Ulcinj is the southernmost town in Montenegro, about twenty kilometres from the Albanian border, and it is the one that feels least like the rest of the country. The population is predominantly ethnic Albanian and Albanian is widely the first language, the town has the largest Muslim community in Montenegro with minarets rather than campaniles on the skyline, and the whole place is oriented towards a beach that is nothing like the coves further north.
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The two halves of Ulcinj are quite separate. There is the old fortified town on a rock above the sea, in the photograph at the top of this page, which was a notorious pirate base in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and still has its walls, citadel and a museum inside them. And there is Velika Plaza, the Long Beach, which runs for about twelve kilometres of flat sand south east of the town, in the third photograph, and is the longest beach on the eastern Adriatic by a wide margin.
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What Is Here
The Stari Grad is the old town and it is a working fortress rather than a restored showpiece. Built on a promontory with Illyrian foundations, Venetian and Ottoman walls, a citadel, and a maze of lanes inside, parts of it are ruined, parts are lived in, and parts hold small hotels and restaurants with the sea below them. The museum in the citadel covers the pirate period, when Ulcinj was a base for corsairs operating across the Adriatic and held a slave market; Cervantes was reputedly held here, which the town mentions often. The second photograph is the clifftop settlement.
Velika Plaza is the destination for most visitors and its character is specific. Twelve kilometres of fine dark sand, very shallow water that stays knee-deep a long way out, and consistent afternoon wind. That combination has made it one of the significant kiteboarding and windsurfing beaches in Europe, with a cluster of schools and camps along it, and it also makes it unusually good for anyone nervous of deep water. The sand is mineral-rich and the beach has a long-standing reputation as therapeutic, which is why you will see people sitting in it.
Ada Bojana is the strangest and best thing here. A triangular island at the mouth of the Bojana river where it forms the Albanian border, created by a shipwreck that diverted the channel, with the river on two sides and the sea on the third. It is largely given over to fish restaurants built on stilts over the water, a long naturist beach, and some of the best kitesurfing conditions on the coast. It is about fifteen kilometres from town and feels a very long way from Montenegro.
The other beaches are the counterpoint. Mala Plaza is the small town beach directly below the old town, crowded and convenient. Valdanos is a cove in an olive grove of some eighty thousand trees, several kilometres north, with a pebble beach and an abandoned military resort, and is the quiet alternative. Ladies' Beach, Zenska Plaza, is a tiny cove traditionally reserved for women and still run that way, with sulphurous springs and a reputation for fertility that brings people from across the region; it is a genuinely unusual thing to find on a European coast and is worth a visit on its own terms.
Inland, the Ulcinj Salina is a former salt pan that is one of the most important bird sites on the Adriatic flyway, with flamingos, pelicans and a quarter of a million migrating birds a year.
When to Go
June and September, with May and October good for everything except swimming. Ulcinj is the warmest part of Montenegro and the season runs slightly longer here than further north, with twenty five to thirty degrees through July and August and a sea that is warm from June to October.
July and August bring the crowds, and the character of the crowd is worth knowing: Velika Plaza fills with visitors from Kosovo, Albania and Serbia rather than from western Europe, the music on the beach bars is loud, and the whole place runs late. It is cheerful and it is not quiet.
For kitesurfing the wind is the season and it is the afternoon thermal. The reliable period is roughly May to September with the best conditions in the afternoons, and the schools run through that window. If you are coming to learn, the shallow water at Velika Plaza is the reason this is a good place to do it.
Winter is mild at twelve to sixteen degrees, wet, and the beach economy closes completely. The old town stays, the Salina birdlife is at its best in winter and spring, and the town is very quiet.
Getting There
Podgorica Airport is about seventy kilometres and an hour and a quarter away and is the sensible arrival point; Tivat is about ninety kilometres and Tirana in Albania is about three hours.
Ulcinj has no railway station but Bar does, twenty five kilometres north, and the line from Belgrade through Podgorica terminates there, which makes the train a real option for reaching this end of the coast. Buses run frequently from Bar, Budva, Kotor and Podgorica, and the Ulcinj bus station is central.
Locally the old town is walkable from the centre and Velika Plaza is not: the beach starts about three kilometres from town and runs twelve kilometres from there, so a car, a bike or the seasonal shuttle buses are necessary to reach anywhere along it. Ada Bojana needs a car or a taxi. The road along the back of the beach is unsurfaced in places.
