Kotor in a Day: Fortress, Old Town, Parking

Kotor takes an hour to walk and a day to understand. The old town is a triangle five hundred metres by three hundred, wedged between the water and a vertical cliff. The streets have no names, the houses no numbers, and directions come as “behind the clock tower” and “opposite the church”.

What matters here is not a list of sights but the order you do them in. It decides whether you leave with an impression or a memory of crowds and heat. In short: park before nine in the morning (€0.90–4.80 an hour), climb to the fortress first (€15), then explore the old town, which is free to enter.

The fortress first, everything else after

The climb to St John’s fortress is 1,350 steps and 260 metres up a wall that zigzags across the rock. At the top are ruined fortifications, the church of Our Lady of Remedy halfway, and the view over the whole bay that people come for.

Entry is €15. The climb takes 45–60 minutes at a steady pace, the descent half that.

Go before nine in the morning or after five in the afternoon. At midday there is no shade on the open wall, the stone radiates heat, and half the people turn back halfway. Morning is better: the bay still holds its haze and the cruise groups have not arrived.

Take a litre of water each and shoes with a proper sole — the steps vary in height and some are worn smooth.

The old town

Once you are down, walk without a plan. Getting lost here is part of the programme.

Worth finding:

• St Tryphon’s cathedral (1166), the city’s main church, with two towers of different heights: the money ran out after an earthquake.
• St Luke’s church, 12th century, with two altars inside — Orthodox and Catholic — which is rare in the Balkans.
• The Maritime Museum in the Grgurina palace: Kotor was a town of sea captains, and half the collection is ship models and instruments. Entry is around €5.
• The cats. There are hundreds, with their own museum and souvenir shops. This is not marketing: the town genuinely belongs to them.

Entry to the old town is free; you only pay to climb the walls. Just outside the Sea Gate, on the waterfront, is the town market, selling fruit, Njeguši pršut and cheese; its hours and prices are in markets in Montenegro. In winter and summer alike Kotor lives by its festivals — Tripundan, two carnivals, Boka Night; the dates are in Montenegro’s holidays and festivals.

Where to leave the car

The sore point in summer. The old town is pedestrian, so cars go in paid car parks along the walls and the waterfront: from €0.90 an hour at the outer car parks to €4.80 right by the Old Town walls (€2.40 in winter). You pay around the clock, and in August the car parks are full from eight in the morning to eight at night.

What works: arrive before nine or after six. Or leave the car in Dobrota, two kilometres along the bay, where parking is easier and the walk back along the water is pleasant.

How Montenegrin parking works is in parking in Montenegro.

When the cruise ships are in

A vessel carrying five thousand passengers berths two hundred metres from the gate, and the town changes within half an hour. At peak season there can be two or three arrivals a day.

Schedules are public and worth a look when planning. If a ship has already docked, go up to the fortress: few people climb.

What is nearby

Perast — 14 kilometres along the bay, 20 minutes by car. Sixteen palaces and two islands opposite. See Perast and the islands.

Lovćen — the 25-hairpin road starts right behind the town, with Njegoš’s mausoleum at the top. The mausoleum is open from 15 April to 15 November and closed in winter. See the Kotor–Lovćen road.

The cable car climbs to 1,300 metres in 11 minutes. A return ticket is €25, €7 for children, and one way costs €14. The same views as the fortress, without the steps.

Getting to Kotor

Budva is 22 kilometres away, half an hour without traffic; Tivat is twenty minutes, and Tivat airport 7 kilometres and 15 minutes. In July and August allow half as long again, or even double. Buses from Budva are frequent: more than 30 a day, about 40 minutes, usually €5.

If Kotor is one item on a week-long list, a car is easier: a route around the bay and inland does not assemble on buses. Options and prices are on the car rental in Kotor page.

If you would rather not drive, the coach excursion Heart of Montenegro covers Kotor, the cable car, Cetinje and Njeguši in a day with a guide, from €73 per person departing Budva and from €83 from Kotor or Tivat. Be aware that the company behind it works only with Russian-speaking guides, on group and private tours alike.

And the best view of the town is from the water. A cruise around the bay from Kotor starts right under the walls: the boat pulls away, turns, and the whole town with its wall fits in one frame. From €580 for three hours, which is the price for the whole boat — see yacht charter. The route is described in the cruise from Kotor. Boats run in season only; there are no trips in winter.

Entry tickets, cable car and parking: prices checked in September 2026.