The Mountains of Montenegro

Map key

Overview map

Route summary table

Introduction

Geography

Geology

Climate

Vegetation and wildlife

History

Culture

Food and drink

Language

Getting to Montenegro

Local transport

Accommodation

Money

Staying in touch

Walking in Montenegro

What to take

Maps

Trail markings

National parks

Safety in the mountains

Using this guide

Orjen

Route 1 Subra

Stage 1 Kameno – Vratlo hut

Stage 2 Vratlo hut – Subra (return)

Stage 3 Vratlo hut – Kabao (return)

Stage 4 Vratlo hut – Kameno

Route 2 Zubački kabao

Further Possibilities

Lovćen

Route 3 Jezerski vrh

Route 4 Kotor fortress

Lake Skadar

Route 5 Rumija

Further Possibilities

Durmitor

Route 6 Central Durmitor

Stage 1 Žabljak – Lokvice

Stage 2 Lokvice – Terzin bogaz (return)

Stage 3 Lokvice – Bobotov kuk (return)

Stage 4 Lokvice – Minin bogaz (return)

Stage 5 Lokvice – Ledena pećina (return)

Stage 6 Lokvice – Samar (return)

Stage 7 Lokvice – Žabljak

Route 7 Durmitor Circuit (via Škrčko jezero)

Stage 1 Lokvice – Škrčko jezero

Stage 2 Škrčko jezero – Jablan jezero

Stage 3 Jablan jezero – Žabljak

Route 8 Durmitor Circuit (via Velika Struga)

Stage 1 Lokvice – Donja Ališnica

Stage 2 Donja Ališnica Žabljak

Day walks from Žabljak

Bjelasica

Route 9 Biogradsko jezero

Route 10 Biogradska gora

Stage 1 Biogradsko jezero – Pešića jezero

Stage 2 Pešića jezero – Trešnjevik

Further Possibilities

Komovi

Route 11 Komovi

Stage 1 Trešnjevik – Štavna

Stage 2 Štavna – Kom Vasojevićki (return)

Stage 3 Štavna – Kom Ljevoriječki (return)

Stage 4 Štavna – Trešnjevik

Further Possibilities

Kučka Krajina (Žijevo)

Route 12 Kučka Krajina

Stage 1 Veruša – Bukumirsko jezero

Stage 2 Bukumirsko jezero – nameless pass (return)

Stage 3 Bukumirsko jezero – Štitan (return)

Stage 4 Bukumirsko jezero – Maglić (return)

Stage 5 Bukumirsko jezero – Veruša

Further Possibilities

Visitor

Route 13 Visitor from Plav

Further Possibilities

Prokletije

Route 14 Volušnica

Route 15 Krošnja and Karanfili

Route 16 Kotao

Route 17 Ropojana valley and jezero

Further Possibilities

Appendix A Mountain areas, major peaks and long-distance routes

Appendix B Further reading

Appendix C Useful contacts

Appendix D Language notes and glossary

Appendix E History of Montenegro

Haystacks on Bjelasica (Route 10)

Specialist map and travel shops in the UK such as The Map Shop (www.themapshop.co.uk) and Stanfords (www.stanfords.co.uk) stock general maps of Montenegro. Alternatively, Magic Map’s Crna Gora Autokarta, covering the country at a scale of 1:370,000, is widely available in Serbia and Montenegro and is reasonably priced. Wilderness Hiking Montenegro (1:450,000) also gives a useful overview, and is available free from tourist offices. The Slovenian-produced Črnogorsko primorje map of the Montenegrin coast (Geodetski Zavod Slovenije, 1:100,000), although more detailed, is not suitable for hiking.

Detailed walking maps of Durmitor and the Tara Canyon, Prokletije, Lake Skadar, Orjen, Bioč, Komovi and Bjelasica (at scales of between 1:25,000 and 1:60,000) are available in Montenegro from National Park offices and Tourist Information offices in the relevant area for around 4. You may be able to find one of the recommended maps of Durmitor (1:50,000) second hand on the internet (try www.abe.com) in the book Durmitor and Tara Canyon Guide by Branislav Cerović (Belgrade, 1986) – check with the seller that the copy you are buying still has the map attached. Montenegro Wilderness Biking contains detailed maps at 1:100,000 of several areas and can be a useful aid for hiking itineraries. See the box below for a summary of recommended maps for the routes in this guide.

The whole of Montenegro is also covered by various series of detailed military maps (generally not available for sale, or prohibitively expensive), including those produced by the JNA (Yugoslav People’s Army – 1:25,000, produced 1975; 1:50,000, produced 1981; and 1:100,000), by the former Soviet Union (1:50,000, produced 1974–77; and 1:100,000, produced 1975–87), and by the US (NIMA Series M709, 1:50,000, produced 1992–95). The JNA series are by far the best – US NIMA M709 sheets have very few local place names. Note that the text of the Soviet sheets is in Cyrillic. Buying military maps is not essential for the walks in this guide, however, all of which are covered by the guide’s sketch maps and by more detailed local hiking maps.

Unfortunately, even seven years after the first edition of this guide was published, many of these more detailed maps are still difficult to obtain or unavailable in the UK – at the time of writing, Stanfords (www.stanfords.co.uk) stocked some. As a last resort, a number of them can be viewed online, which (at least where they are unavailable in the UK) provides a means of looking at the relevant maps before setting off on your trip. (Do still buy the maps themselves when you get to Montenegro!) Try the following websites:

www.summitpost.org Several useful maps are given on the relevant pages of this website.

http://travel.valek.net (Czech website, some English text, click on ‘Mapy’) The ‘Prokletije’ map is excellent, and covers both Prokletije and Kučke krajine. ‘Sutjesko and Volujak’ covers Bioč.

There are also some very detailed maps by Pavlo Bandović in Planine Crne Gore by D Vincek, R Popović and M Kovačević (Podgorica, 2004), also available in English, as well as in German. Although not available in the UK, it is well worth getting a copy in Montenegro itself.

Note Some maps, however recent, are not without their inaccuracies, such as the inclusion of a hut which does not exist or a nice-looking route long obliterated by rockfall. Details of any such errors are given in this guide in the introduction to each walk.

Recommended maps

We do not yet have any updates available for this book

We are always grateful to readers for information about any discrepancies between a guidebook and the facts on the ground. If you would like to send some information to us then please use our contact form. They will be published here following review by the author(s).

a perfect time to visit this unspoilt, natural environment.

Montenegro borders Bosnia and Herzegovina to the north, Serbia and Kosovo to the east, Albania to the south, and Croatia to the west. Like its neighbouring countries, it's perhaps better known by some for the relatively recent conflict, rather than the idyllic hiking and nature that it holds within its borders - though the Balkans are gaining more popularity with the recent development of hiking trails such the Via Dinarica that runs from Albania to Slovenia (some of the Montenegrin sections are covered in the book) and the circular 'Peaks of the Balkans' trek that goes through Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo.

This book takes a look at several day hikes as well as multi-day treks throughout the Dinaric Alps of Montenegro. Cicerone have included some overview mapping, though some topo maps would have been useful. That said, the author is diligent in suggesting the appropriate map to buy for each hike in the guidebook (and of course we'd always suggest carrying a proper map regardless!). Luckily, it appears that Montenegro does have several maps available, making it suitable for those looking to head out unguided (this is more difficult in the neighbouring Bosnia). The mountains of Montenegro, along with other Balkan areas remain some of the least visited in Europe (though fairly accessible from the UK), making this a perfect time to visit this unspoilt, natural environment.

Trek & Mountain magazine