The Heroj submarine, inside a Yugoslav sub

Among the gleaming superyachts of Porto Montenegro sits one vessel that looks nothing like the rest. It was built for war. The Heroj, a submarine from the old Yugoslav Navy, is preserved on dry land beside Tivat’s naval museum, and it’s the visit in town I’d most recommend if you’ve got children with you or an interest in the Adriatic’s recent past.

A Yugoslav submarine on the quayside

This is P-821 Heroj, a 50 m submarine built for the Yugoslav Navy. According to Porto Montenegro it was launched in 1967, belonged to a new generation of home-built submarines and stayed in service for more than twenty years. The National Tourism Organisation gives 1968 as the year it was built; I quote both because they don’t agree.

The tourist board also calls it one of the few subs of this size you can visit anywhere in the world. The figure matters less than what it says about life aboard. Bunks wedged between machines, no comforts at all, no showers and nowhere to sit down and eat. A boat designed for war that, as the listing puts it, ended up serving in peacetime. Anyone who’s been round a Royal Navy boat in a British museum will find the comparison interesting.

The naval heritage collection

The submarine stands beside the naval heritage collection at Porto Montenegro, housed in a restored 19th-century sawmill at the northern end of the marina. There are more than 300 artefacts on Tivat’s maritime history, including rare Austro-Hungarian naval equipment and machinery and two genuine Yugoslav submarines, and themed exhibitions run through the year. The Tivat tourist board lists it among the town’s cultural institutions, with the submarine museum as its star turn.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Tivat before prices climb.

Opening hours and tickets

Porto Montenegro publishes the hours, Tuesday to Saturday from 9:00 to 17:00, so it’s closed on Sundays and Mondays. I couldn’t find the admission price on any official website, the museum’s or the tourist boards’, so ask at the desk or email ahead. I’d rather leave the price out than guess it.

An hour is plenty, so it slots easily into a morning in Tivat or a last afternoon before a flight from the airport down the road. I’d start with the submarine, which is the bit that really grabs you, then take the collection at a gentler pace.

The submarine tunnels of the bay

There’s a second chapter you can only see from the water. The Austro-Hungarian navy built its arsenal in Tivat, and the bay stayed a naval area under Yugoslavia. The National Tourism Organisation says some boat trips stop so you can walk inside one of the old Yugoslav navy’s submarine galleries, which runs for over 100 m. If the museum leaves you wanting more, that’s the natural follow-up, and I cover it under boat trips round the bay.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Tivat before prices climb.