Best Things to Do in Kotor, Montenegro

Trying to find the best things to do in Kotor, Montenegro can be difficult… because there are simply so many great things to do in this small bay town! When we visited, we spent two full weeks living about a ten minute walk from Old Town. We really enjoyed our time in Kotor. The mountains surrounding the crystal-clear waters reminded us of Norway. Except of course the temperatures were more than adequate to inspire a refreshing dip in the water.

If you’re visiting Kotor as part of a driving trip through Montenegro, you could easily spend 2-3 very full days seeing most everything we’ve listed below. You’d probably still have more to do and it’d be pretty hectic. So if you’ve got the time, we think a nice solid 3 full days is more comfortable.

Of course, if you’re hear just for the highlights (exploring Old Town and doing a motorboat tour through the bay), you can feasibly fit that in one full day provided you do your motorboat tour first thing in the morning (9am) so you can spend the whole afternoon in Old Town.

And finally, if you’re coming in on a cruise ship, your time might be far more constricted. We’ll include our recommendations below depending on if you’re interested in relaxing, nature, hiking, or water! Our first three recommendations are probably the most popular–all for good reason.

Hike up to St. John Fortress 

For anyone who likes good views and hiking, one of the best things you can do in Kotor is hike up to St. John Fortress.

There are two paths you can take to hike up to the fortress. One entrance is at the back of Old Town and the other starts at the base of the mountains northeast of Old Town. The other path starting directly from Old Town is not as long, but steeper and you are charged admission. The Ladder of Kotor is a series of switchbacks, which takes longer, but isn’t as steep. Both paths take you to the fortress, but you can also follow the Ladder of Kotor further up the mountain for an even higher view of the fortress, Old Town, and the bay.

Picking a trail

We opted for the Ladder of Kotor trail outside of Old Town. We wanted to hike further up the mountain and save on the admission fee. You can find maps for the Ladder of Kotor online. However, we noticed the hike seemed longer than what our map said. 

There’s a little cheese shop with a good view partway up the Ladder close to the fortress where you can grab a drink and use the restroom. It may not look like much, but the bathroom is actually kept up pretty well. And they have some friendly cats you can pet.  

On the way down, we actually climbed up onto the wall on a very rickety wooden ladder. But we were definitely not the only ones doing this. From there, you can go up or down the fortress walls. We’d had enough climbing, so we just went down.

And to our pleasure, there was a guy selling drinks on the fortress walls at a nice overlook. Best 3-euro beer we ever bought. Sipping an ice-cold beer after a couple hours of hiking and looking out over the bay on those old walls was magnificent.

Hiking down the fortress walls

Be careful on some of the fortress steps when you’re going up or down. The stone steps have been smoothed down from people repeatedly walking over them and some are pretty slick. We even saw a couple people fall. That’s probably another good reason to take the mountainside hiking path up–you can avoid more of the slipper stone steps. I recommend walking further from the railing since fewer people do that and the stone there hasn’t been smoothed down quite as much.  

If you go during summer months, it’s best to go early in the morning or early evening, when it’s cooler, because there aren’t many opportunities for shade. 

Explore Old Town

If you’re visiting Kotor, one thing you definitely want to do is explore Old Town. Kotor reminded me quite a bit of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Probably not a surprise since it’s right next door. The windy pedestrian streets surrounded by old medieval walls also felt similar to our time in Naxos, Greece, which we adored.

The main entrance for Old Town is the Sea Gate, built right into the city walls in the 1500s and opens up into Arms Square, the main square of Old Town. 

Tons of Churches and Cats

For its relatively small size, Old Town has a surprising number of churches: Santa Clara, St. Nicholas Church, St. Luke Church, Church of St. Mary Collegiate, St. Michael Church, Roman Catholic Diocese of Kotor, St. Joseph Church, Church of St. Anne, Montenegrin Orthodox Church of St. Peter of Cetinje, and Cathedral of St. Tryphon. That’s a whole ton of places to visit for some nice picture opportunities.

Kotor is also a big on feral cats. There are literally cats everywhere. Most are friendly and love to be pet! We really enjoyed making friends with as man as we could. Some even let us scratch their belly. But it probably wouldn’t be the best for those who are allergic or non-cat-lovers.

…and Crowds too

It can get pretty crowded during the day, especially when there are cruise ships, which seemed to be most days. But we did find that tourists from the cruise ships seemed to stick more to the front of the old town. So it got less crowded as we wound our way back. 

Night time is a totally different feel. It gave off a more romantic vibe and all the daytrippers and cruisers had left. With fewer crowds, you can navigate the streets under the warm glow of hanging lights and lamps. Live music plays at bars and restaurants, and DJs entertain at clubs spilling into the streets with flashing LED lights.

Take a Speedboat Tour 

Taking a speedboat tour through the bay is absolutely one of the best things you can do in Kotor. I highly recommend it. First of all, a speedboat tour provides a wonderful and beautiful introduction to the bay, small towns, and sights in the area. You’ll get wonderful panoramic views of the mountains that make Kotor so beautiful. Plus, any standard tour, even the shortest ones, take you to Our Lady of the Rocks. That’s a must-visit. We recommend at least taking one of the short boat tours to this gorgeous, unique island.

However, if you’ve got the time, we highly recommend doing at least a three-hour tour. We ended up finding a company that could give us a four hour tour. Check out the linked article for more info. This tour truly gave us time to see all the sights on the bay, have some swim time, plus visit some extra stuff the typical three hour tours don’t take you to.

