Budva is the centre of Montenegrin tourism: a town of about twenty thousand people on a bay roughly halfway down the country's hundred-kilometre coast, with a small walled old town on a promontory and a strip of hotels, apartments and beach clubs running away from it in both directions. The old town, in the photograph at the top of this page, is the reason to come, and the strip is what you should know about before booking.
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The settlement is around 2,500 years old, which makes it one of the oldest on the Adriatic, and the walls you see are mostly fifteenth-century Venetian over older foundations, rebuilt after a severe earthquake in 1979 flattened much of the town. What has grown around it since the 2000s is a Balkan resort economy at full volume: Budva in August is loud, crowded and expensive, and Budva in May is a genuinely lovely small walled town on a clear sea. The difference between those two experiences is almost entirely a matter of when you go.
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What Is Here
The Stari Grad, the old town, is about four hundred metres end to end and is where you should stay. Marble-paved lanes inside complete walls, three churches shoulder to shoulder on one small square, the Citadela fortress at the seaward tip with a view down the coast, and an archaeological museum holding Greek and Roman material found under the streets. It takes twenty minutes to walk and several hours to enjoy, and in the evening when the day visitors have gone it is one of the most atmospheric places on this coast.
The beaches are the other half and they are not equivalent. Slovenska Plaza is the long main town beach, serviced, crowded and backed by the hotel strip. Mogren, reached by a cliff path from the old town, is two small coves of better sand and clearer water, and is the one to walk to. Jaz, west of town, is larger and emptier and hosts major concerts. Becici and Rafailovici, east around the headland, are the longest stretch of sand on the riviera and are where the bigger resorts are.
Sveti Nikola is the island and almost nobody is told how easy it is. A substantial uninhabited island about a kilometre offshore, known locally as Hawaii, with beaches on the landward side and taxi boats running continuously from the town beach in season for a few euros. It is the single best half day in Budva and it is a fraction as busy as the mainland beaches.
The cliff church in the second photograph is the kind of thing this coast does constantly: small stone chapels on rocky outcrops above the water, of which Santa Maria in Punta inside the walls and the chapels along the coast road are the best known. The third photograph is the working coast, the pier and the town under cloud, which is what Budva looks like outside July.
Within a short drive are the two places most visitors pair with Budva: Sveti Stefan, the island resort six kilometres south, and Kotor, the walled town in the bay forty minutes north, both of which we cover separately. Budva makes a reasonable base for both.
When to Go
May, June, September and early October. July and August are a different destination and should be chosen deliberately rather than by accident. In high summer Budva's population multiplies, the beaches are shoulder to shoulder with paid sunbeds, the old town lanes are full from mid-morning, prices roughly double, and the nightlife strip runs until dawn. Some people come precisely for that.
May and June give you twenty two to twenty seven degrees, a sea that is swimmable from about mid-June, open restaurants and a fraction of the crowd. September is the best single month on this coast: the sea is at its warmest after a summer of heating, the air is in the high twenties, and the crowds thin sharply after the first week.
Winter, November to March, is mild at around eight to fourteen degrees and wet, and Budva largely shuts: most beach restaurants and a good share of the hotels close, and the town is quiet in a slightly forlorn way. The old town is still there and still beautiful and you will have it to yourself.
Getting There
Tivat Airport is about twenty kilometres north and is the closest, with Podgorica about sixty five kilometres and Dubrovnik in Croatia about ninety, the last of which involves a border crossing that can be slow in summer.
There is no railway on the Montenegrin coast, which is the practical fact that shapes travel here: the line from Belgrade runs inland to Podgorica and Bar, and Bar is the only coastal station of use. Buses are the local system and they are frequent, cheap and reasonable, running along the coast road between Herceg Novi, Kotor, Budva, Bar and Ulcinj, with the Budva bus station central.
A car gives you the coast road and the mountains behind it, and the coast road in July is a near-stationary queue through the Budva strip. Parking in town is paid, limited and genuinely difficult in season. Taxis are plentiful; the advisory's recommendation is to order rather than hail, which the safety section covers.
Is Budva Safe for Women Travelers
The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in Montenegro. It records that although there is no recent history of terrorism in the country attacks cannot be ruled out, that protests sometimes take place in front of government or religious buildings and are mostly peaceful but can lead to clashes, and that incidents of violent crime between organised criminal groups can affect others close by.
Budva is a safe town for a woman travelling alone, with the ordinary caveats of any Mediterranean resort in high season. The old town is busy and well lit into the small hours, the beaches are public and populated, and violent crime against visitors is rare. The two things that distinguish Budva from a quiet coastal town are the nightlife strip and the water.