The Albanian border is twenty minutes away at Sukobin and crossing to Shkoder is straightforward, which makes Ulcinj the natural stop for anyone combining the two countries; check your hire car paperwork permits it.
Is Ulcinj 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.
Ulcinj is safe and is socially a little different from the rest of the Montenegrin coast in ways worth understanding rather than worrying about. It is a conservative, predominantly Muslim, predominantly Albanian-speaking town, and that means the old town and the residential areas are quieter and more modest in dress and behaviour than Budva, while Velika Plaza in August is a beach resort like any other. A woman travelling alone here is safe and will be more conspicuous in the town than on the beach.
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 dress point is practical rather than a rule. There is no requirement to cover anything anywhere in Ulcinj, and swimwear on the beach is entirely normal. In the old town, at the mosques and walking through residential streets, the same clothing you would wear in a European town rather than beachwear is both more comfortable and better received, and shoulders and knees covered is the courtesy at any mosque you enter. This is the ordinary calibration of a mixed town rather than a restriction.
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 Ulcinj the water is unusually benign and there are two real exceptions. Velika Plaza is shallow, sandy and gently shelving, which makes it one of the safest swimming beaches on this coast and the reason the kite schools are here. The exceptions are the wind, which produces an offshore drift in the afternoons that will take an inflatable or a weak swimmer a long way out quickly, and Ada Bojana's river mouth, where the Bojana meets the sea with a current and a shifting bottom that is genuinely dangerous and is not an obvious hazard from the beach. Swim on the sea side, not in the river mouth. Jellyfish appear in late summer. The rocky entries at Mala Plaza and Valdanos have urchins.
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 road along the back of Velika Plaza is unsurfaced in places, unlit and used by scooters, and walking back along it at night from a beach bar is the most likely way to get hurt here. And the Salina and the Bojana wetlands produce mosquitoes in quantity from June, which is more of an issue in Ulcinj than anywhere else in this batch.
The Ulcinj Packing List
A hot, sandy, windy, mosquito-rich beach list with a conservative town attached, which is a slightly unusual combination to pack for.
Merino base layers, for the evening wind and the mosques
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is useful here in two ways that are not obvious. The afternoon wind that makes the kitesurfing also makes an evening on the beach cool at any time of year, and a long-sleeved layer is what covers your shoulders for the old town mosques without carrying a separate scarf. Wool at thirty degrees works because it moves moisture rather than holding it.
Sun protection, which is the first priority on a twelve kilometre beach
A Columbia sun hoodie and a wide brim sun hat. Velika Plaza has essentially no natural shade along its whole length, the sand is dark and holds heat, and the wind removes any sensation of burning. A long-sleeved layer on a kite session or a long beach walk is better protection than sunscreen you cannot reapply.
Insect repellent, and this is the one place in the batch it is essential
DEET insect repellent. The Salina salt pans and the Bojana wetlands breed mosquitoes in genuine quantity from June onwards, and evenings at Ada Bojana's river restaurants and anywhere inland of the beach are when it matters. This is not a disease warning, it is a comfort one, and it is the item visitors to Ulcinj most often wish they had.
Shoes for the fortress and the sand
Salomon X Ultra 4 GTX shoes with Darn Tough merino hiking socks. The old town is steep worn stone and partly ruined with uneven footing, and the Valdanos olive grove and the Salina paths are rough ground. For the beach you want sandals you can lose.
A dry bag, because sand and wind get into everything
A waterproof dry bag. Velika Plaza's fine dark sand is wind-driven all afternoon and gets into every seam and port, which is as much a problem for a phone and a camera here as water is elsewhere. This is the item that solves the specifically Ulcinj problem.
The small things
A scarf or light cover for the mosques, if you are not relying on the base layer. Cash in euros, because this end of the coast is notably more cash-based than Budva and the Ada Bojana restaurants and beach bars often take nothing else. A photograph of your passport data page kept separately. Something on your feet for the rocky entries at Mala Plaza and Valdanos, given without a link because the only water-shoe entry in our product register has an unresolved product identity. And if you are crossing to Albania, the hire car's green card and your passport.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Ulcinj
Emergency numbers: 112 for all emergencies throughout Montenegro, with 122 for police and 124 for ambulance. English is less widely spoken here than further north, while Albanian and Serbian are both in general use. On Velika Plaza the kite schools and beach concessions are the practical first point of help, being staffed, equipped and present along a beach with no lifeguard towers over most of its length.