In any case, the normal tours also take you to the Blue Cave, the Submarine Tunnels, and Mamula Island. You can book your speedboat tour in advance–or just walk along the bay from Old Town heading north past Kotor Beach. You’ll find plenty of companies offering very similar tours.

Take a Snorkeling Tour (Or Another Custom Boat Tour) 

Since we had more time in Kotor, we wanted to get back out on the water. Of course, we didn’t want to do the same tour we’d already done. Instead, we contacted Captain Ivan of Kotor Boat Tours. We told him what we were interested in spending more time swimming and exploring the waters.

He recommended his snorkeling and cliff-diving experience. We had a blast!

We snorkeled near St. George Island, swimming amongst hundreds of sardines and exploring the local sea life. Our next stop was a sunken Yugoslavian Navy submarine. After that, we explored a mussel farm. Even cooler than we expected! It’s worth the visit. The mussel farm was kind of cool and different than I imagined.

We also mustered our courage for a 7-meter cliff jump afterward. 7 meters may not seem that high from the ground, but definitely feels a little scary once you’re up there. And we capped off our snorkeling exploring the territory of some giant mussels called noble pen shells

Don’t be afraid to contact tour companies and ask if you can do something different than the normal tourist sites! Many offer private tours or alternatives to see even more of the bay–and experience it in a way most people won’t!

Visit the Cat Museum

The Cat Museum is located in the heart of Old Town and is a perfect stop for anyone who loves these little fur balls. It’s a small museum that doesn’t take long, just 3 little rooms with vintage prints, postcards, cartoons, magazine, and newspaper articles featuring cats. You can also pet some furry friends. When we were there they had two kittens and one full grown cat wandering around. It only costs 1€ to enter and proceeds go toward caring for the kitties around Kotor. A worthwhile cause and interesting if you’re cat-lover.

Have a Beach Day

Kotor Beach isn’t the nicest beach we’ve been to, but it’s still nice to relax there with a good book, swim, or work on your tan. If you’re going to be in Kotor for several days, it’s certainly a nice thing to do between active adventures. The water is especially cool near the beach because it runs off from the mountains, so it’s perfect on a hot day.

You can rent 2 lounge chairs and an umbrella for the day for 15€  There’s a little convenience store next to the beach where you can get drinks and snacks for a good price, but we don’t recommend their prepared food. I bought a salad there that was all wilted and mushy and exchanged it for a sandwich that wasn’t much better.  So perhaps pack your own snacks or visit one of the fast-food places nearby for a gyro or burger (both better in our experience).

Finally, the beach is rocky, rather than sandy. So you may want sandals or water shoes.   

Hike the Mountains Outside of Old Town

If you’re a big hiker, the fortress walls may not satiate your thirst to explore the peaks surrounding the bay. No problem. Hiking the mountains around Kotor Bay is just another thing you can do if you’re in an adventurous mood.

There are plenty of hikes within the area you can try. We ended up spending most of the day hiking up the mountain right behind Old Town. If you take the Ladders of Kotor route, you can go far past the actual ladder into the forest and head toward the “Top of the Old Kotor Fort Trail.” You can spend several hours hiking this bad-boy trail all the way to the P1 road. It offers some spectacular views of the bay–and once you get on the top–the mountains to the east as well.

Since that was our favorite trail and we didn’t do any other major hikes, I’ll refer you to this article by another couple of travel bloggers. Needless to say, you can find hikes in a variety of durations and difficulty levels with amazing views.

Visit the Aquarium

Are you visiting Kotor for a few days and today it just so happens to be raining? Well, if you’re looking for something to do in Kotor but want to stay dry, consider visiting the aquarium. It only just opened in 2021. While it’s not one of the largest aquariums, it’s a nice introduction to local marine life and good way to wile away a couple of hours.

I might not add this to the top of my list of things to do. But it’s a good one if you’ve got children tagging along or you’re tired of walking around in the rain or hot sun. It is a great place to learn more about the local and regional marine species. Plus, besides the public aquarium, the facility also houses a sea turtle resuce. So you’re supporting a good cause by visiting. It’s about a 10-15 minute walk along the bay from Old Town.

Check out the Maritime Museum

If boats are your thing, then Kotor’s Maritime Museum is definitely a must-do. If you walk by a building with some anchors and cannons out front in Old Town, you’ll know you’re in the right place. This is another nice hour or two stop. You can learn about naval history in the region, visit a couple of old preserved rooms and furniture from prominent maritime families, and check out an exhibition of old weapons. This is a stop I’d recommend for history lovers primarily or anyone interested in maritime culture.

Final Tips

• You can see Kotor in a day. But to experience it fully, we recommend at least a couple of full days. Plus, that way you can spend at least one evening in Old Town when the mood shifts dramatically from the day.
• Seeing Our Lady of the Rocks and the surrounding bay is a real highlight. We highly recommend taking at least one boat tour just to see the bay at a different angle
• Maybe we were hitting the wrong places up, but we never really clicked with the food in Kotor like we have in other places. However, we really, really liked a couple of the restaurants outside of Old Town. One visit to Cafe del Mare is a must for any seafood lover.
• If possible, try to avoid the times or days when the huge cruise ships are on the bay by checking out this schedule. You can better avoid the crowds at the busies attractions, namely the fortress walls, the entrance to Old Town, and even the speedboat tours.