TRAVEL GUIDE

Republic of Montenegro belongs to the Middle Mediterranean region, that is, to southern Europe. This small country combines really peaceful rhythm of life, cosiness and charm of old maritime Italian towns, marvellous beauty of wild nature.

Country surface is 13.800 sq.km. (It's about 3 times less than Estonia is). Population is about 620 thousands. Capital is Cetinje, but after The World War II almost all authorities are concentrated in Podgorica – administrative and economic centre.

Currency – Euro (€).

Official language – Serbian. Roman alphabet and Cyrillic alphabet are used equally.

International phone code is 381. There are two GSM cellular network operators in Montenegro, which provide 100% coverage of its territory. Wi-Fi zones are only in Podgorica by the moment.

There are two international airports – Podgorica and Tivat.
All-the-year-round ferry- line is operating between Bari (Italy) and Bar (Montenegro).
Railways: Bar-Podgorica-Belgrade (Serbia), Podgorica- Niksic, Podgorica-Shkodra (Albania).
Main motorways: Adriatic motorway, that begins in Ulcinj and goes to the Croatian border, Podgorica-Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Podgorica-Belgrade (Serbia).

Geographically Montenegro is divided into 3 main areas – seaside, central and mountainous. Such a classification is useful for tourist's purposes too.

Seaside is the most southern part of the country. This narrow (1-10 km) region goes along Adriatic coast from Igalo in the West to the mouth of river Bojana in the East. It can be called "Mediterranean face" of Montenegro. The shore is indented by numerous bays, Kotor Gulf – is the biggest among them. It goes more than 20 km deep into the coast. Kotor Gulf is the most southern fiord in Europe.
From the continental part of the country Seaside is separated by Dinarian mountain chain, the highest peaks of which reach 1600 m. above the sea level. Medium summer temperatures vary from 23.4 to 25.6 C. The summers are long and dry, and winters are short and mild. Bathing season starts in the end of April and ends in October. Beaches are stony in the West and sandy in the East.
In order to simplify searching of accommodations in our reservation system, we've divided Seaside into three areas:
- Kotor Gulf (including Herceg-Novi and Tivat);
- Budva Riviera (till Petrovac in the East);
- Bar-Ulcinj.

Central part of Montenegro consists of two areas.
The first one is Dinarian mountain chain that, like an enormous wall hangs above the Seaside. This region has the highest level of rain in Europe. But rocks gets dry very fast, rich soils are rare, so animal and vegetable world is quite poor here. In these severe mountains the old capital of Montenegro - Cetinje - is situated. Near Cetinje there is one of four national parks - Lovcen.
The second area of Central part of the country is plain: basin of Skadar Lake (National park), fruitful valley of Zeta River, Belopavlicka plain and Niksicko field. Here is the highest density of population in Montenegro. Two big industry centres – Podgorica and Niksic are situated in this region. The summers are very hot, about 40 C. Medium winter temperatures usually don't go under –5C.
In our travel guide we choose Skadar Lake region – picturesque place that could be interesting especially for fishermen.

Mountainous part is situated in the North of the country. The climate here is sub alpine, with cold, snowy winters and moderate warm summers. These mountains are rich with pastures, forests and lakes. Rivers Tara, Moraca, Piva and theirs tributaries have made a lot of beautiful canyons. There are two national parks here – Biogradska Mountain – virgin forest tract not far from Kolasin and mountain-mass Durmitor with Tara Canyon (Under protection of UNESCO).
Local habitants work mostly in agricultural sector and small factories. Nowadays village and mountain-ski tourism is developing in this region. Main ski resorts are Zabljak and Kolasin.
In our travel guide Mountainous area is divided into two parts: Durmitor with Tara River and Northeast of Montenegro.