Lovcen National Park in Montenegro

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:

• Lovcen National Park in Montenegro: general information
  • The cost of entrance tickets to the park
• How to get to Lovcen park
• What to see in Lovcen park
• Tips for tourists and the author’s personal opinion about visiting Lovcen Park

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Lovcen National Park in Montenegro: 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
  • Štirovnik (1749м)
  • Jezerski vrh (1657м)
• 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.

• 2 euros per person you will pay for the entrance to the park. The coordinates were above in the article.
  • You don’t have to pay for a car. It does not matter whether you came on foot, by bus or by bike or car, you just need to pay 2 euros per person.
• After 3 km from the checkpoint you will reach the top, where the mausoleum of Petar Petrovic II Njegoš is located. And there, for the entrance to the mausoleum and to the observation deck of the top of Jezerski vrh (50m behind the mausoleum), you need to pay another 5 euros per person.

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 2 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

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.

• About public transport in Montenegro in detail.

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.

What to see in Lovcen Park: for an additional fee

After you pay 2 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.

• Observation deck and restaurant coordinates: 42.398113, 18.839877.

If you want to go to the Mausoleum and to the top, you will still need to overcome 461 steps and pay 5 euros for entry. As a bonus, you will get access to another observation deck. In the photo below, it is round behind the Mausoleum.

In fact, you will pay 7 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 Štirovnik. 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 Njegoš 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 (pršut) 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 pršut, you can stop and buy. Everywhere is delicious. 1 kg pršut is sold from 10 to 30 euros.
• The first capital of Montenegro, a city in the mountains – Cetinje. Coordinates: 42.39362224105486, 18.913139283795125
  • A detailed overview of the city of Cetinje at the link. By the way, all tours to Lovcen Park almost always include a visit to Cetinje.
• 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.

Travel tips and personal opinion of the author 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.

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 pršut – hiking to the top of Štirovnik – 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.

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.

Resources to help you plan your dream trip to Montenegro

• Flights at the best prices with discounts
• Car rental in Montenegro (cheaper – only by bus):
  • Discovery Cars – a large international resource
  • LocalRent – work with local rental companies. Leader in car rental in Montenegro.
• Hotels and apartments all over the country: Booking
• Tours, excursions and activities (including extreme ones):
  • GYG – more than 150 tours
  • Viator – 700+ excursions and activities throughout the country
• Comprehensive travel insurance: EKTA
• eSIM virtual sim card with internet in Montenegro
• Taxi and transfers from Montenegro airports: Intui.Travel