The Mountains of Montenegro: A Walker's and Trekker's Guide

About the Author

Rudolf Abraham (www.rudolfabraham.co.uk) is an award-winning travel writer and photographer specializing in southeast Europe. He is the author of eight books and has contributed to over a dozen more, and his work is published widely in magazines. He has been a regular visitor to the Balkans for more than 15 years and has lived and worked in neighbouring Croatia.

Other Cicerone guides by the author

The Islands of Croatia

St Oswald’s Way and St Cuthbert’s Way

Torres del Paine

Walking in Croatia

The Peaks of the Balkans Trail

THE MOUNTAINS OF MONTENEGRO

by Rudolf Abraham

JUNIPER HOUSE, MURLEY MOSS,

OXENHOLME ROAD, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA9 7RL

www.cicerone.co.uk

© Rudolf Abraham 2007, 2015

Second edition 2015 Reprinted 2019 (with updates)

ISBN 9781783621972

First edition 2007

ISBN 9781852845063

ISBN 9781849656436

Printed in China on behalf of Latitude Press Ltd.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Author photo by Ivana Jović All other photographs by Rudolf Abraham

za Ivanu

Acknowledgements

For this second edition, thanks to Emma and Ben Heywood in Virpazar, Hayley Wright in Herceg Novi, Olga Turković at Kula Damjanova in Plav, and Rado Jovanović. For the first edition: thanks to Ivan Laković and Jelena Lazarović for providing me with my first opportunity to visit the Ropojana Valley; members of PDS Lazarevac for sharing their knowledge of the Grbaja Valley; Jelena Ćalić for answering some final queries on the Serbian language section; Rade Pavlović for providing keys to Radnički hut in Prokletije; and Pero Rakočević for sharing his wonderful knowledge and enthusiasm for the mountains of Montenegro.

Last but not least, thanks are due to my wife, Ivana, who read through the text, corrected the language section, accompanied me on many of my trips to Montenegro, and – infinitely more challenging – lived with the first edition of this book over the two to three years in which it came together.

Warning

Mountain walking in remote areas can be dangerous and carry a risk of personal injury or death. It should be undertaken only by those with a full understanding of the risks and with the training and/or experience to evaluate them. Whilst every care and effort has been taken in the preparation of this guide, the user should be aware that conditions can be highly variable and can change quickly, thus materially affecting the seriousness of a mountain walk.

Therefore, except for any liability which cannot be excluded by law, neither Cicerone nor the author accept liability for damage of any nature (including damage to property, personal injury or death) arising directly or indirectly from the information in this book.

For the Mountain Rescue Service (GSS) in Montenegro, contact www.gss-cg.me, in English, or tel: 064 333 88 68 or 063 466 466.

Although travel within Montenegro is perfectly safe, visitors are strongly advised against straying over the border into neighbouring countries (with the exception of those itineraries detailed within this guide). In particular, there is a danger of landmines in Bosnia-Hercegovina, certain areas of Croatia, the border areas between Kosovo and Montenegro, and possibly over the Albanian border.

Updates to this Guide

While every effort is made by our authors to ensure the accuracy of guidebooks as they go to print, changes can occur during the lifetime of an edition. Any updates that we know of for this guide will be on the Cicerone website (www.cicerone.co.uk/731/updates), so please check before planning your trip. We also advise that you check information about such things as transport, accommodation and shops locally. Even rights of way can be altered over time. We are always grateful for information about any discrepancies between a guidebook and the facts on the ground, sent by email to updates@cicerone.co.uk or by post to Cicerone, Juniper House, Murley Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal LA9 7RL.

Register your book: To sign up to receive free updates, special offers and GPX files where available, register your book at www.cicerone.co.uk.

Front cover: Zupci (‘teeth’) and Bandijerna, seen from the pass below Bobotov kuk in Durmitor national park (Route 6)

CONTENTS

Route summary table

Map key

Overview map

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

Kučka krajina and Bukumirsko jezero (Route 12)

ROUTE SUMMARY TABLE

The ridge on Međed, Durmitor (Route 6)

INTRODUCTION

The small town of Virpazar, gateway to Lake Skadar National Park (Route 5)

Few parts of Europe are so little known as the countries lying between the Danube and the northern frontier of Greece.

