A detailed overview of one of the most popular mountains of the Montenegrin coast. I will tell you everything a traveler needs to know about Lovcen National Park: prices, how to get there, what to see there. There will be tips and tricks as well as a personal opinion of the author (me) – is it worth it or not to go there.

Table of contents:


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stirovnik lovcen
This is the top of the mountain and the park Lovcen – Å tirovnik. The one where the telecommunications towers are. Further in the article there will be information about this mountain.

Lovcen National Park: general information

Lovcen National Park is one of the five national parks in Montenegro. But unlike all the others, it is located closer to the popular resorts of the Montenegrin coast. From Kotor and Budva to Lovcen Park is only about 30 km.

The park is located on the slope of Mount Lovcen and therefore has its name. Mount Lovcen is not the highest mountain in Montenegro. It is not even in the top 30 highest peaks in Montenegro.

In Montenegro, 80% of the territory is occupied by mountains, and here the peaks are both more beautiful and higher. But only Lovcen is close enough to the coast, and there are breathtaking views and panoramas of the area from the observation decks.

  • Everything about the mountains of Montenegro, where to find the most beautiful peaks.
  • The highest peak in Montenegro – Bobotov Kuk (2522m) in the Durmitor National Park. In the article on the link you will learn: where it is located, how to get there and climb the mountain.
  • Lovcen – a mountain with two peaks
    • Å tirovnik (1749m)
    • Jezerski vrh (1657m)
  • Here are the coordinates of the checkpoint where you need to pay for the entrance to the park. 42.40077418595076, 18.827585322352782

Prices for entrance tickets to Lovcen Park

Here I want to talk about prices separately.

  • You will pay 3 euros per person at the check point for entry into the park. The coordinates were three lines above. It’s about another 3 kilometers uphill to reach the summit.
    • Parking at the park checkpoint costs 1 euro per hour for a car if you plan to explore the surroundings. Parking at the mountaintop is free, but it’s extremely small. Often, there’s no space available, leading to cars being parked along the road lower down the slope.
  • Additionally, there’s an entrance fee of 8 euros per person for access to the mausoleum and the viewpoint atop Jezerski Vrh (50 meters beyond the mausoleum).
price Lovcen park
The entrance fee to the mausoleum is now 8 euros, not 5. Students and schoolchildren get a fifty percent discount, making it twice as cheap for them.
Is it worth it? I will answer no. But this is my personal opinion as a tourist and I will tell you in detail why.

Good to know:

In Montenegro, there is such a feature: to force tourists to pay for entry to any attraction at all. It doesn’t matter if it’s part of an ancient wall or the “oldest” olive tree in the region – they set up a ticket sales point and collect 1-2 euros from each tourist. In neighboring Albania or Serbia, 80% of attractions are free. And in Montenegro they take money for entry wherever possible. We hope that the funds received will be used to develop the tourism infrastructure in the country.

A brief history: until 2017, entrance fees to the territory of Lovcen Park were taken directly in one of the villages that are located on the mountainside. But local residents went to court and removed this checkpoint, and the entire 2018 entry into the park was free.

But since 2019, there is a checkpoint again and they accept payment of 3 euros. Moreover, it is located after these villages, almost at the very end of the road, 3 km before the Njegoš mausoleum.

How to get to Lovcen park

In fact, there are few options:

  • By car
  • Taxi
  • Tour group
  • Cable car
You can’t get to Lovcen Park by public transport. Such routes simply do not exist. The only option is to take a regular bus to Cetinje, and then take a taxi. A taxi will cost 30-40 euros. It’s easier for this money to rent a car for one day and quickly get there by car.

Public transport does not go in the direction of the main tourist attractions in Montenegro. You can get to almost any city, even a small one, with transfers by bus. But if you need some interesting natural attraction, such as the Tara River or the Grebaje Valley, then you can’t get there without a car.

There is no problem to get to Lovcen by car from Kotor or Budva. Both paths are mountain spiral roads. There is a good road surface – asphalt and a lot of observation decks. If you go along the first road, then you will see an insanely beautiful view of the Bay of Kotor, and along the second – a view of the Budva Riviera. It takes about 40 minutes to drive from both Kotor and Budva, if without stops. But you definitely won’t be able to drive without stopping for a couple of photos, so you’ll drive for an hour and a half.

You can also order a group or individual tour to the Lovcen National Park. For a large list of excursions to Lovcen Park and its surroundings, see the link.

I also advise you to read an interesting article: the best tours and excursions in Montenegro.

The Kotor-Lovcen Cable Car

In mid-2023, a cable car was opened, providing access to the very top, bypassing the challenging serpentine road with over 20 turns. Here are the key details:

  • Official Website: https://kotorcablecar.com/
  • Coordinates of the lower station Dub: 42.396055, 18.748005. It’s not located directly in Kotor but on the Budva-Tivat road. Accessible by car (with a large parking lot for 300 cars), the Blue Line bus from Tivat or Kotor, or by taxi.
  • Route features:
    • Altitude difference: 1.316 meters
    • Length of the cable car route: 3.900 meters
    • Duration of the ride: 11 minutes
  • Round-trip fares:
    • Adults: 23 euros.
    • Children aged 2-12: 12 euros.
  • Operating Hours:
    • April 1st – October 31st.
    • First ascent at 9 am, last ascent up at 6:30 pm, descent at 7:00 pm.
  • Tickets can be purchased on the website or at the lower station ticket office.
  • If you ascend the mountain via the cable car, there’s no separate fee for entering the park.
Kotor Lovcen cable car
An excellent way to reach Mount Lovcen and admire the views of the bay.

