Tivat – A Beautiful Montenegrin Welcome
Our Montenegrin adventure began with surprising ease in Tivat and continued through charming local spots, leading to unexpected mountain adventures.
Week One: First Impressions of Tivat
TikTok Versus Reality: Our Tivat Airport Experience
Before landing in Tivat, we braced ourselves for a chaotic arrival, Shell had seen countless TikToks and online comments painting a picture of airport Hell: long crowded immigration lines, baggage reclaim chaos. But it was nothing of the sort! The small airport had us checked through immigration super quick, and our bags arrived as soon as we made it to the baggage claim area.
Airport Transportation: A Tricky Start
The only real snag on arrival was the taxi mafia at the airport (which is something we’ve become used to in our travels) Taxi drivers wouldn’t use their meters, demanding a minimum of 20 euros for a quick five-minute drive (4 km) despite the municipal signs clearly stating 2 euros per kilometer, they had a number of excuses, claiming that the rate only applied to longer rides or when traffic was light. Our solution? We walked to a nearby gas station, had a beer and cider, and had the waitress call us a cab from there, saving ourselves 12 euros.
Our Tivat Home
We settled into our cozy one-bedroom Airbnb, nestled just up the hillside about a 5 minute walk from the town center. The neighborhood was quiet and we had a big window where we could watch the locals come and go. The condo, while small, had a functional kitchen, comfortable couch, and a decent sized TV—everything we needed for a month in Tivat.
Our first day was unpacking and resting from a long day of travel. Afterwards, we walked into town and found which fast became our favourite restaurant in town, they had an interesting menu with a range of local and western foods. Dave couldn’t get enough of their home made sausage and mustard’s.
Exploring Tivat’s Beauty
The next few days were spent exploring. Tivat is truly beautiful! Everything is so vibrant, the water crystal clear, and the mountains absolutely gorgeous and green. We noticed an unusual amount of small casinos—it seemed like you could find gambling, slot machines, or sports betting rooms on every corner.
Our first week flew by. Tivat is a small town with one main road and a population of only 14,000. It’s the smallest municipality in Montenegro, situated in the Bay of Kotor. It sits on one side of the bay, separated by a mountain from the town of Kotor, which lies on the other side. Both are very protected bays, completely surrounded by mountains. The mountains tower over a sliver of land that they’ve built this town on.
Tivat has two marinas: one filled with large, and even Mega Yachts, and the other with smaller pleasure or fishing crafts. The boardwalk connecting them offers a variety of shops, restaurants, and hotels. The smaller marina, with its smaller mostly locally owned boats, is at the end of the boardwalk and has a beautiful walking path lined with trees that reminded us of cherry blossoms, though they hadn’t bloomed yet which I think we missed by a day.
After the small Marina at the end of the boardwalk we discovered an awesome little beach with a bar, <Bleane Beach> which was just getting set up and painted a few days after we arrived. They told us it would be opening in a few days, and it looked like the kind of place we could sit and enjoy a beer or two at the beach.
We couldn’t get over just how beautiful and green it is here! It’s definitely earned a spot in our top five places. However, we have read that the medical care isn’t the greatest, which might explain why you don’t see many expats or people retiring here.
Shell made friends with a few local cats that hung around our building, and two of them, whom we named Whitey and Cow, would even come up onto our window ledge for treats!
May 1st – 8th, 2025
This week, we simply enjoyed the sunshine, walking every day and exploring a little more. We found a few favourite dinner spots, including the restaurant we ate at on our first night. Another favourite was a little pizza and burger restaurant on the corner of the boardwalk; there was always a line, but the food was delicious, and it offered great people-watching.
There’s a cop who sits out there and tows illegally parked cars, and it gets pretty entertaining when people come back looking for their vehicle. The funniest part is that the cop will even drive them to go pick up their car after towing it – something the cops back home wouldn’t do, lol!
One evening, we had dinner at a place called Macaroni, which had five-star reviews. Funny thing was, they didn’t actually have macaroni! But they did make fresh pasta to order, mixing the noodles in a cheese bowl before pouring the pasta sauce over top. It was very delicious, and the wine was good too. After dinner, we headed back for the evening.
One afternoon, we decided to check if the Belane Beach Bar had opened and it had! It’s a great place to sit and enjoy the beach and have a beer or two; it was definitely our favorite afternoon spot. They even have a mascot cat we named Stumpy <below> because he has really short legs and looks funny when he walks or runs. A local fisherman would feed him small anchovies almost daily.
