Žabljak: The Base for the North, Summer and Winter

At 1,456 metres, Žabljak is considered the highest town in the Balkans. It sits on a plateau at the foot of Durmitor and works all year: a hiking base in summer, a ski resort in winter. Fewer than two thousand people live in the town itself, and about three thousand in the wider municipality.

The town itself is small and short on sights. Its value is geography: three kilometres to the Black Lake, twenty-three to Đurđevića bridge, half an hour to the Sedlo pass.

In summer

The Black Lake is the main draw. The loop trail is 3.5 kilometres, an hour to an hour and a half at a steady pace. Details in Durmitor and the Black Lake.

Hiking. Routes of every grade start in town, from strolls to a full-day ascent of Bobotov Kuk (2,523 m).

Rafting the Tara. The launch points are an hour’s drive away. How the descent works and what the day trip from the coast costs: rafting the Tara and the Piva canyon.

Cool air. In August, when the coast is at 33 °C, it is 22–25 °C here by day and 12 °C at night. For many people that alone is the reason to come up.

In winter

The lifts on Savin Kuk and Javorovača run December to March. The pistes are undemanding, and a day pass on Savin Kuk cost €16 in the 2024/25 season — a fraction of Alpine prices.

Snow is usually plentiful and the season reliable. The crowd is local and Serbian, and lift queues are rare.

The drive in winter needs attention: passes, snow, sometimes compulsory chains. Check tyres and equipment with the rental company in advance.

Where to stay

There are enough hotels and apartments, and prices sit well below the coast: from €30–40 a night for an apartment in summer. Mountain huts and campsites too.

Book ahead in July, August and over New Year; the rest of the time there is always something.

The drive from the coast

From Budva it is 160 kilometres, 3–3.5 hours by the shortest route, and about the same from Kotor. Going via Podgorica and the Morača canyon takes longer: about four hours to Đurđevića bridge, then another half hour from the bridge to Žabljak. The road is surfaced but mountainous: hairpin bends, tunnels, limits of 60–80.

Montenegro has two toll roads, and one of them is on the way north: the Smokovac–Mateševo motorway beyond Podgorica, €3.50 for the full stretch. It bypasses the Morača canyon; the old road through the canyon is free.

Another option runs via Nikšić and Plužine past Piva Lake: longer, but better looking. On that stretch see rafting and the Piva canyon.

Fill up in Podgorica or Mojkovac. On fuel, see fuel and petrol stations.

A day or an overnight

A day trip from the coast is twelve hours with eight at the wheel. You get the bridge and the lake; everything else goes past the window. In autumn 2026 Đurđevića bridge is closed for reconstruction until 26 October, though it is expected to reopen earlier; check before you go.

With a night here it becomes a real trip: the drive, the bridge and the lake on day one; a trail or the Sedlo pass on day two. That is the classic “north in two days” route, worth assembling if time allows.

Without your own car

Buses reach Žabljak from Podgorica (three a day, 2½ hours, €10–12) and from Belgrade; from Budva there is one direct bus a day in autumn 2026, taking 4 hours 45 minutes, €22. But there is no transport inside the park: the lake is three kilometres away on foot or by taxi.

An excursion is simpler: the Tara and Morača canyons includes the Black Lake and the bridge with hotel pick-up. It costs from €58 per person departing Budva or Podgorica, and from €68 from Kotor, Tivat or Bar. The private version — canyons and Žabljak — gives you your own guide, your own pace and stops where you want them; private tours cost from €90 for the whole group. Both come only with a Russian-speaking guide; if Russian is no use to you, driving yourself is the alternative.

All routes are under things to do. If you are driving, hire options are on the car rental page.

Prices checked in September 2026; confirm winter rates locally.