Detailed overview of Tivat in Montenegro. Learn everything about this city in the Bay of Kotor, accommodation, best restaurants, beaches, attractions. There will be TOP-10 and even more interesting locations in Tivat and its surroundings. If you have not yet decided which Montenegrin resort you will spend your vacation in, this article is for you.
Table of contents:
- Tivat in Montenegro: general information, brief history
- Accommodation in Tivat
- Tivat beaches
- The best restaurants in Tivat for tourists
- TOP 10 attractions of Tivat and surroundings
- Travel Tips
It will be difficult for you to plan your dream trip to Montenegro without these websites
Tivat in Montenegro: general information
Tivat was founded in the 3rd century BC. And like many cities in its more than 2000 year history, it has experienced hundreds of wars and military conflicts. These lands were part of the Roman Empire, Byzantium, the Ottoman Empire, Yugoslavia at different times. There were even attempts to gain their independence, albeit unsuccessful in the Middle Ages
Despite its long history, Tivat began to be actively built up only during the Yugoslav period. And before that, there was a small, unknown fishing village here.
- Tivat coordinates: 42.43380087048614, 18.696671882966793 (a map of the city’s attractions will be below)
- Population just under 10,000
- This is a very small town, only about 3 km from end to end. You can walk it for an hour with a stop at a cafe for a cup of Turkish coffee.
Important point:
Since the city developed very slowly up to Yugoslavia, there are no historical sights here. Tivat is the only city in the Bay of Kotor where there is no old town, fortress and medieval streets, as in Kotor, Perast, Herceg Novi. There are also no good beaches in the city.
Tivat was a ship repair yard for ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the late 19th century. And during the Yugoslav times it was a military base of the Yugoslav Navy.
A detailed overview of the entire Bay of Kotor, weather, water temperature, where it is better to rest, read the link (spoiler alert: definitely not in Tivat).
Good to know:
Tivat remains famous for only one reason: one of the two international airports in the country is located here. The second – in the capital in Podgorica. There are direct flights to Tivat from London, Paris, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Istanbul. About 1 million tourists pass through this airport annually.
- Useful article: how to get to Montenegro, the best route and ticket prices.
Accommodation in Tivat
If you are in Tivat, do not be discouraged. Although there are no special attractions, there is a large selection of good accommodation. There are many hotels in the city, there are very expensive 5 * hotels, as well as a huge number of apartments in various price ranges.
Good to know:
It should be surprising that there are many expensive hotels in non-tourist Tivat. But everything is simple. A Canadian billionaire built a marina for private yachts in Tivat about 8 years ago. It is called Porto Montenegro. It is special in that it is the only marina in Montenegro that can accommodate superyachts. Walking along the Tivat promenade, ordinary tourists can see the yachts of the richest people on the planet.
As a result, expensive hotels and restaurants appeared around Porto Montenegro. And 15 km from Tivat, an Arab company is building a luxurious, gated five-star residential complex with a hotel – Lustica Bay.
- You can look for accommodation in Tivat at this link, there are many options for both hotels and apartments.
Below you can find a dynamic ranking of the most popular accommodation options. You can click on each hotel, view photos, read reviews, and most importantly find out the prices for your dates.
Tivat beaches
In short, Tivat is not a beach town. There are no beaches in the city. Since most of the coastline is occupied by the Potro Montenegro marina, and the rest is a promenade. Here the citizens and guests of the city sunbathe right on the promenade. Here is how it looks.
And now the coordinates of the beaches in Tivat and its surroundings. On the map of the city’s attractions below, all of them are marked:
- Ponta Beach and Waikiki Beach are two neighboring beaches in the north of the city.
- Ponta is a wild small-pebble beach around the lighthouse. There are no sun loungers, no easy access to the water.
- Waikiki begins 100 meters from Ponta and is more like a 300 meter concrete slab full of sun loungers in the high season.
- Coordinates: 42.43919341990741, 18.684713045417183
- Belane beach is a pebble beach in the very south of Tivat. There is a convenient water entry but there are a lot of people in the high season. The length of the beach is 200 meters.
