Discover Budva: Old Town, coast and hiking trails

Budva offers a range of themes for a stay: the Old Town surrounded by medieval walls, striking beaches and hiking trails in the hinterland. This makes it easy to include culture, coastal scenery and nature as distinct focuses in your travel plans.

Old Town and cultural sites

Budva’s Old Town is surrounded by medieval walls with a fortress, towers and gates. The Museum of the City of Budva in the Old Town features archaeological and ethnographic exhibitions. The citadel offers views across the city and also houses a small museum, a library and a fish relief that is a symbol of Budva.

In summer, the “City Theater” festival turns squares and courtyards in the Old Town into stages. It was founded in 1987. Other cultural sites include the active church dedicated to Saint Petka in the Podmaine monastery complex and the Spomen Dom Reževići. The latter is housed in a former school building dating from 1856 and includes a gallery, a library and an ethnographic room. Its programme includes presentations, exhibitions, discussions and poetry and music evenings.

Petrovac and Sveti Stefan also have their own historical associations. The Roman mosaics of Petrovac are floor decorations from a Roman building that probably dates from the 3rd or 4th century AD. The Spomen Dom Crvena komuna in Petrovac includes an art gallery, a library and a revolution museum. Sveti Stefan was established more than five centuries ago, when stone houses were adapted on an island. The Praskvica Monastery, with its library, archive and treasury, is located near Sveti Stefan.

Beaches and nature

The beaches vary in shape, size and access. Bečići Beach received the Grand Prix in Paris in 1935 and the Golden Palm in 1965. Mogren consists of two beaches connected by a tunnel. A 350-metre concrete path leads there from Hotel Avala; in strong southerly winds and rough seas, this path can be unsafe. Buljarica is 2,250 metres long. Crvena Glavica comprises seven smaller beaches, some of which can only be reached by boat or by swimming.

Drobni Pijesak lies in a secluded bay and is easiest to reach from the sea. It is a destination for tourists and locals alike. In Miločer Park, exotic trees and flowers define a garden in the Sveti Stefan–Miločer tourist area. Another natural attraction is the old olive tree of Ivanovići: it is about 2,000 years old and was registered and protected as a natural monument in 1994. The Buljaričko polje wetland is also a nature destination; it is a nature reserve for many rare plant and bird species.

Hiking trails and excursions

There are almost 150 kilometres of hiking trails within the municipality of Budva. They run through the hinterland and connect coastal villages. One named historic trail is the Jegorov Put from Miločer to Čelobrdo. A roughly two-kilometre path leads to the old olive tree of Ivanovići from the Budva–Bar highway, passing through the settlement and village of Ivanovići; from there, a 30-metre stone path leads to the tree.

BudvaTrails is a GPS application for hiking trails that can be used free of charge online and offline. Check the app’s current availability before setting out. There are diving clubs in Budva, Pržno, Sveti Stefan and Petrovac.

A local flavour

Dan Širuna features a traditional tasting of freshly prepared širun, a bluefish served with local wine or beer. Along with its historic sites, varied beach access and trails through the hinterland, this tradition reveals another side of Budva. When planning your stay, you can therefore choose to focus on culture, hiking or local food culture as well as days by the coast.

Discover more destinations

Kaluđerac, Kuljače, Petrovac Na Moru, Buljarica, Becici, Sveti Stefan, Prijevor, Drobnići, Markovići, Lapčići, Boreti, Budva, Pržno, Rijeka Reževići, Katun Reževići, Miločer

For the parent travel overview: Montenegro.