Sir J Gardner Wilkinson, Dalmatia and Montenegro (London, 1848)

‘Ljepši od Alpa’ – ‘more beautiful than the Alps’. This description of Montenegro’s mountains was given to me by a Croatian climber, in the most congenial setting of a wedding, just over the Slovenian border. And it was these words, together with a postcard of improbably sheer-sided peaks in Durmitor, the country’s best-known mountain area, which first drew me to Montenegro, while living in Zagreb between 1999 and 2001.

Montenegro (or more correctly Crna gora, ‘black mountain’) lies on the southern Adriatic coast, sandwiched between Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Serbia and Albania; and within its borders are some of the wildest, most spectacular, and least visited mountains in Europe.

So I wrote in the introduction to the first edition of this guide, back in 2006. And remarkably, with the exception of Durmitor National Park which in recent years has seen a healthy surge in visitor numbers, the last part of that sentence remains just as true now, as I write material for a new edition in 2014, as it did then. It’s true that Montenegro’s popularity as a travel destination has grown enormously over the past few years – new guidebooks have appeared, low-cost direct flights to Podgorica have been launched from the UK, luxurious new hotels and marinas have sprung up. However, while Budva, Kotor, Sv Stefan and other hotspots on the coast heave with sun-seekers and receive a regular stream of cruise ships, much of the rest of the country – and in particular its mountains – remains little known.

Most of the surface area of the country is taken up by the Dinaric Alps – a great string of mountains, extending in furrowed ranges from Slovenia and Croatia in the north, and reaching their greatest altitude in inland Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia. Rising in some places almost sheer from the Adriatic, these mountains throw themselves up in soaring, jagged limestone tops, and have alternately been compared to strings of pearls, and to the entrance to hell itself. The fierce, rugged character of the Montenegrin highlands is reflected in the name of the mountains running along the northern part of the Albanian border: Prokletije, meaning ‘the accursed mountains’. Yet the landscape is also rich in wildlife and plants, from the diverse birdlife of Skadarso jezero to the primeval forest of Biogradska gora.

The mountains of Montenegro are at their most impressive in the inland areas of Durmitor and Prokletije, where the stunning terrain typically consists of glacial cirques surrounded by fine ridges – often wonderfully exposed – and steep-sided 2000–2500m peaks, some of which require a degree of scrambling to ascend. High pastures, often scattered with stone or wooden shepherd’s huts (known locally as katun), give way to valleys, the lower slopes of which are cloaked in dense pine and beech forest, and picturesque lakes. Between these mountain areas, the landscape is slashed by deep canyons – one of which, the Tara, is the second deepest in the world.

Like the mountains of neighbouring Croatia, Slovenia and other countries of the former Yugoslavia, the mountains of Montenegro are criss-crossed by well-established, clearly marked trails. There are some mountain huts and shelters, although considerably fewer than in Croatia or Slovenia (many of the walks in this guide require carrying a tent), and detailed maps are available for many of the most popular hiking areas.

Montenegro is easily reached from the UK – either a direct flight to Podgorica, or via Dubrovnik – and costs within the country are relatively low. Added to these already considerable attractions are the country’s many other, perhaps better-known assets – a beautiful coastline, fascinating history and some impressive architecture. The proximity of Croatia and its own lovely coast and mountains might be added as a further lure…

It is hoped that this guidebook – at the time of writing the second edition, still the only comprehensive English-language guide available to the mountains of Montenegro – will enable more people to visit this remarkable area, and shed some light on what is, quite simply, one of the finest walking destinations in Europe.

MONTENEGRO – KEY FACTS AND FIGURES

Country name: Crna gora

Capital: Podgorica

Language: Serbian

Currency: Euro

Population: 625,266 (2011 census)

Surface area: 14,026km

Time zone: GMT + 1hr

National Day: 13 July

Geography

The general aspect of Montenegro is that of a succession of elevated ridges, diversified here and there by a lofty mountain peak, and, in some parts, looking like a sea of immense waves turned into stone.

