This time our day trip is Budva! It’s a 2,500 year-old city south of Kotor, on the Adriatic Sea. We went on a sunny day after a few days of rain. Gorgeous!

We looked into buying tickets the day before but we were told it wasn’t necessary. What Montenegro does right are its buses – they are pretty well on time and run every half hour or so to many destinations. We love trams and trains better but buses will do.

We got to the bus station and walked straight toward the beach. More stray dogs here so we made sure to keep them away from Alpha’s cat food (Alpha is the Cat Goddess on our travels). On arriving at the beach we rejoiced!

The kids playing at Greco Beach, Budva
The kids playing at Greco Beach, Budva

It’s a bit more refined than Kotor but I’m not at all sure a large cruise ship could dock here, but plenty of other smaller ships do.

The boats at Greco Beach, Budva
The boats at Greco Beach, Budva

From a distance we knew old town was where the tallest tower was and sure enough we arrived there, at the end of the Greco Beach walk. Shh, don’t tell the kids they hate old stuff! 🙂

A tower at Budva Old Town, Stari Grad
A tower at Budva Old Town, Stari Grad
The main gate at Budva Old Town, Stari Grad
The main gate at Budva Old Town, Stari Grad

Of course plenty of clothing and jewelry shops, one even had a ring suspiciously close to Alice’s favourite one from a different maker in the States, and then we found this little door in the wall. Gotta go there:

The little door to Budva Old Town Beach
The little door to Budva Old Town Beach
Walking through the little door to Budva Old Town Beach
Walking through the little door to Budva Old Town Beach

Paradise. When the sun is out you don’t need your coat, and when it goes away you really do need your coat, but for the most part the hour or so we sat here with our espresso watching the kids play were magic after all the rain we’ve had the past week.

What a gorgeous day at Budva Old Town Beach, we sat here at an outdoor cafe and had sweet espresso
What a gorgeous day at Budva Old Town Beach, we sat here at an outdoor cafe and had sweet espresso
More of Budva Old Town Beach
More of Budva Old Town Beach

Ok let’s get serious time for some sightseeing! I can see the old stuff back inside the wall so we slowly make our way there. There’s the old church, St. Ivan Church and a space in the wall for a great lookout, and this gent playing sweet guitar! (He even quoted “The Pink Panther”!)

St. Ivan Church at the top of the Citadel
St. Ivan Church at the top of the Citadel
Looking out to sea from the Citadel amphitheatre
Looking out to sea from the Citadel amphitheatre

The Citadel is in the right spot, you can see everything, a 360-degree view:

Looking back toward Budva Town Centar from the Muzej (museum) at the Citadel
Looking back toward Budva Town Centar from the Muzej (museum) at the Citadel
Looking back toward Budva Town Centar from the Muzej (museum) at the Citadel with Old Town in the foreground
Looking back toward Budva Town Centar from the Muzej (museum) at the Citadel with Old Town in the foreground

The Muzej, museum, is newer (from the late 1800s) which seems too new to care about, but it’s a beautiful marble-floored library/sitting room inside.

The Muzej (museum) of the Citadel
The Muzej (museum) of the Citadel

On the lower level you walk 25-50 metres and there’s a large sitting area going unused, we had a snack here and watched the dragon, dog and flower shaped clouds drift by.

We had the Citadel to ourselves and so found the sunniest spot and had a snack and a look at nature's display
We had the Citadel to ourselves and so found the sunniest spot and had a snack and a look at nature’s display

Budva is pretty sweet on a sunny day. We headed back to the bus station and took the 4:30pm bus back to Kotor. We are going to go back to Budva at least one more time because we didn’t realise till we got back to the bus depot that it has a tiny zoo! Next time.

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Nathaniel Flick