The Montenegrin Coast: From Sveti Stefan to Ulcinj

The Montenegrin coast runs for almost 300 kilometres, and most visitors see about twenty of them. Everything south of Budva stays off the map: Bar with an olive tree more than two thousand years old, Ulcinj with its minarets, and a thirteen-kilometre beach of dark grey sand.

This tour covers the whole south in a day: Budva — Petrovac — Bar — Ulcinj — Velika Plaža — Budva. Privately, with your own guide and car, stopping where you find it interesting. The price is for the group, not per person: private tours start from €90. One thing to know before you book: the company runs its private tours only with Russian-speaking guides. If Russian is no use to you, the honest alternative is to drive the same coast yourself in a hire car.

Budva itself, where the route starts, is covered separately: Budva: old town and beaches.

Sveti Stefan from above

The first stop is the viewpoint over Sveti Stefan. An island hotel and one of the country’s calling cards: a 15th-century fortified settlement converted wholesale into accommodation. The hotel reopened on 1 July 2026, and non-guests can visit the island on a guided tour, booked in advance; check the price and times with the hotel beforehand. But this is where the photograph is taken — from above — and it is the image everyone recognises later. More in Sveti Stefan.

Bar

One of the largest towns on the coast, and one of the few that live all year rather than for one season. It has the port from which the ferry runs to Bari in Italy — hence the twin names.

The main sight is Stari Bar, a town 4–5 km inland at the foot of Mount Rumija. It was Ottoman until the 19th century. In 1878 the Montenegrins took the town after a long siege and bombardment; later two gunpowder explosions and an earthquake finished off what was left. The town simply stayed in ruins: streets, an aqueduct, mosques and walls, all of it roofless. Entry is €5, €1 for children aged 6–14.

Beside it grows Stara Maslina, an olive tree more than two thousand years old. It still bears fruit. Entry is €2. Opening times, the history of the ruins and how to get there on your own are in Stari Bar.

Ulcinj

The southernmost town in the country and the least like the others. Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Serbs, Venetians and Ottomans all held it, and the Ottoman layer left the most: minarets, narrow lanes, Albanian spoken in the street (Albanians are the majority here).

In the 16th and 17th centuries Ulcinj was a pirate base, with corsairs sailing from here and a slave market in the town. Legend has it that Miguel de Cervantes spent several years here in captivity. More on the town and the beach in Ulcinj and Velika Plaža.

Velika Plaža

Montenegro’s largest beach — thirteen kilometres of fine dark grey sand south of Ulcinj.

The sand has been carried down by the Bojana river over the centuries, and locals consider it medicinal: people with joint and skin conditions have long been brought here. Nearby are the former salt pans, where no salt has been produced since 2013; they are now a nature park and a haven for birds. In the Bojana delta lies the river island of Ada Bojana, with a three-kilometre beach — it has a guide of its own: Ada Bojana.

The beach shelves very gently: getting chest-deep means walking fifty metres. With children that is easier than anywhere else on the coast. A set of sunbeds costs €12–20, or you can use your own towels.

What it costs

The tour is private, so there is no fixed price per person. Private tours start from €90 per group. The form shows the guides available on your date and what each charges, and you choose. The figure depends on the guide, the number of people and the car.

Paid separately:

• €5 — entry to Stari Bar, €1 for children aged 6–14
• €2 — entry to Stara Maslina
• €12–20 — a set of sunbeds on the beach
• from €10 — lunch, optional
• €1–4 — museum tickets

The request goes to your chosen guide; after confirmation a booking link and voucher arrive by email. The exact amount is quoted by the guide who runs the tour.

Things to know

This tour includes swimming: bring swimwear and towels, there is time in the water at Velika Plaža.

On request the return leg can include shopping in modern Bar, a port town where goods cost less than in the resorts.

Ulcinj is a Muslim town, and although beachwear is normal there in summer, entering a mosque requires covered clothing.

Who it suits

Anyone on their second week in Budva or Bečići who has already walked everything nearby. Anyone who wants one day along the water rather than in the mountains. And families, because of the shallow entry at Velika Plaža.

It will not suit you if you are coming for medieval architecture: there are old towns on the route, but the real subject is the beaches and the contrast between the north and south of the coast.

Nearby

The same coastline from the water and under sail is the cruise from Bar and Budva, which takes in Kraljičina plaža beyond Čanj, the beach named after Queen Milena, and the islets of Katič and Sveta Nedelja, 700–900 metres offshore opposite Petrovac.

For mountains instead of shoreline, see the Heart of Montenegro. Group trips are collected on the tours page, and every format is listed on the things to do page.

Prices checked in September 2026.