On everyday crime the advisory names the places rather than generalising: be wary of pickpockets in tourist hot spots, beaches, airports and on public transport, use a hotel safe, and do not leave luggage in a parked vehicle. Its two concrete recommendations for reducing the risk of bag-snatching and mugging are to avoid isolated areas at night especially if walking alone, and to use licensed taxis ordered in advance or through an app rather than hailed. On card fraud it advises using ATMs inside banks where possible, checking street machines for signs of tampering, and keeping your card in sight when paying.
The nightlife is the specific Budva consideration and it is a volume question rather than a danger one. The strip along Slovenska Plaza and the clubs around the old town walls form one of the largest summer party scenes on the Adriatic, drawing a young crowd from across the region, and the attendant issues are the ones that come with any such place: heavy drinking, drink spiking as a risk anywhere drinks are left unattended, and the walk home. The practical approach is the ordinary one. Watch your own drink and do not accept one you did not see poured, keep your phone charged, and order a taxi rather than walking back along the dark end of the beach road, which is where the lighting stops.
The Montenegrin advisory's water-safety section names a hazard most beach advice omits. Alongside the usual instruction to read the warning signs, follow the lifeguards and observe the flags, it states that speedboats and other watercraft operate frequently along the coast, particularly in summer, and tells swimmers to remain aware of vessels nearby and to use designated swimming areas where they exist. On a coast this busy with tenders, taxi boats and jet-skis, swimming outside a marked area puts you where a boat does not expect a head. It also advises taking local advice on jellyfish and sea urchins, which are both present. For anything rented, the advisory asks for a safety briefing and clear instructions on where you may and may not ride, and the appropriate licence and insurance.
Applied to Budva, the boat traffic is the part to take seriously. The bay carries taxi boats to Sveti Nikola, pleasure craft, jet-skis and parasail boats all day in season, much of it crossing the same water swimmers use, and the swimming areas are marked with buoys for exactly that reason. Swimming out past the buoy line puts your head at water level in a shipping lane. The rocky sections at Mogren and along the coast path have sea urchins, and the cliff path to Mogren itself is narrow with an unguarded drop and is slippery when wet.
If your passport is lost or stolen in Montenegro you cannot leave the country on a police report. That is the FCDO's own statement and it is unusual enough to be worth planning around, because in several countries a police report is exactly what gets you onto a flight home. Here you must renew the passport or obtain an emergency travel document, which means dealing with your embassy in Podgorica and building in the days that takes. Photograph your passport's data page, keep a copy somewhere separate from the document, and treat the passport itself as the one thing you do not risk losing on this trip.
You must carry identification at all times in Montenegro, a passport or a photocard driving licence, and the police can fine you for not having it. Keep a copy of the passport photo page somewhere separate. Note also that photographing police or military installations, personnel or vehicles is illegal and the FCDO warns it could lead to arrest and prosecution, which is worth knowing in a country where the coast road passes naval installations in the Bay of Kotor.
Two more. The coast road is the real traffic hazard, narrow, winding, busy and with pedestrians walking on it in places; crossing the strip road at night between the clubs and the hotels is where visitors get hurt. And the summer sun here is strong and the sea breeze hides it, which produces the classic first-day Adriatic burn.
The Budva Packing List
A Mediterranean beach and walled-town list, where the only non-obvious items are for the rocks and the boats.
Merino base layers, which are not what you expect on a beach list
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is worth packing for two Budva reasons. Evenings on this coast cool off sharply once the sun goes behind the mountains, and an old town dinner in May or October wants a layer. And the bus and the hire car are air-conditioned hard, which with a damp swimsuit under a dress is how people get ill on a beach holiday. Wool moves moisture rather than holding it, which is the whole point at twenty six degrees.
A sun hoodie, which doubles as modest cover for the churches
A Columbia sun hoodie. It keeps the sun off on a boat to Sveti Nikola and on the Mogren path where there is no shade, it means far less sunscreen on skin going back in the sea, and it covers shoulders for the old town churches, which expect it. Add a wide brim sun hat and real sunglasses.
Shoes for marble lanes and a rocky coast path
Salomon X Ultra 4 GTX shoes with Darn Tough merino hiking socks for the walking days. Budva's old town is polished marble that is slippery when wet, the Mogren cliff path is narrow rock, and the Citadela steps are worn. Sandals are fine for the beach strip and wrong for both of those.
A dry bag, because the island boat is an open boat
A waterproof dry bag. The taxi boats to Sveti Nikola take spray, the island has no lockers and nowhere dry to leave anything, and a phone and a passport in a zipped pocket on a beach is not secure. This is the item most people wish they had brought.
The small things, and the first is a genuine local need
Something on your feet in the water, because the Mogren coves and every rocky entry on this coast have sea urchins and sharp stone; we give that advice with no link, because the only water-shoe entry in our product register has an unresolved product identity. A quick dry travel towel, since beach towels are not generally provided and sunbed rental is charged separately from the towel. Cash in euros, because Montenegro uses the euro without being in the eurozone and the smaller places and the boat taxis want notes. A photograph of your passport data page stored separately, for the reason the advisory section explains. And something modest for the churches.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Budva
Emergency numbers: 112 for all emergencies, which works throughout Montenegro and reaches police, ambulance and fire, with 122 for police and 124 for ambulance directly. English is reasonable in Budva's tourist sector and limited outside it. Montenegro has a dedicated tourist inspection and information service and the local tourist organisation office in the old town is the practical first stop for complaints about operators or accommodation.
