Kotor Opinions please

[BermudaBound2014]

We are couple in 50's. Pretty Active. Looking for Kotor advise. We are there from 7-4 on a Saturday in August. The views from far above the city look breathtaking. Here are my thoughts, please help me choose:

 

1) Just hike to top of church. Get good view of Kotor (not as stunning as the higher points). Then spend time walking in the city. Is there good sites there? Enough to do in the old town to keep us interested? Pluses, we'd get a bit of exercise and minimal cost.

 

2) Take a tour that goes up into the mountains with many different views of Kotor and the surrounding cities. The pluses of this are the scenery and variety.

 

Can anyone shed some light on either of my ideas? Am I missing something?

[Cornishpastyman1]

We are couple in 50's. Pretty Active. Looking for Kotor advise. We are there from 7-4 on a Saturday in August. The views from far above the city look breathtaking. Here are my thoughts, please help me choose:

 

1) Just hike to top of church. Get good view of Kotor (not as stunning as the higher points). Then spend time walking in the city. Is there good sites there? Enough to do in the old town to keep us interested? Pluses, we'd get a bit of exercise and minimal cost.

 

2) Take a tour that goes up into the mountains with many different views of Kotor and the surrounding cities. The pluses of this are the scenery and variety.

 

Can anyone shed some light on either of my ideas? Am I missing something?

 

In case it's any help, this was our day there, which is more option 1. The city is very pleasant to walk around but there's not a lot to see. You'll certainly get your exercise if you walk to the top of the fort (Around 1300 steps, most of them uneven :)) Say an hour to walk up, 30 mins to come down. Take a bottle of water with you, this fool didn't.

 

In the afternoon we just took that boat out around the islands via Perast. That was lovely but I with hindsight wish I'd done a trip that allowed us to get out and have look at Perast. All the best, Tony

 

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[dln929]

We were in Kotor on the 4th of July two years ago. We are also fit and in our fifties. What we did was take our time getting off the ship after the mad throngs had already left. Very relaxing! We climbed the mountain. As said, you MUST have water with you but you'll run through it quickly but not to worry as there are vendors all along the climb who will sell you bottles. I was particularly impressed that these sellers did not try to gouge us price-wise and they could easily have done so. We enjoyed the climb and were very grateful for the exercise. Cruise food and drink exact a steep toll on our figures. ;) The views are great and you'll feel a real sense of accomplishment once you're up there!

 

Back down in town we moseyed around. We were hot and tired after our climb so it was good that there are so many cafes in which to sit and chill with a nice cold beer. We stepped into several churches which we found fascinating. The Greek Orthodox influence in the churches was a surprise to us. I dunno but we thought the churches would be like Italian churches and they weren't the least bit like that at all. It was interesting to us. There are plenty of little shops if you want to simply shop, or like us, duck your head into some refreshing air conditioning! All in all, we found enough to do in the town to keep us occupied after our hike. It was a simple and pleasant (not to mention inexpensive) day in Kotor and we have fond memories of it.

Edited June 15, 2016 by dln929
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[YORKI1]

We have just returned from a cruise that included Kotor and I would go with your No. 1 option.

 

The sail in and out of Kotor is the same beautiful route and you will see Perast and the islets of St George and Our Lady of the Rocks from the ship. Perast is pretty and historical, but as its your first time in this port I would concentrate on Kotor.

 

Don't be tempted to do a water based excursion as most of them sail the same route that your ship will take.

[Solent Richard]

We are couple in 50's. Pretty Active. Looking for Kotor advise. We are there from 7-4 on a Saturday in August. The views from far above the city look breathtaking. Here are my thoughts, please help me choose:

 

1) Just hike to top of church. Get good view of Kotor (not as stunning as the higher points). Then spend time walking in the city. Is there good sites there? Enough to do in the old town to keep us interested? Pluses, we'd get a bit of exercise and minimal cost.

 

2) Take a tour that goes up into the mountains with many different views of Kotor and the surrounding cities. The pluses of this are the scenery and variety.

 

Can anyone shed some light on either of my ideas? Am I missing something?

 

Good morning Bermuda Bound.

 

On a recent call to Kotor we covered two areas. Like your good selves, we too are active and decided to make the most of the visit.

 

There isn't enough in Kotor itself to keep one occupied for a full day: hence our split itinerary which took in, during the morning, Budva...

 

 

and Sveti Stefan...

 

 

...while, on our return to Kotor we climbed the route to the Fortress of St. John...