- Coordinates: 42.42648133898142, 18.700688087714624
Actually, these are all three beaches within the city that can be reached on foot. All the rest are out of town and need a car to get there. I would like to highlight these beaches separately:
- Kalardovo Beach: 42.406231505136546, 18.7122790002316. 4.5 km from Tivat
- Solila beach: 42.39338, 18.70483. 9km from the city
- And the best beach in the area is Zanjice- 26 km from Tivat. Pebbly, long, hidden from winds and waves, with excellent water entry. Coordinates: 42.39914, 18.5804. The big advantage of this beach is that boats leave from here for an excursion to the Blue Cave and past the Mamula Fortress. I recommend to everyone. There are also cafes, restaurants, parking.
This is not all the beaches. There are enough beaches around Tivat. But it is important to understand that there are no good beaches in the city. If you want a beach holiday, you need a car. Or you better choose resorts where the beaches are within walking distance and there are many of them, for example, in Budva.
Good restaurants in Tivat for tourists
In Montenegro, there is no problem to find a cafe or restaurant to have a delicious meal. Two cuisines are popular in the country: Montenegrin with a lot of meat and vegetables. And the Mediterranean: pasta, risotto, seafood, pizza. There are many different restaurants on the streets of any city.
- All about the traditional cuisine of Montenegro and food service, tips, prices.
In Tivat you can also find delicious Montenegrin street food. Be sure to try pljescavica or cevapi, it’s very tasty.
Below are some popular inexpensive cafes and restaurants where we personally enjoyed:
- Big Ben
- Tavern Sidro
- Ponta Veranda
- Do not forget that there are many restaurants in Tivat where it is easy to pay 100 euros for lunch. For example, the Mala Barka restaurant.
- All restaurants from this list are on the map below.
In any case, you can’t stay hungry in Montenegro: restaurants, cafes, taverns, street food are everywhere.
TOP 10 attractions in Tivat and surroundings
As I said above, there are almost no attractions within the city.
Below is a dynamic map of the beaches, restaurants and attractions of Tivat for your convenience. There will be a working hours, prices, tips for visiting and a personal assessment of the author (me).
Green marks are beaches
Purple – taverns and restaurants
Dark red – attractions
- The Sea Museum and two Yugoslav submarines. Perhaps the best attraction of Tivat. Although the museum is small, there is nothing special to see, but it is very informative. And for 5 euros you will get both to the museum and on an excursion inside a real submarine. Now this is very interesting. By the way, access to the submarines is free from the outside.
- The museum is open from 12 to 21, and in the low season from 14:30.
- Coordinates: 42.43763758366318, 18.693644626721767
- How long will the visit take: 30-60 minutes if you visit the museum.
- My score: 7 out of 10. One of the best locations for Tivat.
- Porto Montenegro and a superyacht berth. Local point of interest. You can see the entire marina from the promenade, you can walk right along the yachts. If you’re lucky, you’ll see super yachts here that cost hundreds of millions. And there are many small yachts of locals. And you can find a yacht for rent for 1-7 days. It does not cost a lot of money and everyone can afford it.
- All about yacht charter in Montenegro: how much does it cost to rent a yacht for 7 days.
- You will not get to the pier to the yachts, they are closed. But the entire marina and the promenade are open to everyone around the clock and free of charge.
- Coordinates: 42.43164680509823, 18.69090865788485
- My rating: 5 out of 10. It is difficult to pass by this marina, it is in the city center. But this is the same marina as in any Mediterranean city.
- Bizanti complex – a park with walking paths and a medieval Bizanti mansion. It is marked in many guidebooks as one of the city’s main attractions.
- Coordinates: 42.423120812372986, 18.704346661742182
- Free and 24/7
- My rating is 2 points out of 10. Don’t waste your time. Both the park and the mansion itself are abandoned. Mountains of garbage. It is all cleaned up only by volunteers 2 times a year. There are beautiful places in the park, but the general desolation spoils the whole impression.
These were actually all the TOP locations within Tivat. There are still interesting places outside the city.
- Blue Grotto or Blue Cave. Large cave accessible only by boat. Boats depart from Zanjice beach mentioned above. In calm and sunny weather the water color is as in the picture. You can also swim there.
- A boat tour from Zanjice beach costs about 10 euros.
