Montenegro Is Heaven after Albania
Once through customs, the landscape changes immediately after Albania.
Once through customs, the landscape changes immediately.
I’ve been sending you postcard snapshots of various places. For the most part, these aren't the usual tourist cities. The weather is hot, and the beaches are crowded. By now, I’m getting a bit testy.
We have no reservations. Join me as we wander through the Balkans and parts of western Europe by the seat of our pants.
The beauty began the second we crossed the border
We braced ourselves for a long crossing at the opposite end of Albania and another delay to find an insurance agent. It was a heavy border with tired agents and hot, testy tourists waiting in 100-degree heat for hours. This border crossing is famous on Instagram. Photos of miles-long car lines, especially from those leaving Montenegro and going into Albania.
Yet no one—NO ONE—cared about our car insurance at this crossing. They didn’t even look at the car documents. After quickly scanning our passports, they flagged us onward out of Albania, and the same thing happened at the office down the road in Montenegro.
Again, the new country only checked our passports and waved us on through. The land turned from rocky and dry to lush and green—immediately. The roads were good again, the signage clear and accurate, and Google Maps worked correctly.
Don’t know what the heck that was in Albania with Google Maps…
Our first town was Budva. Since we’d already had to change reservations a few times, our new rule was not to reserve anything until after we crossed into the country. Even though Budva was a pretty town, it was packed. At the first traffic light, we watched a group of six drunk men cross in front of us along with a horde of families with children.
Yes, Budva is a party town. Since we live in Miami, one party town is enough for us.
We kept going, found a roadside hotel to stop for the night, and got our bearings. It was a new hotel with underground parking close to Kotor, but we had ZERO hot water and very inconsistent internet. (I had to go out in the hallway to get my phone to connect to anything, not just the WiFi.)
The main road was under construction, but I think the crews had given up until after summer due to the bumper-to-bumper traffic. We crashed and planned as best we could.
Everyone we talked with, and everything I read, said Montenegro was beautiful. I am here to tell you that it’s true. While I am still partial to the Turkish Riviera (see these photos), below is Montenegro.
Should you visit? Yes, absolutely, but NOT IN JUNE, JULY, or AUGUST. Yes, I’m shouting.