Kotor Old Town and beyond

Why you should spend at least 2 days there

The majority of people who visit Kotor go there just for a day (often as a day trip from Dubrovnik), having in mind the picture of Kotor Bay taken from the fortress up high above the old town. 

And while this is one of the most stunning sceneries I’ve ever seen, the one that makes my jaw drop every single time and an absolute Balkan highlight, Kotor is so much more than this breathtaking view! 

When planning your Balkan travels plan in your Montenegro itinerary at least 1-2 days to visit Kotor properly and to enjoy the place to the fullest – you won’t regret it!

By now I’ve been to Kotor five times. 

Even before visiting for the first time in 2012 I knew I’m gonna love it there, and I was so right! 

Now, if you ask me if I want to visit Kotor I will run to pack my backpack, no questions asked. That’s how much I adore this place and I keep falling for it more and more every single time I’m there. 

For me Kotor, Montenegro is among top 3 most incredible places I’ve ever seen during my travels but I’m just playing it safe here and if you ask me about two other destinations I honestly can’t recall any right away…

I was lucky that during one of my visits Kotor Tourism Organization offered me a tour guide to my disposal (one of my favorite things about being a blogger). 

Tomo was amazing, he had a huge knowledge, told me so much about the town and surroundings and these few hours have opened my eyes to how much actually Kotor has to offer! 

Almost every building in the old town has an interesting history – I really had no idea!

But Kotor old town isn’t the only area worth visiting! The list of things to do in Kotor is really long.

There’s the part at the end of the bay, with (in)famous Hotel Fjord (now, sadly, demolished), there is Dobrota with even more palaces and finally there’s Perast with the Lady of the Rocks church on the island or Risan with Roman mosaics! 

So much to see beyond Kotor Old Town, really!

When you visit Kotor, Montenegro here are some places you might want to check out. 

They were all my favorites but at the same time I don’t think there was something I didn’t like about Kotor. 

Just one friendly advice: if you can – visit Kotor in the low season. 

When I was there in December there were hardly any people around and it was perfect, in the Old Town there were mostly locals hanging around, doing their business or enjoying coffee with friends. 

The downside – the day is so much shorter, the sunset was around 4-5pm. 

During my visits in May and September it was quite the opposite , with at least few huge cruise ships moored at the Kotor Bay.

Kotor Old Town

If you arrive to Kotor Old Town in the middle of the day you might be overwhelmed with how busy it is. 

The place is literally jammed with people, all the restaurant tables are busy and sometimes you need to wait in a queue to get through a narrow lane (true story). 

But at around 4pm everything changes, the cruise ships sail away and the Kotor Old Town gets pleasantly spacious. 

Of course there are still people around but enough for you to enjoy the place and actually see something. 

For the place that can be walked through in 5 minutes Kotor Old Town has so many attractions that it will keep you busy for quite a while. 

Kotor itself was first mentioned in 3rd century BC and across the old town you can find the overview of roman, gothic, renaissance and baroque architecture. 

It is one of the best preserved towns in south-east Europe! 

The buildings that should definitely catch your attention are the churches (especially St Tryphon’s Cathedral, Church of St. Luka and Church of St. Nicholas), palaces (more on them later) and three city gates. 

But the best thing you can do is to get blissfully lost and wander around narrow lanes – this is probably my favorite thing to do in Kotor Old Town (even though by now I can’t get lost there anymore)! 

Just have a map with you and check every now and then what gem you’re passing by! 

If you are a curious traveler you should also consider getting a guide – you’d learn so much that way! 

I loved discovering Kotor Old Town with a person who knew all about it, I saw the place from another perspective then! 

The sightseeing with the guide would take you 1-2 hours and then you can continue just wandering around on your own. For all the cat lovers Kotor Old Town will be a heaven. 

Cats invaded the place, there are so many of them and they don’t mind tourists at all! They walk lazily around, sleep at the restaurant’s chair or just lie down in the shadow. 

There’s even a cats museum but as a dog person I didn’t visit it.

Kotor palaces

Now that’s something that surprised me in Kotor the most – a really big number of incredible palaces dating back to 15th-18th centuries, the time of the town’s biggest prosperity. 

As Kotor has always been a place of big importance numerous noble families has lived here. 

When you wander around Kotor Old Town you can spot lots of palaces. 

Some of them don’t look all that impressive, only when you look closer you can see details that disclose the real value of the place. 

Others, like Pima Palace, catches the eye as soon as you leave the narrow lane leading to the square it’s located at. 

Kotor fortifications

The biggest highlight of Kotor, surely famous for a reason! The fortification stand proudly above the old town, glued to the steep Lovcen Mountains. 

It’s pretty tiring to get all the way to the top, climbing up 1350 steps (some sources say even about 1500!) but the view is so rewarding you will forget about all the effort right away! 

On one side you can see the Kotor Bay and once you move around you have the foretaste of Lovcen Mountains. 

This view will take your breath away for sure, and not only because of all the stairs!

To get to the top of the fortifications you need at least one hour – more if you step every few minutes to take a picture as the view is getting better and better (but you really just stop to catch the breath and use picture as an excuse). 

But you don’t need to go all the way up – there is a small square a little bit up from the Church of Our Lady of Health, just before the fortress starts and the view from there is already good enough!

The fortifications can be entered from Kotor Old Town – there are two points of access, I always used the one close to the Northern Gate. 

I strongly suggest you going in the late afternoon – it’s not so hot anymore, it’s not crowded (imagine half of the people from cruise ships trying to climb the crumbling, narrow stairs…) and if you’re there before the sunset you might witness the whole area turning pink! 

The entrance to the fortifications costs 8€ (but in December it was for free).

During my last visit in Kotor I didn’t plan to go up there, after all I’ve already hiked the fortifications twice. 

But of course I went anyway, I just couldn’t resist seeing this stunning view one more time as I honestly can’t recall a more beautiful scenery! 

And even if I was a little bit sore on the next day I didn’t regret it for a second!

Credit: https://www.mywanderlust.pl/visit-kotor-old-town/

Article written by Kami (The Rest of the World)