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: Ulcinj has a health centre and the nearest general hospital is in Bar, about twenty five kilometres and half an hour north, with the Clinical Centre of Montenegro in Podgorica, an hour and a quarter inland, the only tertiary facility in the country. This is the most remote part of the Montenegrin coast from serious medical care, which matters for a destination whose main activity is a wind sport: a kiteboarding injury here means Bar at best and Podgorica realistically. Confirm that your insurance covers kitesurfing and windsurfing specifically, because both are commonly excluded from standard policies as hazardous activities, and that is the clause that matters on this beach. Montenegro is not in the EU, so a UK GHIC or an EHIC gives you nothing and travel insurance is your only cover.
Official health authority: the Montenegrin Ministry of Health. MONTENEGRO IS NOT IN THE EU so a GHIC or EHIC covers nothing and travel insurance is your only cover. This is the most remote part of the coast from serious care: the nearest general hospital is in BAR half an hour north and the only tertiary facility is in Podgorica. CONFIRM YOUR POLICY COVERS KITESURFING AND WINDSURFING, which standard policies commonly exclude, because that is the main activity here. MOSQUITOES from the Salina and the Bojana wetlands are heavy from June
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Podgorica.
Official tourism authority: the National Tourism Organisation of Montenegro. VELIKA PLAZA IS TWELVE KILOMETRES LONG, STARTS THREE KILOMETRES FROM TOWN and has almost no natural shade, so reaching a given stretch needs a car, a bike or the seasonal shuttle. Its shallow water and reliable afternoon wind are why the kiteboarding schools are here. ADA BOJANA, at the Albanian border, is the most distinctive thing in the municipality. The ALBANIAN BORDER at Sukobin is twenty minutes away, so check your hire car paperwork permits the crossing
Do not swim in the Bojana river mouth at Ada Bojana. It has a current and a shifting bottom and does not look dangerous from the beach.
Confirm your insurance covers kitesurfing. Standard policies commonly exclude it, and it is the main reason people come.
Bring repellent. The Salina and the Bojana wetlands produce mosquitoes in quantity from June.
Dress as you would in a European town rather than in beachwear for the old town. Nothing is required; it is simply better received.
Solo women safety assessment: Ulcinj is safe for a woman travelling alone and is socially a little different from the rest of the Montenegrin coast in ways worth understanding rather than worrying about: it is a conservative, predominantly Muslim and predominantly Albanian-speaking town, so the old town and residential streets are quieter and more modest in dress and manner than Budva while Velika Plaza in August is a beach resort like any other. You will be more conspicuous in the town than on the beach. Nothing is required of what you wear anywhere, and ordinary town clothes rather than beachwear in the old town, with shoulders and knees covered in any mosque, is a courtesy rather than a rule. The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in Montenegro; it notes attacks cannot be ruled out, that protests outside government or religious buildings are mostly peaceful, and that violence between organised criminal groups can affect others close by. Its crime advice names pickpockets in tourist hot spots, beaches, airports and public transport, and recommends avoiding isolated areas at night ESPECIALLY IF WALKING ALONE and ordering licensed taxis rather than hailing them. THE WATER HERE IS UNUSUALLY BENIGN WITH TWO REAL EXCEPTIONS. Velika Plaza is shallow, sandy and gently shelving, which is why the kite schools are here and why it suits nervous swimmers; but the afternoon wind creates an offshore drift that will take an inflatable or a weak swimmer out quickly, and the BOJANA RIVER MOUTH at Ada Bojana has a current and a shifting bottom that is genuinely dangerous and looks like nothing from the shore, so swim on the sea side. The advisory's warning about speedboats applies, as do urchins at the rocky entries and jellyfish in late summer. The unsurfaced, unlit road behind the beach, used by scooters, is the likeliest way to get hurt walking back from a beach bar at night. Medically this is the most remote stretch of coast, with Bar half an hour away and Podgorica an hour and a quarter, and standard insurance commonly excludes the kitesurfing that brought you.
Reading On
Ulcinj is the far southern end of the Montenegrin coast and the crossing point to Albania. The Budva packing list covers the main resort town an hour and a half north, which is where most coast itineraries centre. The Sveti Stefan packing list covers the island resort on the way there. The Kotor packing list covers the walled town at the far end of the coast, and the Tivat packing list covers the marina town by the northern 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 long-sleeved wool layer beats sunscreen on a shadeless beach, 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.
