Window on Niksic

After climbing Stozac for the first time, a whole vista opened up before us of mountains I had never seen before and which immediately drew me towards them. The whole area is frustratingly far away from roads that I would dare take my own battered Golf II, so the first foray involved parking the car near Lake Kapetanovo and walking along the trail at the opposite end of the lake from where the road approaches the lake. The area is full of valleys which involved a lot of climbing up steep banks, and then finding that one had to then climb down in order to climb up further. One interestingly shaped peak caught our attention, Zagradac, whose top looked like a UFO had crashed into it, but which presented a problem in finding a way right to the top. However, trusting that all would become clear once we reached there, we persisted until we got to a seemingly impenetrable cliff girding the peak. However, we found a path under a rock overhang where we were able to find a very stee...

Having seen this saddle-shaped mountain from the first time I climbed Prutas, it had been my desire to climb it, although I was worried about being able to find a path. There is a path, but somehow it is a bit challenging to follow because of many goat paths, but it isn’t dangerous as long as you are sensible. From the parking area at the high point of the road going along the southern edge of Durmitor, the path leads directly up the mountain, and then takes a left, following the same rough level going all the way around the nearest of these two peaks. Once around, the path leads downwards into the centre of the saddle and then there is a grassy climb up to the ridge on the second peak, right of the sheer rocky cliffs. Following the ridge upwards, there are a few tricky parts where care is needed, and then the path passes to the southern side until the path turns upwards for the last climb. Excellent views of Mt. Sljeme opposite. Return by the same route.

 For anyone thinking of visiting Montenegro with children, I thought I would share some of the things I found for my nieces, with information correct at the date of publishing and with some idea of how successful the activities were. Beaches – apart from Plavi Horizonti (near Radovici) which has a sandy beach (€3 for parking), most of the beaches that were not completely packed were rather disappointing. These were mainly on the Bay of Kotor , and scored low because they were dirty, slimy rocks or just had a concrete area for sunbathing. We were too far from Ulcinj, and were trying to avoid the crowds of Budva. Swimming – the Aqua Park in Becici at the Hotel Mediteran (can’t remember the price www.hotelmediteran.info/eng/index-2novi.html ) was a great hit, with plenty of water slides and a nice swimming pool. I think we could have done this several times without it becoming boring. Also my youngest niece loved swimming in Lake Skadar half-way through a lake cruise,...

At this time of year many of the northern peaks are either inaccessible or dangerous, and the temperature on the coast is not too high, so the coastal mountains are an attractive option. Vrmac is a relatively low-lying peak encompassing a long area – I suppose you could call it a peninsula, from Kotor out to Lepetani, it must be 10 km long. There seem to be plenty of paths – we decided to park the car in Kamenari and take the ferry across (it was free for pedestrians, I don’t know whether it will stay that way), and walk to Donja Lastva, where there is a signpost and asphalted road leading up into the woods. After the end of the asphalt road, there trails are good-quality and clearly marked. After a winding climb up we reached the top of the ridge and the trail led us along the top of the Vrmac massif in the direction of Kotor. We took a path down towards the southern side of the hill (having climbed up the north side), which led through an old abandoned village, with the ...