Montenegro map, Budva road choice

Budva or Vertical Mountain Road
Choose Budva If On Your Own

Choosing the longer route, reluctantly. It is easy to take a junket from Dubrovnik, Croatia, to see this beautiful neighboring country. See map at www.jazztour.ru/images/montenegro/montenegro_map_new. Spend a night Cavtat, Croatia; then drive on around Bay of Kotor to Kotor itself.

You can see some of the old curtain walls going up the mountainside, additional defense. Also, note the palm trees in Kotor. Unexpected, but we understand the bowl formed by the mountains moderates the climate. Is that so?



Kotor, Montenegro, Mountains












Then look again at the surroundings, and the map to find Cetinje, the next stop.

We had two choices after Kotor:

a) the vertical snaking-looking road up through mountains to Cetinje, the old capital. Or,

b) the conservative and coastal road to old beachy Budva first, with the castle, then on more of a level road around to Cetinje.

There is a time for even the Car-Dan Tour Company to be Conservative. Reluctantly. Geography rules. So we went the long way, the scenic old Budva walled city way.

And, looking at the maps, no wonder the Montenegrins moved their capital down from Cetinje in the high karst mountains, to the levels at Podgorice, on the level road way to Cetinje.

Looks very industrial, lots of smokestacks. Accessible. But the new capital over there can have none of the patina, the faded grande dame mystique of Cetinje.

Just business. Next trip, maybe, up we go, over the top, very slowly.

Budva - Where Zeus captured Europa

 Budva, Montenegro - A Place of Myth
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This is where the god Zeus captured the lovely Europa. Its mythological roots run deep. See http://www.montenegro.com/en/Little_tourist_guide_-_The_Old_Town_-_Budva.

Archeological people say that the town was settled, with records and all, in the 4th Century. It has a readily identifiable rock formation, the Island of St. Nikola. It helps to do an Images search if a photo in your own camera is unclear when you get back. Looking up those third-party photos is the best way to check which picture of a walled city is which.

For Budva, see also www.photo-montenegro.com/home, and navigate about. The rock formations are the identification for sure.

Budva, Montenegro. View from castle to sea.














Budva is a fine walled city, with impressive rocks to dash invaders.

It shows how dangerous many of the harbors were, and why walled cities on peninsulas were effective defenses. Little chance to hover about and think. Do see this overview gallery - www.pbase.com/bauer/montenegrohref.

Here is an etching of the town map in 1615. At historic-cities.huji.ac.il/montenegro/budva/maps/beauvau_1615_budva_b.j etching. Numbers 3 and 4 on the map look like Kotor and Bay of Kotor, from the location, not the spelling, and number 2 could be Cetinje, but I am not sure. Walls and battlements.