Sail and discover Montenegro
6 days sailing from Dubrovnik to Kotor where we connect two Mediterranean countries, Croatia and Montenegro, and reveal the intertwined identities of two old cities, protected UNESCO cultural heritage gems.
In the very south of the Adriatic Sea, surrounded by Balkan mountains, you will find Montenegro. In a geographically small area, there is a sea with ancient cities on its shores, rivers with extraordinary canyons, clear lakes, and massive mountains. Such breathtaking beauty ensures that every traveler that visits remains forever infatuated in Montenegro from first sight.
The Croatian city of Dubrovnik is the starting point for our journey. As the end of the first day draws to a close, we enter the territorial sea of Montenegro and we sail into the deep and rugged Bay of Kotor. Considered to be one of the top 20 most beautiful bays in the world, the Bay of Kotor is located between tall mountains that reflect in its deep blue waters. We will get to know its shores and its hinterland with old cities and churches, which bear witness to the abundance of cultural heritage and the lifestyle of its people from the 3rd century to present-day. We will proliferate the ambiance of the old stone cities of Perast, Kotor, their walls, stone-paved streets, churches and museums with a view of exclusive Mediterranean travel destinations - Sveti Stefan and Porto Montenegro. We will switch from sailing for a day to travel by shuttle to visit the city of Cetinje, a treasury of history and tradition and the historical capital of Montenegro. The city is located in a valley surrounded by the beautiful hills of Lovćen National Park. On Lovćen Mountain, we will visit the highest mausoleum in the world dedicated to a key person in Montenegro's history - the ruler Petar II Petrović Njegoš. We prefer to stay the night in smaller places that offer traditional Mediterranean cuisine.
| Day | Activities | Locations | Lodging | Meals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dubrovnik arrival (by 10h), sailing, Cavtat, check on the border, Tivat, sightseeing, SUP | Dubrovnik, Cavtat, Tivat | Yacht | B |
| 2 | Sailing, sightseeing, SUP | Kotor | Yacht | B |
| 3 | Sailing, sightseeing, SUP | Budva | Yacht | B |
| 4 | Hiking, exploring | Cetinje, Budva | Yacht | B |
| 5 | Sailing, sightseeing, SUP | Herceg Novi | Yacht | B |
| 6 | Sailing, sightseeing, SUP, check on the border, depature Dubrovnik (by 18:00) | Dubrovnik | B |
Accommodation: Over the course of this program, we will travel and stay on the sleek and elegant OLIVIA ADRIATICA Sun Odyssey 54DS (16.75 m) sailboat, which offers an impressive sailing experience with a great dose of comfort. The OLIVIA ADRIATICA is a boat that offers safety and a comfortable stay at sea with great design, solid performance, a high quality of construction, and superior equipment. The boat has 3 double cabins, each with its own toilet and shower, along with a separate cabin for the crew. There is two standard double, and one master double cabin with even more space and comfort. The central salon is large and offers a comfortable space for shared living. The boat is equipped with air conditioning and heating, a TV, WIFI, an electrical generator, and everything you might need while resting and relaxing. The small onboard library offers books to suit everyone's interests.
Meals: Breakfast will be served with a plentiful buffet consisting of several types of cereal, butter, honey, jam, prosciutto, cheese, eggs, yogurt, fruit, juices, coffee, tea, and milk. Some of the lunches will be picnics, which enables us to be flexible with our route. You will be able to buy lunch packs or groceries from local stores, and the boat kitchen is there for you to use. If you are booking the entire boat for your group, we can organize a boat chef to cook for you during the trip with a surcharge
Gourmet Experience: Along with our adventurous activities, the sun and the sea awaken the most primeval feelings that are hard to resist, so we invite you to let go and enjoy dinner in a hedonistic way with an abundance of traditional regional offers of food in island restaurants. Meals are organized as a combination of onboard meals and selected restaurants for dinner. In the evening, after we have anchored the night, there are fantastic local restaurants and taverns. They have received excellent feedback from guests in the past for their value for money, and we recommend you try specialties with authentic Mediterranean cuisine.