 

 

You can read a full review of our day with 30 photographs on my cruise blog...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2014/10/23/one-way-to-do-kotor/

[SlowBlueSkies]

BermudaBound,

 

It depends upon your travel style. If you like to absorb a city at a relaxed pace, then make the climb up to the church (roughly half-way) or the fortress. Before or after, you can also walk Kotor's back streets and visit the city's outdoor market (to purchase in-season produce, perhaps homemade cheese and treats). The nearby town of Perast is also worth seeing if you find that you like to experience more than one place in a day.

 

Here's an article & video detailing a climb to the fortress:

https://triciaannemitchell.com/2015/06/28/kotor-montenegro-fortress/

 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

We are couple in 50's. Pretty Active. Looking for Kotor advise. We are there from 7-4 on a Saturday in August. The views from far above the city look breathtaking. Here are my thoughts, please help me choose:

 

1) Just hike to top of church. Get good view of Kotor (not as stunning as the higher points). Then spend time walking in the city. Is there good sites there? Enough to do in the old town to keep us interested? Pluses, we'd get a bit of exercise and minimal cost.

 

2) Take a tour that goes up into the mountains with many different views of Kotor and the surrounding cities. The pluses of this are the scenery and variety.

 

Can anyone shed some light on either of my ideas? Am I missing something?

Edited June 20, 2016 by SlowBlueSkies
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[Cruise-y]

Thanks for these comments. We will be in Kotor on a Sunday. Will the shops and restaurants be closed? Would appreciate any insight. Thank you.

[roothy123]

I love to cram in all I can. If you're not like that, you may want to stop reading now. However, we took a 4 hour tour (Tours by Milo) with another couple to see some of nearby Montenegro. We drove down to Perast and took the boat out to the little island. I loved it. We also stopped briefly in Budva and stopped above a couple places for some nice views. Milo was great, and the tour was more affordable than you'd think. You need to book him early, though - he's very popular with cruisers! His car isn't really big for 4 people, but it's adequate for a 4 hour tour, and you can customize your tour as much as you want. If you share with another 1 or 2 people, the cost will be extremely reasonable. You could also do longer tours if you want. I was looking at the Njelus (spelling) trip as well, but decided that wouldn't leave much time to see Kotor.

 

We came back to the ship, ate a quick lunch, and I went back out to walk up to the church. It was hot, with no shade, and I have to tell you that I did NOT find this an easy walk at all. The person taking money told another 60's couple they could "go all the way up" in about a half an hour. That was close to an outright lie, I think. I barely made it to the church in 30 minutes, and I was considering just turning around even before that. If you want to go to the church, check out the walk before you get off the ship (you will see it on the hillside) and decide. If possible, do it in the early morning when it's cooler. While it's nice, I don't think it's an absolute "must" for anyone, and I was glad I was able to combine a jaunt out around the bay with time in Kotor. While there isn't a whole lot to do in Kotor, I enjoyed just walking around the town taking pictures. (I'm not a shopper, drinker, or museum-goer, so I just like to walk and photograph whatever catches my interest.) My pictures are here: http://www.pbase.com/roothy123/kotor_montenegro__sept_30_2015

There are more in another gallery after that one.

 

On the other hand, I spent a lot of time figuring out how to go back down the back of the mountain from a place near the fort up top. (I learned about it on Cruise Critic). If I went back to Kotor, I might use that info, start out early when it's cooler, and try to climb through the rocks to find the path down the back of the mountain. I love exploring like that.

 

Definitely stay up top for the Kotor sailout - gorgeous! I forget what time we left, but I remember staying out on deck for at least an hour before the sun turned the mountains a wonderful rust red color. Kotor was fabulous.

Edited June 20, 2016 by roothy123

[cosytoes]

There's also plenty of taxis at the port that will take you on a three hour tour of the sights for around €60 per car not per person

[Taylor D]

We will be in Kotor Aug 5th, we are doing the Blue cave Kayak and snorkeling trip 7 hr. Have never been there before but wanted to do something active.

[BermudaBound2014]

Thank you Everyone! I've been on another vacation and came home to all of your very informative posts :).

 

DLN929, when you say you climbed the mountain, do you mean you did the climb to the fortress or to the top of the mountain which looks much higher to me.

 

My plan at this moment (which is likely to change haha) is to exit ship early, climb to the fortress and back down. Then, depending on weather and how we are feeling, we may do the impromptu taxi cab tour for $60.00 for 3 hours mentioned.

 

Thanks again!

[maidncruze]

Hi Bermudabound,

 

If you want to explore outside of Kotor than you will definitely need a guide/taxi. If you choose the guide/taxi route then I would recommend Milo from toursbymilo.com. Milo will gave you that added touch and not much more than the cost of a taxi.

 

We used him as well as numerous friends and family.

 

Frank