Bay of Kotor by Ship: The Whole Bay in One Day

The Bay of Kotor is built so that you cannot see it whole from land. Four basins joined by narrow straits, and a road that runs along the waterline showing you only the near wall. To understand the shape of the place you have to be in the middle of it — and only the water goes there.

The group boat tour is one of the simplest ways to do that. A bus collects people all along the coast, transfers them to a ship at Tivat, and from there you spend six hours crossing the bay with stops for swimming and time ashore in the towns. Tickets cost from €53 per adult and from €30 per child, and the price is the same whether you set off from Budva, Kotor, Tivat or Bar.

One thing to know before you book: the company that runs this tour works only with Russian-speaking guides, on group and private tours alike. If Russian is no use to you, look at a boat of your own, further down.

The ship

She is called Katica: three decks, a restaurant, toilets and changing rooms. The top deck is open, for anyone who came to sunbathe; the lower ones have shade. She is a big vessel and runs level inside the enclosed bay, so seasickness is essentially a non-issue — a real difference from a small boat.

There is a second reason to take a ship. From that height the bay reads differently. From a yacht’s deck you look up at everything; from the top deck you look over the promenades, and the towns make sense as whole shapes.

The route

The bus leaves in the morning, between eight and nine, picking people up at stops along the coast on the way to Tivat; the exact time depends on your resort. The drive to the pier is short: Budva to Tivat takes about half an hour.

Boarding in Tivat happens next to Porto Montenegro, a marina built on the site of an Austro-Hungarian and later Yugoslav naval port. Today it is a superyacht berth, and the first photos of the day usually happen here.

The ship then crosses the Tivat and Herceg Novi basins past coastal villages and the old Yugoslav submarine shelters — three tunnels in the rock that a submarine could sail straight into from the water, out of sight from the air.

The main stop is Perast and the two islands facing it. Our Lady of the Rocks (Gospa od Škrpjela) was built by hand: for five centuries sailors returning from a voyage dropped a stone on a submerged rock and scuttled worn-out ships there until an island grew, with a church on it. Inside hang around two thousand silver plaques showing ships, each from someone who survived a storm, and an altar cloth that Jacinta Kunić-Mijović is said to have spent twenty-five years embroidering, weaving in her own hair — dark at the start, grey at the end. Neighbouring St George’s Island is natural, with a 12th-century Benedictine abbey; landing there is not permitted.

Then Kotor, the old town under a fortification wall that zigzags 260 metres up the cliff. You get time to walk it, usually about an hour and a half.

Swimming happens at an anchor stop in one of the cleanest parts of the bay.

What it costs

Prices are per person:

• from €53 — adult, 12 and over
• from €30 — child aged 4–11
• free — infants under 3 on a lap; from €30 with their own seat

The price does not depend on where you are picked up: it is the same from Budva, Kotor, Tivat and Bar.

Included: transport, a licensed guide, the ship itself, return to your pick-up point, and the carrier’s basic insurance for the coach portion.

Paid separately on the spot:

• €2–3 — the museum beside the church on Our Lady of the Rocks
• €15 — the climb to Kotor’s fortress and walls, if you decide to go; the old town itself is free to enter
• from €17 — lunch aboard, optional
• €5–10 — a boat to the Blue Cave (Plava špilja), optional. The boat stops at the mouth of the grotto; you go inside by kayak or swim in from the boat, as motor vessels have been banned from entering since 2026
• €1–8 — tickets to additional museums

Booking requires no deposit; you pay the guide on the coach. Cancellation is free. Exact amounts and the timetable are confirmed by the company running the tour.

When it runs

In season, on set days of the week; from October to May it is not held. Exact dates and days are in the organiser’s timetable. In winter the bay is often choppy and wet, and the ship has no heating.

For a family with children this is one of the easiest ways to spend a day on the water in Montenegro: six hours afloat, room for a child to move, shade, a toilet, food, and no need to pay for a whole boat.

What to bring

Swimwear and towels, high-factor sunscreen, comfortable shoes for Kotor (the streets are cobbled), water, a hat and a camera. Bring cash for the entry tickets — they are collected on site and there may be no card terminal.

Something warm is useful on the way back: by evening the top deck under way is noticeably cool, even in August.

How this differs from chartering a yacht

In price and in company. Here you pay per person and travel with a group; on a yacht you pay for the boat and travel with only your own people.

For two or three people the ship is cheaper by a wide margin. With seven or eight people the gap nearly closes, and then it is worth looking at the cruise from Tivat or from Kotor, where the route is flexible and you choose your own swimming stops. Boats with prices and free dates are listed on the yacht charter page.

Nearby

Another day on the water, with a lake instead of the sea, is the Lake Skadar excursion. The Bay of Kotor ship tour also has an evening version from Herceg Novi, from €43 per person, which also runs in season only; the evening departure from Budva is not running in 2026. Everything else is listed under things to do, and prices by departure town are on the tours in Montenegro page.

If you drive to the pick-up point yourself, be warned: parking in Tivat and Kotor in summer is its own project. How it works is covered in parking in Montenegro.

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Prices checked in September 2026. The tour is run by an independent company; booking and payment are made directly with them.