Kotor

Kotor sits at the far inner end of its bay, and the town itself has no real beach. Swimming there means stepping off concrete platforms, jetties and narrow pebble strips along the shore road towards Dobrota and Muo. The water is calm and warm, around 25°C in August, but the inner bay is enclosed and less clear than the open sea.

For a proper beach day most visitors drive or take the bus over the hill to the Budva riviera, about half an hour away. There you find the long sandy stretch at Jaz, the coves around Budva and the pink-pebble shores near Sveti Stefan. Further round the bay, the Lustica peninsula has quieter rocky bathing spots. Kotor works as a base for this, but beach life is something you go out for rather than the rhythm of the stay.

Eating in Kotor follows the bay. You get grilled fish, mussels from the farms near the mouth of the bay, black cuttlefish risotto and octopus, with more or less Venetian and Dalmatian accents. From the mountains behind the town comes smoked Njegusi ham and sharp cheese, often served together on a board, and the local red is Vranac, a dark, full wine that goes with almost everything on the menu.

The old town's squares are lined with terrace restaurants serving many of the same dishes to the same crowds, and quality is uneven. Better meals tend to be found along the shore in Dobrota, Prcanj and Perast, where konobas cook the day's catch beside the water. The small green market outside the walls is worth a morning visit for figs, olives and cheese. Beyond that the range is narrow, and there is little fine dining or international cooking.

The walled old town is the reason to come. It is a tight triangle of marble-paved lanes and small squares between the bay and a sheer limestone cliff, and the town and its Venetian fortifications are UNESCO-listed. The Romanesque Cathedral of St Tryphon, consecrated in 1166, anchors the town. Around it are smaller churches such as St Luke's and St Nicholas, along with the stone palazzi of the old seafaring families, one of which holds the Maritime Museum with its ship models, portraits and naval history of the Boka.

Above it all, the walls zigzag up the mountainside to the fortress of St John, a steep climb on more than a thousand steps that gives the classic view down the bay. Everything here is compact: the old town takes a few hours to walk and a couple of days to know. There are few major museums, so the appeal lies in the whole townscape rather than a long list of sights.

Evenings in Kotor are mostly spent on the old town's squares, with a drink on a terrace once the day visitors have left and the walls are lit up on the cliff. In summer a handful of bars keep going late inside the walls, and there is a small club scene for those who want it. Outside the warm months it is quiet early.

If you want a proper night out, the place for it is Budva, about half an hour down the coast, where the beach clubs and bars along the seafront run until dawn in high season. Kotor suits people who would like a calm evening and the option of a livelier night elsewhere.

Kotor's setting is the main event. The bay winds inland like a fjord between limestone walls that rise more than 1,000m almost from the water, and the town sits at its deepest point. Walking starts at the town gates. The old Ladder of Kotor mule track switchbacks up the cliff towards Krstac, and the fortress path climbs the wall behind the town. Above, the road of 25 hairpins leads into Lovcen National Park, with beech woods, karst meadows and views over the whole bay to the open Adriatic.

On the water, kayaking and small-boat trips along the shore are the best way to see the villages and the way the mountains close in. Paragliding launches from the hills above Budva, and Lake Skadar, a large bird-rich wetland, is reachable in about an hour and a half. Spring and autumn suit hiking best, since summer heat on the bare limestone is hard work.

The bay is lined with old stone villages. Perast, about twenty minutes away, is the finest: a baroque waterfront of captains' palaces, with boats out to Our Lady of the Rocks, a church built on an artificial islet. Across the water are Prcanj and Dobrota, and at the bay's mouth is Herceg Novi with its stepped streets and fortresses. Along the coast lie Budva's walled old town and the island village of Sveti Stefan, which is best seen from the shore.

Inland, the road over Lovcen reaches Cetinje, the old royal capital, in about an hour. On the way you pass the mausoleum of the poet-prince Njegos on its summit. Dubrovnik is about two hours away by road, though the border can add to that in summer, and the cliff monastery of Ostrog makes a longer day.

Kotor's car-free old town is safe and small enough that children can't get lost. Its lanes are full of the town's famous street cats, which many young visitors enjoy more than the churches. Montenegrin culture is relaxed and warm with children, and families are welcome in restaurants late into the evening.

But there is very little made for children. The main sight is the fortress climb, which is steep, exposed and hot in summer, and the old town packs with day visitors at midday. Families tend to stay along the shore, where calm water and jetties make bay swimming easy, and drive to the sandy beaches near Budva. A boat trip to Perast's island church is the most popular outing with children.

Within the walls, everything is on foot. The old town is car-free and flat, and a few minutes cross it end to end, though the marble paving is slippery when wet. The fortress climb is the only real exertion.

Leaving town is harder. Regional buses run to Budva, Tivat, Herceg Novi and Cetinje from the station just south of the walls, but they do not always run often enough, and in summer the single road around the bay jams with traffic. Water taxis and boat trips link some of the bay villages. To see Lovcen, the Lustica coves or several places in a day, most visitors hire a car or a driver, and Tivat airport is a short drive away.

Shopping in Kotor means small shops in the old town's lanes selling souvenirs, cat-themed trinkets, silver filigree, lace and coral jewellery, alongside a few galleries showing local painters. The most worthwhile buys are edible: a bottle of Vranac, a slab of Njegusi ham, local honey or olive oil from the bay. These are found in delicatessens and at the green market just outside the walls. There is no fashion or design scene to speak of. For malls and brands, people go to the yacht marina at Tivat.

Kotor is cheaper than the better-known resorts up the coast. Konoba meals, local wine, buses and the fortress walk are all moderately priced. Prices are highest inside the walls in July and August, when hotel rooms and the terrace restaurants on the main squares charge resort rates. Staying in a private apartment in Dobrota or Muo, eating away from the busiest squares and visiting in May, June or September make a stay noticeably cheaper.

There is no year-round performing arts scene in Kotor. In summer its squares and churches host a festival programme of classical recitals, choirs and children's theatre, and the cathedral sometimes holds concerts. The town's long-established carnival and Boka Night bring masked parades and decorated boats onto the bay. Outside those occasions, live music is mostly a musician playing on a restaurant terrace.

Kotor has no bathing tradition and no public baths. Wellness here means the spa of a resort hotel along the bay or at the Tivat marina. What the place does offer is a slow pace once you leave the old town. Early mornings on the water are quiet, and so are long lunches in the villages along the shore and the evenings after the day visitors have gone. Midday in summer is the opposite, so anyone looking for rest stays outside the walls and visits the town early or late.