Where to stay in Montenegro: the best towns, bays and beach resorts

Budva is where Montenegro comes to the seaside. Its old town is a miniature Dubrovnik, a knot of marble lanes and little churches on a walled headland, with the marina on one side and the first of many beaches on the other. From there the Slovenska promenade runs along the bay, lined with restaurants, bars and loungers.

In July and August it is loud, hot and packed, with beach clubs thumping late into the night; if that sounds like fun, you will love it. The best hotels sit along the promenade, within a few minutes' walk of the old town, or on private beaches just beyond it, where five-star resorts hide in gardens of pine and cypress. Come in June or September for the same sea and half the crowd.

Just around the headland from Budva, about 3 km from the old town, Bečići has one of the best beaches on the coast: a long, wide arc of fine sand backed by a seafront walkway. The resort is modern and built for holidays, with mid-sized hotels a few minutes' stroll from the water, many with pools and mountain-view balconies.

It is the sensible choice for families and for anyone who wants Budva's restaurants and nightlife close at hand without sleeping on top of them. A seafront path links the two, so you can walk into Budva for dinner.

Kotor is the showstopper. The town lies at the innermost point of the bay, wedged between the water and a wall of mountain, its old quarter a UNESCO-listed tangle of squares, palaces and cats. Fortifications zigzag up the cliff behind, and the climb to the fortress, though sweaty, earns you one of the great views of the Adriatic.

Cruise ships fill the lanes by day, so stay overnight to see it at its best. Many of the finest hotels are strung along the bay shore outside the walls, small five-stars with private beaches and spas. A few miles round the water, the baroque village of Perast is quieter still, with a grand heritage hotel on the waterfront looking out to two tiny church islands.

Tivat used to be the plain sister of the bay towns, a navy port with a shipyard. Then the dockyard was rebuilt as Porto Montenegro, a marina big enough for the world's largest yachts, and the town acquired waterfront five-stars, designer shops and restaurants where a table by the water is the whole point.

It is the place for a polished, low-effort stay, and the airport is on the edge of town, so transfers are a matter of minutes. The beaches in Tivat itself are small; for sand, head to the Luštica peninsula across the bay, where a newer resort village has its own marina, beach and five-star hotel about 16 km away.

Herceg Novi guards the entrance to the Bay of Kotor, a hillside town of steep stairways, fortress towers and gardens of palm and mimosa. It is less visited than Kotor and feels more lived-in, with a long seafront promenade for evening walks and views across the mouth of the bay.

Around it, the bay's entrance has become one of the most luxurious corners of the Adriatic. A resort village with its own marina sits a little along the shore, and a nineteenth-century island fort has been restored as a hotel surrounded entirely by sea. There are more down-to-earth options too, including a four-star with direct beach access. Dubrovnik is about 26 km away, so flying into Croatia is often easiest.

Halfway between Budva and Bar, Petrovac is the coast with the volume turned down. A 600-metre beach of coarse reddish sand curves around a sheltered bay, a little Venetian fortress stands at one end, and the promenade behind is lined with open-air cafés instead of nightclubs. Olive groves and pine woods close in around it.

Families with young children and couples who want to read a book in peace do well here. Most places to stay are four-star hotels and modern apartments a short walk from the sand, some with spas and pools. A second, smaller beach, Lučice, is ten minutes away on foot, and the long, undeveloped shore of Buljarica lies just beyond.

Ulcinj is the end of the line, the last town before Albania, and it feels different from the rest of the coast. Minarets rise among the rooftops, the cafés serve thick coffee, and the old town, on its rock above the harbour beach, is some two and a half thousand years old.

The real draw lies just south of town: Velika Plaža, the Long Beach, a ribbon of fine, dark sand that runs for miles towards the border. The water is shallow and warm, perfect for children, and steady winds make it a favourite with kitesurfers. Stay in the old town for atmosphere and sea views, or on Long Beach itself, where an all-inclusive resort sits right on the sand.

Bar is Montenegro's main port, a modern, practical town with a palm-lined seafront, and a marina. It is not the prettiest stop on the coast, but it is real, good value and has one remarkable sight: Stari Bar, the ruined old city on a hill inland, crumbling quietly among olive trees that are older than most countries.

A few miles up the coast, Sutomore is a simple, cheerful beach resort with a long strand of sand and hotels a few steps from the water. For something more secluded, a seafront resort of villas and pools sits on a wooded cape about 12 km from the centre of Bar.

Podgorica is one of Europe's least showy capitals, a small, leafy, mostly modern city on a plain between the mountains and Lake Skadar. You would not cross the continent for it, but it has the country's main airport, about 15 minutes from the centre, good restaurants and well-priced business hotels with pools and spas. It makes sense for a night at either end of a trip, or as a base for the lake and the mountain monasteries.