US State Department travel advisory: the Montenegro advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/montenegro, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Main hospital: Budva has a health centre and the nearest full hospital is in Kotor, about forty minutes north, with the Clinical Centre of Montenegro in Podgorica, an hour and a quarter inland, being the only tertiary facility in the country. Private clinics in Budva and Kotor handle most visitor needs and expect payment at the point of care. For anything serious the realistic destination is outside Montenegro, and insurers generally route to Belgrade, Zagreb or an EU hospital, which is worth confirming with your policy before you travel rather than discovering during an incident. Montenegro is not in the EU, so a UK GHIC or an EHIC does not cover you here and travel insurance is the only cover you have. Sea urchin spines and jellyfish stings are the most common minor presentations and the pharmacies are well used to both.
Official health authority: the Montenegrin Ministry of Health. MONTENEGRO IS NOT IN THE EU, so a UK GHIC or an EHIC gives you NOTHING here and travel insurance is your only cover. The nearest full hospital to Budva is in Kotor about forty minutes away and the only tertiary facility in the country is in Podgorica; for anything serious insurers generally route OUT of Montenegro, so confirm where yours would send you. Sea urchins and jellyfish are the common minor injuries
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Podgorica.
Official tourism authority: the National Tourism Organisation of Montenegro. BUDVA IN JULY AND AUGUST IS A DIFFERENT DESTINATION from Budva in May or September: the population multiplies, prices roughly double, the old town lanes fill from mid-morning and the strip runs until dawn. SEPTEMBER IS THE BEST MONTH, with the warmest sea of the year and the crowds gone after the first week. SVETI NIKOLA ISLAND is a kilometre offshore with taxi boats running continuously for a few euros and is the best half day here
If your passport is lost or stolen you cannot leave Montenegro on a police report. Photograph the data page and keep the copy separate.
Stay inside the marked swimming areas. Taxi boats, jet-skis and parasail boats cross the same water all day in season.
A UK GHIC or EHIC covers nothing here. Montenegro is not in the EU.
Come in May, June or September rather than August. It is the same town at half the volume and half the price.
Solo women safety assessment: Budva is a safe town for a woman travelling alone with the ordinary caveats of a Mediterranean resort in high season. The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in Montenegro; it records that attacks cannot be ruled out although there is no recent history of terrorism, that protests outside government or religious buildings are mostly peaceful, and that violence between organised criminal groups can affect others close by, which is a reason to leave an area where something is clearly happening rather than to watch. On everyday crime it names the places rather than generalising, warning about pickpockets in tourist hot spots, beaches, airports and on public transport, and its two concrete recommendations are to avoid isolated areas at night ESPECIALLY IF WALKING ALONE and to use licensed taxis ordered in advance or through an app rather than hailed. In Budva the relevant setting is the nightlife strip, which is one of the largest summer party scenes on the Adriatic: watch your own drink, do not accept one you did not see poured, and order a taxi rather than walking the dark end of the beach road where the lighting stops. THE WATER IS THE PHYSICAL HAZARD AND THE ADVISORY NAMES THE PART PEOPLE FORGET, which is that speedboats and other watercraft operate frequently along this coast in summer; the bay carries taxi boats to Sveti Nikola, jet-skis and parasail boats across the same water swimmers use, the buoyed areas exist for that reason, and swimming past the line puts your head at water level in a shipping lane. Sea urchins are on every rocky entry, and the Mogren cliff path is narrow with an unguarded drop and is slippery wet. TWO ADMINISTRATIVE THINGS MATTER MORE HERE THAN IN MOST PLACES: you must carry ID at all times and the police can fine you without it, and if your passport is lost or stolen you CANNOT leave the country on a police report but must obtain an emergency travel document, so photograph the data page and keep the copy separate. Montenegro is not in the EU, so a UK GHIC or EHIC covers nothing and travel insurance is your only cover.
Reading On
Budva is the centre of the Montenegrin coast and everything on the riviera is within an hour. The Kotor packing list covers the walled town forty minutes north in the bay, which is the coast's other great set of walls and the better of the two old towns. The Sveti Stefan packing list covers the island resort six kilometres south. The Ulcinj packing list covers the town at the far southern end with the longest beach in the country, and the Tivat packing list covers the marina town by the airport. For the country as a whole the Montenegro travel guide for women and the Montenegro packing list carry the driving, the borders and the practical material in full. For why a wool layer is the right answer to an air-conditioned bus and a damp swimsuit, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
