The prettiest villages and small towns in Montenegro

Montenegro isn’t a land of whitewashed hill villages. Its prettiest places are nearly all on the water, on the bay or the lake, and they are tiny. Perast had 240 people in the preliminary 2023 census and Godinje just 44. Here’s where I’d go and why, using the ranking above as a guide.

The Bay of Kotor villages

Perast takes first place without a fight. It’s 12 km from Kotor and falls within UNESCO’s Kotor region listing, which describes it, alongside Kotor, as a small and authentically preserved town. The National Tourism Organisation picks out the 55 m bell tower of St Nicholas and the two islets offshore, one with the Catholic church of Our Lady and the other with St George’s monastery. My tip is to stay the night, because the village changes once the boats leave. It’s all in Perast.

On the same bay, Prčanj, with 1,030 people in the preliminary census, has an unusual museum of living history housed in an old convent. Risan keeps the mosaics of a 2nd-century Roman villa with the only known depiction of Hypnos, god of sleep, according to the Kotor Tourism Organisation.

Lake Skadar, fishing villages and wine

My runner-up is here. Rijeka Crnojevića has 104 people, an old bridge and a monument to Ivan Crnojević, and the Pavlova strana viewpoint over the river bend is close by. History and directions are in Rijeka Crnojevića.

Virpazar is the lake’s harbour in the municipality of Bar, with its old bridge, the cruise jetty and Besac fortress on the hill above. Godinje, also in the municipality of Bar, is a wine hamlet in Crmnica, one of the areas the National Tourism Organisation links with vranac and kratošija grapes, and the end of the Zabes to Godinje trail, one of the two the National Parks recommend around the lake.

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

In the mountains, from Njeguši to Vusanje

Njeguši, on the slopes of Lovćen, is the village the Petrović-Njegoš dynasty came from. The National Parks say it produced seven rulers over two centuries, and describe its stone houses with konoba cellars and the Petrović memorial houses in the hamlet of Erakovići. The old caravan road down to Kotor, the one with the famous hairpins, starts here. See Njeguši.

At the far end of the country, Vusanje, in the municipality of Gusinje, is a village of 716 people at the foot of Prokletije, the starting point for the Grlja canyon, the Oko Skakavice spring and the Ropojana valley.

What you won’t find

If you’re hoping for lived-in medieval hill towns, Montenegro offers something else, walled old towns such as Kotor, Budva and Ulcinj, and ruins such as Stari Bar and Brskovo. Their old quarters are lined up in cities in Montenegro.

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

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