Lučice, the golden-sand cove next to Petrovac

Petrovac has a decent beach in front of its promenade, but the one I really like is a little further on. Lučice is a small cove 500 metres south of the village, tucked between two headlands covered in pine and cypress, with golden sand and shallow water. It’s the kind of beach that’s getting hard to find on the Budva Riviera.

What the cove is like

The Budva tourist board describes a sandy beach with shallow water and fine golden-yellow sand, in a small bay between two wooded headlands. It’s 220 metres long and 4,250 m², and the official page ranks it among the most beautiful sandy beaches on the Montenegrin coast. What I value most is what it says about the setting, because the land behind it is undeveloped. On a riviera where almost every beach has hotels or apartments looming over it, that makes all the difference.

Atmosphere and facilities

The national tourist board puts it on its list of party beaches and describes it as one of Petrovac’s town beaches, sand and pebble, ringed by pines, with restaurants, bars and water activities. Budva’s official restaurant list includes Medin, a restaurant right on the beach. So it isn’t a wild cove. It’s a well-kept beach with facilities that has held on to a lovely setting, so mornings are when I’d head there, when the setting shows best.

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

With children

Fine sand and a gently shelving seabed make it easy with small children, which is exactly what I’d look for in Petrovac on a family trip. That said, as it features among the national tourist board’s party beaches, with children I’d use it in the morning and save the afternoon for the village beach or for Buljarica, which is far longer. I compare them all in beaches in Budva.

Getting there

From Petrovac it’s a walk, just 500 metres. By car, the national tourist board mentions free and paid parking near the beach, though I wouldn’t count on a space at midday in August. If you’re staying in Budva, the Budva to Petrovac town bus drops you in the village, and from there it’s a short stroll. To place Lučice on the wider coast, see the Budva Riviera.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Lučice Beach and choose by the reviews.

A bit of history

The history of Budva published by its tourist board notes that before the Second World War, alongside Budva’s first modern hotel, the Avala, a Lučice hotel was built near Petrovac. It was part of this coast’s first tourist boom, after the royal residence at Miločer had put its beaches on the international map. Nearly a century later, the fact that the land behind Lučice is still empty feels like the best legacy of that era, and it’s the main reason I send people here rather than to the busier beaches further north. For British visitors used to crowded summer seafronts, that quiet is the real draw.

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