we wrote about them above. :) Speaking a bit about the island itself, Sveti Stefan is a small Adriatic island within the boundaries of Budva, connected to the mainland by a narrow passage. The island is not open to the public, but if you stay at the hotel on the island or make a reservation at a restaurant there, you can enter the island. Through our research, we learned that many famous names have stayed on this island, which is quite expensive for a day. Even if you cannot enter the island, you can swim on the beaches on both sides of the island (which is what we did). The water is truly magnificent. If you want to take photos on the road connecting to the island, it is recommended to go before 7 am, as there is a queue for taking pictures. :)

By the way, we should add a footnote... It would be more sensible to stay in Budva and come here for a day trip to the sea. Because in the evenings, it's enjoyable to stroll around the Old Town area, while there's not much to do in the Sveti Stefan area in the evening.

Budva Old Town: We can say that we liked the Kotor Old Town area more. Budva Old Town has become a bit more touristy... But still, it's beautiful and worth seeing. It's nice to wander its streets, grab something to eat or drink in the narrow alleys or squares.

We don't want to move on without mentioning the BONUS and FAVORITE place of this area and our entire Montenegro trip. It's a hidden gem, tucked away in a narrow street, only indicated by a sign, and a place you pass by but should never actually pass by. "Secret Garden." If you manage to find a table in the part hidden in the narrow street, you must sit there. We were very lucky to sit at a table with a view. Imagine a door on the wall of the Old Town, directly opening to the sea... We sat at the table right there. Local people come, take pictures, and leave from time to time. The food is excellent, and the atmosphere is fantastic. You must definitely visit here.

You can check out the video we shared on Instagram from here and see its location.

Budva Citadel: The entrance to this fortress, where you can find a library, ship models, a charming restaurant, and a view of the Hawaii island, is 4.5 Euros per person. In our opinion, it's not very necessary, but if you're someone who likes to see everything while you're there, you can go in.

Dancing Girl: When you leave Budva Old Town and walk along the coastline for about five minutes, you'll encounter the "Dancing Girl." There are two legends associated with it. The first one suggests that touching this statue brings good luck, while the second one states that it was erected in memory of a girl who drowned here. It's worth seeing while you're there. If you want to take a dip in the sea, you can walk 2-3 minutes from Dancing Girl to Mogren Beach. But in our opinion, since you've come this far, you should swim in the Hawaii Island that we'll mention shortly..

Hawaii Island: Now let's get to the most exciting part. After our visit to the Dancing Girl, we searched for ways to get to the island. Unable to find anything concrete, we asked a local, following the proverb "Sora sora Bağdat bulunur" (You'll find Baghdad by asking questions), and learned that you could go to these islands by paying 5 Euros per person for the collective boats departing from the port. Think of it like a shuttle. They depart at specific times and return you to the same place they picked you up at specific hours. There are also private taxi boats, but they cost around 15 Euros, and in our opinion, it's not really necessary. The return from the island is usually by around 19:00 at the latest.

The island is very mystical. The rocks and the shore on the island offer a truly beautiful panorama. There are a few dining places and beaches at the bottom of the sea on the island. Here, you can also rent a sunbed for 15 Euros per person. We didn't rent one; instead, we chose to sit at one of the dining places, enjoying going back and forth to the sea. It was quite enjoyable. USEFUL INFORMATION: RETURN TRIP

We didn't want to skip mentioning this without getting information or reading it anywhere since we acted and thought like a big city and indeed got quite tired on the return journey.

The Budva-Podgorica Airport road is not troublesome like the Podgorica Airport-Kotor road. You can comfortably reach the airport in about 1 hour and 10 minutes. The real question and problem are: How many hours before the flight should you be there?

Thinking that we waited a lot during car rental and that it would be difficult to return, we planned to go an hour early for this and thought, "For international flights, we need to go 3 hours early anyway," so we were at the airport 4 hours before our flight. We went to the airport, returning the car took about 10 minutes. We said, "Let's go to baggage drop and spend time inside," but baggage drop and entry open 2 hours before the flight, and we helplessly started waiting. However, the airport is so small, and finding a place to sit is so difficult that you get confused about where and how to wait. As time passes, an incredible crowd begins to form inside. The number of employees for baggage drop is low, and the line progresses very slowly. On top of that, when the plane is delayed, the return journey becomes quite exhausting.

So, what we want to say is:

If you are going to use Podgorica Airport, being at the airport 2 hours before your flight is sufficient. Plan accordingly. :)

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. :)