🏰 A ROUTE THROUGH BUDVA WORTH PUTTING ON YOUR MUST-DO LIST
If you find yourself in Montenegro, here's a ready-made route for a whole day that we walked ourselves and highly recommend. Budva's Old Town, its citadel and the long, long seaside promenade all the way to Kamenovo Beach. Beautiful, unhurried and perfect for spending a day as a family or a couple. Let me take it in order.
🏛️ The Old Town and the citadel
We started, like everyone, with Budva's Old Town. It's a compact labyrinth of stone streets surrounded by fortress walls right by the sea. Atmospheric, picturesque, and worth a visit for its own sake.
The heart of the Old Town is the citadel, an old fortress with several centuries of history. Entry is paid, 6 euros per person, including for a child over 7. Inside there's a large hall with a library, rare books behind glass, a small maritime museum and, of course, a viewing platform with views over the tiled rooftops, the sea and the island of Saint Nicholas.
I'll be honest: we expected to be able to spend a bit longer walking around inside, it being a paid place and all. In fact the citadel is fairly compact, and you get round it quicker than you'd reckon. But the views and the very atmosphere of the ancient walls are worth it, so treat it more as a beautiful stop at the start of the route than as a separate hour-long adventure.
🌊 The promenade, this is where the magic begins
And then comes the best part, the long coastal promenade. From the Old Town we set off along the sea and just didn't stop: through Bečići, then Rafailovići and all the way to Kamenovo Beach.
It's a very scenic route: the sea on one side, cafes, little restaurants and greenery on the other. Part of the way is a wide paved promenade, and closer to Kamenovo it turns into a narrower path, in places cut right into the rock. The views change at every turn, no time to get bored.
Kamenovo Beach is a pleasant finishing point: pebbly, clean, with a calmer atmosphere than Budva's urban beaches. By the way, your route can be built in the opposite direction too, but then the sun will be in your face the whole way, which isn't very comfortable.
☕ How it went for us in terms of time
To give you a sense of the scale of the walk: we arrived at the Old Town by midday, and only reached Kamenovo by 5 in the evening. And that's not because we walked slowly, but because it's a full day of pleasure.
Along the way we hurried nowhere: we had coffee in cafes, ate dessert, even had a proper lunch with a sea view. The ideal format, when a walk isn't about the goal of getting from point A to point B, but is a rest in itself.
💡 Good to know
🔹 We were there in mid-April, and it's a great time: not hot yet, comfortable to walk, and no summer crowds. In summer this route will be more crowded and much hotter.
🔹 Set aside the whole day and comfortable shoes, the path is long but pleasant.
🔹 Bring money with you, both for the citadel and for coffee and lunch along the way. Montenegro isn't cheap.
💭 The verdict
This route, the Old Town with the citadel plus the promenade to Kamenovo, I confidently add to the list of things you simply must do in Montenegro. It's everything at once: history, sea, views, good food and that unhurried holiday atmosphere. Highly recommend.
Do you love long seaside walks like this that take a whole day? Or do you prefer short trips out to specific spots? Share in the comments 😊
#bucketlistdestinations #budva #montenegro