CONTENTS
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
Maps
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
Maps available commercially in Montenegro are highlighted in bold.
ORJEN (Routes 1–2)
Guide and map (1:31,250) to the Orjen Massif (Mountaineering Club Subra, 2006); also available as Mountain Orjen Trail Hiking Guide and Map (1:40,000) (Mountaineering Club Subra, 2012). The older edition is by far the clearer of the two.
LOVĆEN (Routes 3–4)
Lovćen National Park (1:25,000)
SKADARSO JEZERO (LAKE SKADAR) AND RUMIJA (Route 5)
National Park Skadar Lake (1:55,000; Skadar Lake National Park/Austrian Development Cooperation/GTZ/Huber, Belgrade)
DURMITOR (Routes 6–8)
Durmitor and Tara Canyon (also available as Mountain Map Durmitor) (1:25,000, Tara Canyon on reverse at 1:50,000); alternatively, but not as good for Durmitor, Hiking and Biking Tourist Map, Montenegro – NP Durmitor, Piva/BiH – NP Sutjeska (1:50,000; COSV/US Aid); Durmitor (1:50,000) in the book Durmitor and the Tara Canyon, Serbian and English editions
BIOGRADSKA GORA AND BJELASICA (Routes 9–10)
Bjelasica Komovi Mountain Touristic Map, Biogradska Gora National Park (1:60,000; Geokarta, Belgrade); military sheets: JNA (1:50,000) sheet 628/1 (Ivangrad 1)
KOMOVI (Route 11)
Bjelasica Komovi Mountain Touristic Map, Biogradska Gora National Park (1:60,000; Geokarta, Belgrade); military sheets: JNA (1:50,000) sheet 628/3 (Ivangrad 3) – good coverage of Komovi, Maglić and Kučka krajina on one sheet
KUČKA KRAJINA (Route 12)
Military sheets: JNA (1:50,000) sheet 628/3 (Ivangrad 3) – good coverage of Komovi, Maglić and Kučka krajina on one sheet
VISITOR (Route 13)
Prokletije Hiking and Biking (1:50,000; GTZ/Huber, Belgrade); Peaks of the Balkans (1:60,000) also covers this area
PROKLETIJE (Routes 14–17)
Grbaja Valley (Routes 14–16): Prokletije Hiking and Biking (1:50,000; GTZ/Huber, Belgrade); Peaks of the Balkans (1:60,000) also covers this area; military sheets: JNA (1:50,000) sheet 628/4 (Ivangrad 4) or JNA (1:25,000) sheet 628-4-3 (Ivangrad 4–3: Gusinje)
Ropojana Valley (Route 17): Prokletije Hiking and Biking (1:50,000; GTZ/Huber, Belgrade); Peaks of the Balkans (1:60,000) also covers this area; military sheets: JNA (1:50,000) sheet 678/2 (Skadar 2) covering the area SE of the Ropojana Valley or JNA (1:25,000) sheets 678-2-1 (Skadar 2–1: Jezerce) covering Maja Rosit, and 678-2-2 (Skadar 2–2: Dragobija) covering Maja Kolata
Some useful sketch maps, originally published in Serbian mountaineering journals, can be found on the relevant pages of Summit Post (www.summitpost.org).