What to see in Lovcen Park: for an additional fee

After you pay 3 euros per person, you will have access to a parking lot and a viewpoint 100 meters from the top. There will also be a restaurant available for you. From the observation deck you can see the surroundings and the mausoleum of Njegoš.

History reference:

Njegos is a family of governors of Montenegro. The most famous, influential of them is Peter II Petrovich Njegoš. The years of his reign are 1830-1851. He is buried in the mausoleum. At first, instead of a mausoleum, there was a chapel. But it was destroyed and the mausoleum that we see today was built instead. Also on the slope of Mount Lovcen is the village of Njegusi. This village is the birthplace of the Petrovich-Njegoš dynasty, who ruled Montenegro from 1696 to 1918.

If you want to go to the Mausoleum and to the top, you will still need to overcome 461 steps and pay 8 euros for entry. As a bonus, you will get access to another observation deck. In the photo below, it is round behind the Mausoleum.

Lovcen National Park in Montenegro
Mausoleum of NjegoÅ¡ – in fact, it is quite small
Njegos mausoleum in Lovcen park
Inside the mausoleum. On the ceiling is a mosaic of pure gold, its weight is 18 kg
It is important to understand that the views from both observation platforms to the neighboring mountains and surroundings. You can’t see the sea from here..

In fact, you will pay 11 euros per person for visiting two observation platforms and a small Njegoš mausoleum. Next, I’ll tell you about Lovcen Park and what you can visit or see for free.

Lovcen park: free attractions

  • The top of Mount Å tirovnik. Coordinates:42.39934698914173, 18.818457436167208
    • The gravel road with large stones will start 4 km before the top of the mountain. A 4×4 car will be able to drive along it, or you can walk.
  • Native village of the NjegoÅ¡ dynasty, which is called Njegusi. It is located on the other side of the slope and is part of the Lovcen park. Coordinates: 42.4301495153288, 18.82622379507717
    • The village is quite small, you can drive by car slowly in a couple of minutes. Old stone buildings are very authentic.
    • But the most interesting thing is that the village of Njegusi is known for home-made prosciutto (prÅ¡ut) and cheese. Here every family produces them. There are 4 shops and 6 taverns where you can buy and taste homemade prosciutto.
    • Everywhere there are signs and advertisements about the sale of prÅ¡ut, you can stop and buy. Everywhere is delicious. 1 kg prÅ¡ut is sold from 10 to 30 euros.
  • The first capital of Montenegro, a city in the mountains – Cetinje. Coordinates: 42.39362224105486, 18.913139283795125
  • Observation deck with a view of the Boka Kotorska Bay in the Horizon bar: 42.40954992929877, 18.78627191626607
    • In fact, if you are driving from Kotor to Lovcen, you will see dozens of beautiful viewpoints along the way, one better than the other.
  • Observation deck overlooking Budva: 42.30206210811985, 18.888356385058426

Here are all the free attractions. And the non-free Lovcen Park with its views does not really stand out among the observation decks that I wrote about above.

Bar Horizon Kotor
Bar Horizon with a view of Kotor and the bay. You can drink coffee or beer here.

Travel tips and personal opinion about visiting the park

There are a lot of reviews about Lovcen Park on the Internet. And most people praise the park very much. I don’t think so. I think they exaggerate a lot.

Of course, the NjegoÅ¡ mausoleum is a significant part of Montenegrin history. It must be remembered and passed on to the next generation. Is this place interesting for an ordinary tourist? To me – no. I did not see anything surprising or beautiful here. There are many other more magnificent places in Montenegro.

If you are going on vacation to Montenegro, here are some tips for visiting Lovcen Park:

  • If you are planning your vacation only on the coast, then Lovcen Park is perfect for a day trip. Especially if you don’t have a car.
  • If you are going to the Prokletije mountains or want to see the Djurdjevic bridge in the Durmitor park, it is 10 times more interesting there than in Lovcen. Therefore, Lovcen Park can be skipped.
  • Do not forget, the height of the peaks of Lovcen Park is about 1700 meters. The air temperature here is almost 15 degrees lower than on the coast. And it gets very windy. Choose clothes according to the weather.
  • Here is a steep circular route for you: Kotor – the Kotor spiral road – the village of Njegosi with a tasting of prÅ¡ut – hiking to the top of Å tirovnik – walking along Cetinje – exit from the mountains to Budva and back to Kotor.
    • This route is for the whole day, and its length is only 105 km. In the same way, you can go from Budva. I would not go into the mausoleum, but this is the personal opinion of the author.
from kotor to lovcen
This is the famous Kotor spiral road, which is located on the slope of Mount Lovcen. There are dozens of observation decks

In conclusion: Lovcen National Park is a significant place on the map of Montenegro attractions. This is not only mountains and nature, it is also the history of the country and delicious homemade pršut. To go here or not is up to you, but view from observation decks from different sides of Mount Lovcen to Kotor and Budva will not disappoint you.


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