PRICES IN EUROS FOR 2024
| Spring | Preseason | Season | Postseason | Autumn | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starts | April 20 | June 01 | July 20 | September 01 | October 05 |
| Ends | May 31 | July 19 | August 31 | October 04 | November 01 |
| Standard cabin | 1207 | 1341 | 1490 | 1341 | 1207 |
| Standard cabin single use | 1509 | 1676 | 1863 | 1676 | 1509 |
| Master cabin | 1357 | 1491 | 1640 | 1491 | 1357 |
| Master cabin single use | 1696 | 1864 | 2050 | 1864 | 1696 |
All prices are per person.
- Maximum number of participants: 6 guests per group.
- Minimum age: 8 years if accompanied by parent(s).
- Accommodation: Single use rooms are available upon request with a 25% surcharge.
To book a whole sailing yacht (6-8 persons), please contact us for details and offer.
Included:
- 5 nights accommodation on a yacht (en-suite bathroom)
- 6 breakfasts
- Fuel, water, cooking stove gas
- Activities and use of equipment (kayaks, bikes, canoes, paddleboards, snorkeling gear)
- Local taxes, permits and marina fees/lighthouse docking fees
- Byboat & outboard engine
- 2 crew members: yacht skipper & guide
- Insurance
Not Included:
- Optional trip
- International airfare to/from Croatia
- National Park & Nature Park entrance fee
- Other marina related costs
- Items of a personal nature and gratuities to your guide(s)
- Lunches and dinners
- Arrival and departure transfers
Day 1
After sailing out of Dubrovnik, we pass by the city walls of the Old Town, a group of fortresses built from the 13th to 17th centuries that surround the old part of the city of Dubrovnik. In the town of Cavtat, located at the site of the former Ancient Greek colony of Epidaurum, we will take care of the departing customs formalities since we will be leaving the territorial waters of the Republic of Croatia. While sailing around the Prevlaka peninsula, we will see defense fortresses built in the 19th century due to their strategic position that monitors those leaving and arriving in the Bay of Kotor, a deep, rugged strait in the mountains, a fjord phenomenon that is unlike anything else in the world. Upon sailing into the Bay of Kotor, we enter the territorial waters of the Republic of Montenegro and upon docking we have to take care of customs formalities. Our plan is to spend the night in Tivat or in the surrounding area. While sailing, we will use the opportunities we have to swim and dive.
Day 2
We sail on further into the Bay of Kotor. We disembark and tour the man-made "Our Lady of Škrpjela" island. The island and chapel were built to thank Our Lady for curing the health of one of two brothers who found a picture of Our Lady on a remote reef (škrpjela) in the sea in 1452. As centuries passed (more than 250 years), the people of nearby Perast increased the size of the island by depositing stone and sinking old sailboats and captured Turkish boats, and the chapel was built there in the 15th century, followed by a larger church in the 17th century.
We will stay in the town of Perast for a while, which is one of the historically most attractive destinations in the Bay of Kotor. Over the centuries, Byzantine, Venetian, French, and Austrian conquerors tried to conquer and keep this place, and each of them left a significant cultural trace in this beautiful small place.
We continue sailing on to the far southeastern point of the Bay of Kotor, where the ancient town of Kotor is located. It is tucked into the unique natural surroundings of the deep fjords and mountains that surround it. The fortified walls that climb high up the steep slopes that tower over the city seem to have protected it in times past.
Lonely Planet recommends Kotor (Montenegro) as the number one place in the "Top 10 Cities in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016".