Sir J Gardner Wilkinson, Dalmatia and Montenegro (London, 1848)

The mountainous character of the Balkan peninsula is reflected in its name. A Turkish word meaning a chain of mountains, balkan was initially used to describe the Stara Planina range in modern Bulgaria. Later, and particularly from the 19th century, it came to be used to describe the whole region – with distinctly negative connotations.

One of the most extensive mountain ranges in the Balkan peninsula is the Dinaric Alps. Stretching southeastwards some 700km from the Slovenian border, the Dinaric Alps run the length of Croatia, through Montenegro and into Albania, from where they continue as the Pindos Mountains into Greece. Their steep western slopes present an almost impenetrable barrier towards the Adriatic (a factor which has contributed to the relative isolation of inland Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia from the various ‘Mediterranean’ civilizations to have settled along the coast). Perhaps not surprisingly, their inhabitants have always been fiercely independent. With the exception of a narrow strip of coastline, almost the entire territory of Montenegro is occupied by these mountains.

Mokro, on the approach to Kučka krajina from Veruša (Route 12)

Montenegro’s rocky Adriatic coastline runs northwest-southeast between Croatia and Albania, broken towards its northwestern end by Boka Kotorska (the Bay of Kotor), a deeply indented, fjord-like inlet surrounded by steep, bare mountains. The coast is divided from the interior by a steep, outer rampart of mountains, including Orjen (Routes 1–2), on the border with Bosnia-Hercegovina and Croatia; Lovćen (Routes 3–4), above Boka Kotorska, and crowned by the mausoleum of Montenegro’s celebrated ruler-poet, Petar II Petrović Njegoš; and Rumija (Route 5), between Lake Skadar and Stari Bar. These mountains are relatively modest in elevation, with peaks averaging 1600–1700m; the highest point is Zubački kabao (1894m), on Orjen. Karst features are especially prominent on Orjen, which has relatively little vegetation; forest cover is somewhat more extensive on Lovćen. In both cases, surface water is minimal.

Behind these mountains a broad plateau runs inland for some distance – an area described by J.A Cuddon in The Companion Guide to Jugoslavia as a succession of ‘troughs and crests of turmoiled rock’. There is a saying among Montenegrins, that when God was in the act of distributing stones over the earth, the bag that held them burst, and they all fell on Montenegro. It seems particularly appropriate for this area. Within the southeast part of this plateau lies the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica (meaning literally ‘beneath the mountain’). To the southeast of this is the basin of Skadarsko jezero (Route 5; Lake Shkodër in Albanian), which, which an average area of 475km2, is the largest lake in the Balkans. Beyond this area and further inland lie the country’s most elevated mountain areas.

In the northwest of the country, just across the border from Bosnia’s Sutjeska National Park, are the remote areas of Maglić and Bioč, crowned by Maglić (2386m) and Veliki Vitao (2397m) respectively (the former lies actually on the Bosnian border).

Slightly to the southeast of these, bounded to the north by the River Tara and to the west by the River Piva, is Durmitor (Routes 6–8). This is Montenegro’s best-known and most visited mountain area, with numerous peaks over 2300m, including Bobotov kuk (2523m), usually described as the country’s highest but actually overshadowed just a little by a peak on the Albanian border. It is an area of quite exceptionally beautiful scenery, with glacial cirques and lakes, high ridges and spectacular, steep-sided peaks.

Stretching southeast from Durmitor parallel to the River Tara is Sinjajevina, a long, jagged succession of high peaks, including Jablanov vrh (2203m) at its southern end. South of this, along the headwaters and west of the River Moračka, are the equally rugged Moračke planine, including Torna (also known as Babji zub, 2227m). These mountains gradually recede in altitude towards Nikšić and Podgorica, and towards the River Zeta. Southeast of Sinjajevina, across the River Tara, is Bjelasica (Routes 9–10), with its somewhat more gentle, rounded tops.

Limestone pavement (lapiez) on Subra, with waymarking (Route 1)

Further to the southeast lie the high, wild and sometimes quite remote mountain areas along the Albanian border, at the headwaters of the River Tara and the River Lim. Komovi (Route 11), which lies just south of Bjelasica, is a relatively compact area, reaching its highest in Kom Kučki (2487m). South