The more of Europe I have seen the harder it is to find new and unique places to go. I must say that I was struggling a bit with this years holiday planning until I had the idea to look up some holiday destinations that are a bit untypical. I found several countries that are currently on the rise to become major tourist destinations but are in general rather unknown as of yet.
The one that specifically caught my eye was a very small country in the Balkans. A place where the ocean, the mountains, lakes, woodlands flowery meadows, and everything else a photographer can wish for, meet. This tiny Republic is aptly named after its black mountains - Montenegro.
I was able to spend three weeks there which gave me plenty of time to explore the coastal regions as well as the much lesser known back country. But before I entered Montenegro I spent a few days in the southern Croatian town of Dubrovnik, which is located only about 35 km from the Montenegrin border. For simplicity's sake I'm including Dubrovnik in this Montenegro article although it is obviously a Croatian city.
A quick stop in Dubrovnik
Already a popular destination for visitors since at least the early 20th century, the former city state has acclaimed recent fame especially due to being one of the major filming locations of the popular TV show Game of Thrones. Especially since the airing of the show the visitor numbers have skyrocketed and the small Old Town is being flooded with tourists on a daily basis.
The Bay of Kotor
After crossing into Montenegro from Croatia one is immediately greeted by one of the signature landmarks of the country - the Bay of Kotor. A truly unique landscape in combination with many very well preserved medieval towns makes it one of the highlights of every visit to Montenegro.
After exploring the many paths and views of the Bay of Kotor I continued my trip a little further upstate to the Lovćen National Park. Down from the bay an approximately one hour drive leads up to Cetinje in the heart of the National Park.
Lovćen National Park
The second part of this series is about the coastal regions around Budva, various interesting places in the back country and especially the spectacular Durmitor National Park region. Continue here.