Tara and Morača Canyons: The North in One Day

From the coast, Montenegro looks like a small country of beaches. Two hours north and that impression falls apart: mountains over two thousand metres instead of sea, pine forest instead of oleander, fifteen degrees instead of thirty. The canyon excursion exists precisely to show that second Montenegro to people who have neither a car nor a spare week.

The start is early, around 06:30. The coach collects people across most of the Budva riviera and heads north over the passes. In one day you see the Morača canyon and its monastery, Đurđevića bridge over the Tara, Žabljak and the Black Lake. It costs from €58 per person departing Budva or Podgorica, and from €68 from Kotor, Tivat or Bar.

The Morača canyon

The first serious stop on the route. The road runs along a shelf cut into a sheer cliff, with the opposite wall standing thirty to fifty metres away — close enough that the sky becomes a narrow strip somewhere overhead. This is not a viewpoint but the road itself: you drive straight through the canyon.

On the way is Morača monastery, founded in the 13th century. The church is dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin and still holds frescoes of the Virgin and Christ along with eleven scenes from the life of the prophet Elijah. There is a courtyard of roses, water from a spring, and a shop selling icons and brojanice — the woven Serbian-Montenegrin prayer bracelets worn as charms.

Further off the road, ringed by dense forest, lies Lake Biograd, a glacial lake inside one of the few surviving primeval forests in Europe. Time is allotted for it, though depending on road conditions the operator may substitute another stop — that is agreed in advance. The park itself, its boats and the trail round the lake are covered in Biogradska Gora and Kolašin.

The Tara canyon and Đurđevića bridge

The main event of the day. The Tara canyon is the deepest in Europe: up to 1,300 metres deep and about 80 kilometres long. It is often called second only to the Grand Canyon.

Đurđevića bridge spans it — built in 1937–1940, with five arches, a main span of 116 metres and a height above the river of more than 150. In 1942 the partisans blew up the end arch to halt Italian troops, with help from Lazar Jauković, the engineer who had built the bridge. Three months later, in August 1942, he was captured and shot on the bridge itself. The bridge was rebuilt in 1946. You get the full story on site.

In autumn 2026 the bridge is closed for reconstruction until 26 October, though it is expected to reopen earlier. Check before you go how this affects the programme.

If you want, you can ride a zipline across the canyon by the bridge — paid separately, €10–30, with lines from 350 metres to a kilometre. The zipline season runs from mid-April to September.

The Black Lake and Žabljak

Žabljak is considered the highest town in the Balkans, at 1,456 metres. From there it is three kilometres to the Black Lake: two glacial basins joined by a channel, ringed by pine forest, the water the colour of dark glass. An easy path runs around it in about an hour.

This is Durmitor National Park: eighteen glacial lakes and forty-eight peaks above two thousand metres. The park was founded in 1952 and added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1980. The Tara basin has been a biosphere reserve since 1977.

What it costs

Prices are per person:

• from €58 — adult, 12 and over, departing Budva or Podgorica; from €68 from Kotor, Tivat or Bar
• from €30 — child aged 4–11
• free — infants under 3 on a lap; from €30 with their own seat

Included: transport, a licensed guide, return to your pick-up point and the carrier’s basic insurance for the journey. Note that the company running it works only with Russian-speaking guides, on group and private tours alike — including the private version of the same route, from €90 for the whole group. If Russian is no use to you, the honest alternative is to drive north yourself in a hire car.

Paid separately: national park entry, €5, a set lunch if you want one from €15, drinks, and the zipline. Booking requires no deposit, you settle with the guide on the coach, and cancellation is free. The exact figure is confirmed by the company running the excursion.

What you must bring

Warm clothes. This matters most and is what people forget. It can be twenty-eight degrees on the coast and twelve in Žabljak, and you feel the difference immediately. A windbreaker or fleece is needed even in August.

Then: comfortable shoes (the Black Lake has a trail, not a promenade), water, a hat, a camera. And a scarf or sarong to cover shoulders and knees — there is a monastery on the programme.

When it runs

April to mid-October. From mid-October to April it does not operate: there is snow in the north, the passes close, and Žabljak turns into a ski resort.

The day is long — from half past six in the morning until evening, with big drives between stops. With very small children that is hard work; school-age children usually love it: the bridge, the lake, the zipline.

Nearby

Another excursion into the same north, but with water instead of viewpoints, is rafting the Tara and the Piva canyon — there you do not look down into the canyon, you travel along the bottom of it.

Closer and gentler is the Heart of Montenegro with Cetinje and the cable car. Every destination is listed on the things to do page, and the whole section is under tours in Montenegro.

The same route can be driven at your own pace — it forms part of the plan in Montenegro by car in 5 days.

Prices checked in September 2026.