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2015/10/27/lonely-planet-best-in-travel-2016-revealed-botswana-japan-usa-kotor-quito-and-dublin-top-lists/
Day 3
We leave Kotor behind and sail towards the exit of the Bay of Kotor. As we leave the fjords for the open sea, we set our course towards the southern shores of Montenegro. Our goal is Sveti Stefan, an island where a fortress was built in 1442, when it was also first inhabited by people. The fortress was surrounded by walls so that families from surrounding places could seek refuge there from attacks by the Ottomans and pirates. Today, it is one of the most luxurious resorts in the world. Connected to land with a narrow passage surrounded by sandy beaches, with a magnificent park in the backdrop, this lively place ensures a high level of service for even the most demanding guests. We will drop anchor and swim along its shores.
We continue on towards the city of Budva. Ancient Budva dates back to the 4th century B.C. and is one of the oldest cities on the eastern coast of the Adriatic. Today, Budva is a unique travel destination in this part of the Adriatic. We will find safe mooring in Budva and spend the evening touring the city.
Day 4
Our boat remains moored, and we take a one-day excursion with local transportation - to Lovćen National Park and the city of Cetinje. Lovćen National Park is located on the border of two completely diverse natural elements, the sea and the mountains, and it manifests the effects of both types of climate. Many various shapes of reliefs also meet, especially in the central part of the mountains, which rises above with its peaks, Štirovnik (1749 meters above sea level) and Jezerski vrh. Cultural and historical heritage are of great value in the area of this national park. At Jezerski vrh, in the empire of thunder and lightning, a mausoleum was built for Petar II Petrović Njegoš, a Montenegrin bishop, poet, and ruler (1813-1851). Climbing up to the mausoleum is the highlight of the visit to the national park, and to reach this impressive building from your car, you must first conquer 462 steps to the top of the mountain, where the monumental highest mausoleum in the world was built - 1657 meters above sea level.
Cetinje - the historical capital of Montenegro, is located in a valley surrounded by the beautiful slopes of Lovćen National Park. It is an amazing city, a treasure and treasury of Montenegrin history, culture, and tradition. The city is full of museums, art academies, former diplomatic representative offices, established in the early 20th century, and the city feels like it was frozen precisely in that time.
Day 5
We sail on to tour the southern shores of Montenegro. We take advantage of the beautiful coves for swimming, diving, and SUP board paddling. Then, we set our course north. We stop by the small island of Mamula, at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor. On the island is a fortress built in the 19th century by Austro-Hungarian general Lazar Mamula, and it takes up about 80% of the entire area of the island. For years, Mamula Island and its fortifications have been abandoned and have remained completely untouched by the modern era.
Swimming along, we will explore the Blue Cave, one of the natural attractions of the Mediterranean. We hope it will be a clear and sunny day, because if it is, thanks to the sun that enters the caves openings and reflects off the water surface, we will experience indescribable shades of turquoise and blue, which turn the water and the walls the color that the cave was named after.
Day 6
We check out and take care of the departing customs formalities, since we are leaving the territorial waters of Montenegro. We head around the point of the Prevlaka peninsula and sail towards the Croatian town of Cavtat, where we declare our entry into the Croatian territorial sea. We sail around Cavtat's islands of Mrkan, Bobara, and Supetar, a protected ornithological reserve for seagulls. While we paddle our SUP board next to the island of Supetar, in the sea beneath us, at a depth of 25 to 32 meters, is an underwater museum, unlike anything else in the world, with 1600 amphoras. In the 4th century B.C., an ancient ship sunk here, loaded with amphoras full of oil and wine.
The Sveti Andrija lighthouse shows us we are close to Dubrovnik. If time and weather conditions permit, we will stop by and greet the lighthouse keeper.
Notes
This itinerary and the duration of the activities are subject to change due to group abilities and preferences, weather conditions and forecasts, water levels, special events of interest, etc. LuxMediterranean Experience guides and trip leaders will do their utmost to ensure the best possible experience for their clients without compromising safety at any time. This may mean changing the original itinerary to avoid discomfort or risk which could be caused by exceptional situations. LuxMediterranean Experience reserves the right to alter the itinerary without prior notice.
