Tara Rafting and the Piva Canyon: The Longest Day

The Tara has cut a canyon up to 1,300 metres deep — the deepest in Europe, and often called second only to the Grand Canyon. It runs for about 80 kilometres, the walls are close to vertical, and the water at the bottom is clean enough to drink straight from the river. Durmitor National 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.

Getting there from the coast means a full day of driving across the country, and that is half the point of the trip. The other half is two and a half hours on the water. It costs from €82 per person, with breakfast and lunch included. The trip runs in season and is not held from October to May.

What happens on the river

The run covers 24 rapids of moderate difficulty. That is grade two out of six: safe, no experience required, and children from five go along with everyone else.

Nobody paddles alone — each raft carries an instructor who calls the strokes and six to eight people who make them. Between rapids the current is calm and you can simply look up at the canyon walls. The route includes a stop to swim under a waterfall.

Wetsuits, buoyancy aids and helmets are issued on site, along with dry bags for phones and cameras — genuinely necessary, because you get thoroughly soaked. In serious heat you can skip the wetsuit: you would cook inside it, and the spray keeps you cool anyway.

The drive is half the excursion

The start is early, around six in the morning. The coach sets off from Budva, Kotor, Tivat, Bar or Podgorica, and the company confirms the pick-up time and place for your town. The departure from the Herceg Novi riviera is not running in 2026.

The first stop is a viewpoint above the Risan and Tivat basins, where the whole Bay of Kotor lies below you, Our Lady of the Rocks included. You never get that angle from the water.

The road then climbs into the central mountains, and about an hour later Piva Lake opens up — an emerald reservoir 45 kilometres long and up to 188 metres deep, the largest reservoir in Montenegro. It holds lake trout and chub.

Then the Piva canyon, which Montenegrins themselves consider the finest in the country. The road here is cut into the rock: more than fifty tunnels, with sheer walls directly above the coach roof. Bears, wolves and chamois live below — you are unlikely to see one from the road, but the signs are there.

You get back in the evening, around seven.

What it costs

Prices are per person:

• from €82 — adult, 12 and over, the same from Budva, Kotor, Tivat, Bar and Podgorica
• children are usually charged about half the adult price; the exact age bands and figure are in the tour description

Children under four are not taken on this route. That is the operator’s rule, not a suggestion. On the raft itself children are taken from the age of five: if your child is four, check the terms with the company before you book.

Included: breakfast with drinks and lunch, rafting equipment, professional instructors, dry bags, transport, a licensed guide and return to your pick-up point. Only drinks with lunch are extra. Bear in mind that the company running this trip works only with Russian-speaking guides, on group and private tours alike.

From €82 for a thirteen-hour day with two meals and a river run makes this one of the most packed excursions in the country. The exact figure and the timetable are confirmed by the company running it.

What to bring

Above all, warm clothes. It can be twenty-eight degrees on the coast and twelve in the canyon, and the Tara is cold all year — it comes off Durmitor. People who turn up in shorts and a t-shirt spend the ride home wrapped in a towel.

Then: swimwear, a towel, shoes you do not mind soaking, socks and a t-shirt to wear under the wetsuit, a hat, water and a camera in a dry bag.

Footwear for the river must be closed and strapped on — flip-flops leave you at the first rapid.

Who it suits and who it does not

It suits families with children from five, anyone who wants to see the north of the country in a single day without an overnight stay, and complete beginners — grade two exists precisely for them.

What the canyon actually is, and how its rim looks from above, is in Tara Canyon.

It does not suit anyone who struggles with early starts and long drives. Thirteen hours from six in the morning is real effort and worth weighing up, especially with small children.

For activity without that kind of transit, look at kayaking and SUP on the coast or paragliding over Budva.

Nearby

A calm day on the water instead of adrenaline: the Bay of Kotor by ship or the Lake Skadar excursion. The full list of formats is on the things to do page, and the whole section is under tours in Montenegro.

The same north can be driven independently over several days — that route is described in Montenegro by car in 5 days.

Prices checked in September 2026.