February in Montenegro, the month of winter festivals

February’s weather is much like January’s, a touch milder, but the mood changes. The coast comes alive. Herceg Novi celebrates the mimosa, Kotor holds its winter carnival and the birds start returning to Tivat’s salt flats. If I had to pick one cold month for the Bay of Kotor, this would be it.

What the weather does

The 1961-1990 normals give Herceg Novi an average of 8.7°C, with highs of 12.8°C and lows of 5.2°C, and around 195 mm of rain over 13 wet days. Sunshine creeps up from January to about 114 hours. Podgorica averages 6.8°C, and the Tivat airport climatography gives 9.1°C for 2013-2022. February 2024 was gentler, with a 12.1°C average in Herceg Novi and only 7 rainy days. Up north winter carries on, with Žabljak averaging -3.8°C, and in February 2024 Kolašin kept snow on the ground for 10 days.

The Mimosa Festival

The big event is Herceg Novi’s Mimosa Festival, held every February and March since 1969. Expect carnival parades, masked balls, an international flower show, brass bands and majorettes, and a big open-air party of mimosa, fish and wine that pulls in some 20,000 people. In its February calendar, the National Tourism Organisation also extends the mimosa celebrations to Tivat and Kotor, and it goes as far as naming the festival the best time of year to visit Herceg Novi. Herceg Fest adds that a Mimosa caravan tours other towns in the region and further afield in Europe.

To sleep close to everything, search places to stay in Herceg Novi on Expedia and filter by area before price.

Kotor’s carnival

Kotor’s carnival, the winter one, took place from 6 to 15 February in 2026, with masked balls and a parade through the old town. The 2027 dates weren’t out yet when I wrote this, so check the Kotor tourist board’s website before booking.

Birds at the Solila salt flats

February opens the best season for birdwatching at the Solila salt flats, opposite the centre of Tivat. The local tourist board recommends visiting from February to the end of April, when the migrants return, and points out that 2 February is World Wetlands Day. Entry is free and there are observation towers. The reserve covers about 150 hectares, and the tourist board’s birding page says 111 species have been recorded there, including ibises, cranes and snipe; it has been a Ramsar wetland since 2013.

If you are short on time, see the best tours in Herceg Novi and pick one that fits your day.

What’s open

After January’s closure, the Perast Museum and the Risan mosaics reopen Tuesday to Sunday on low-season hours, 10:00 to 16:00. The coast stays quiet, and since gov.uk places the coast road’s traffic jams in summer, February is a good month to drive round the bay. And yes, traffic keeps right here. If you’re after snow more than festivals, January is the coldest month, and Montenegro weather in March covers the end of winter.

To sleep close to everything, search places to stay in Herceg Novi on Booking.com and filter by area before price.