How to Spend 2 Days in Kotor

Spending two days in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kotor lets you experience its stone-built Old Town, a Bay of Kotor cruise, and outdoor pursuits and still have time for a day trip to Montenegro’s Adriatic coast and mountainous heartlands. Here’s how to get the best from two days in Kotor.

Day 1: Essential Kotor

Morning: Begin at Kotor Old Town: a mini-Dubrovnik crowned by the 12th-century St. Tryphon Cathedral. The town is small and traffic-free, so tours—usually private or small-group—are on foot. Alternatively, take a tour that includes nearby Perast and its Our Lady of the Rocks church, marooned on an island in Kotor Bay, known locally as Boka Bay.

Afternoon: Ease back with a scenic boat trip across Kotor Bay. If you didn’t do so this morning, cruise to Perast and its island church, or ride a private speedboat to Mamula Island and the sunlit Blue Cave to swim and snorkel.

Evening: Savor a predinner local wine at one of Kotor’s wine bars before choosing an Old Town or waterside restaurant. Taste Montenegrin specialities such as seafood risotto, slow-roasted lamb, or buzara —seafood in tomato sauce.

Day 2: Out and About

Morning: Expand your horizons with a day trip to other Montenegro attractions. Visit the Adriatic coastline to discover walled Budva and the fortified island village of Sveti Stefan. Or, take a wider tour that also covers Njeguši—famous for its pršut (dry-cured ham)—and the country’s former royal capital of Cetinje, in the mountains above Kotor.

Afternoon: If you didn’t take a day trip this morning, enjoy some outdoor pursuits this afternoon. Hike or cycle what’s known as ‘The Ladder of Kotor’—a steep trail and road that corkscrews above the town—for bird’s-eye bay-and-mountain views. Alternatively, learn how to stand-up paddleboard, and spend the afternoon wafting past the bay’s beaches and villages.

Evening: Slow the pace with a sunset meander around the Old Town’s streets. Kotor’s symbol is the cat, so perhaps explore the cat-based memorabilia at the Cats Museum to chart its quirky historical relationship with felines. Finally, enjoy a nightcap at one of Kotor’s bars: downing some local rakija fruit brandy before calling it a night.