- Duration 60-90 minutes
- Cave coordinates: 42.37415134272282, 18.59633860564452. There is no way to get here from the coast.
- My rating: 10 out of 10. Really top attraction not only in Tivat, but also in Montenegro.
- Fortress and Mamula Island. A small islet in the bay of Žanjic opposite the beach of the same name. A defensive fortress and a fort were built here 200 years ago, which are perfectly preserved today. During the Second World War there was a concentration camp. And today, unfortunately, investors have bought this island and are making a hotel and a casino. While the island is closed, you can view the fort from a boat on the way to the Blue Cave.
- Coordinates: 42.395458170689366, 18.5579687427814
- My assessment: when the island was open to everyone, it was 8 points out of 10. It is a pity that it is planned to open a casino here, and not a museum.
- Abandoned Yugoslav submarine base. There is no security, the entrance is free, you can climb and even jump into the water. Interesting location, and most importantly unusual. Not many abandoned submarine bases remain.
- Coordinates: 42.4234, 18.54862
- How much time to schedule: 1 hour
- free of charge
- My rating: 9 out of 10. Really interesting and unusual location.
- 3 km from the city and 500 meters up above Tivat there is a small medieval village of Gornja Lastva made of hewn stone. Since there are no medieval buildings in Tivat itself, it will be interesting for lovers of architecture. Here it is quiet and peaceful:
- Coordinates: 42.45455193861337, 18.70769018700166
- Can be reached by car or on foot. There are 2 churches from the 14th and 15th centuries and old stone houses. Here you can even rent an apartment in such a building and stay overnight.
- How much will it take: the whole village is easy to walk in 30 minutes.
- My rating: 6 out of 10. It’s beautiful here. There are also hiking trails around the village in all directions. But there are many such places in Montenegro, so I can’t say that this is a unique place.
- Flowers Island. Everywhere they write about a beautiful and cool location for tourists, I don’t know where people get it from. A very small islet near Tivat airport. It is connected by a bridge to the mainland. In the days of Yugoslavia, there was an elite military sanatorium here. The entire island was planted with Mediterranean plants. Today everything is abandoned, and the sanatorium as well. And the remaining 30 houses are inhabited by Bosnian settlers and refugees. There are medieval church of the Holy Trinity, a temple and a monastery.
- Coordinates: 42.406048892570674, 18.704000147961402
- Free and 24/7
- How much will it take: 30 minutes.
- My rating: 2 points out of 10. There is absolutely nothing to do here, only if you like religious architecture. Since the church is really beautiful, and worth your attention.
- A detailed overview of the monasteries of Montenegro, for those who are interested.
- Abandoned Austro-Hungarian fortresses with a defensive function. There are about six such forts 15 km from Tivat. All are free, located on hills with beautiful views. You can get there by car, enjoy the views of the Kotor Bay. The most interesting of them are:
- Fort Vrmac: 42.42146246299776, 18.74897937360227
- Fort Gorazda: 42.39591733168053, 18.76411320590586
- And Fort Trinity: 42.403176340321764, 18.76253268771832
Travel Tips
I will try to summarize all you need to know about Tivat:
- Today it is an important tourist hub of the country. Almost a million tourists arrive in Montenegro through Tivat Airport every year.
- At the same time, in Tivat there is no:
- good beaches
- interesting attractions within the city
- old town and medieval architecture
- But there is the only marina in the country that can accommodate the superyachts of billionaires. If this is about you, you are lucky, here you can park your yacht.
- If you are just driving past Tivat, one or two hours is more than enough time to see the entire city.
- If you need a beach holiday, it is better to choose Budva, it is only 20 km away.
- And if you are looking for a place with beautiful medieval buildings, a fortress and a chic old town, then go to Kotor. From Tivat to Kotor it is only 11 km.
Useful:
What you can’t miss in Tivat is the Blue Cave and the abandoned submarine base. Two locations that will impress you.
In conclusion: there is no point in staying in Tivat even for one night. If you have a car, then all the sights of the city and its environs are available within a 15-30-minute drive from Budva and Kotor. Even buses between these cities run every 30 minutes from early morning until late at night. You can just come here for half a day, walk around Porto Montenegro, drink coffee on the waterfront and admire the scenery.
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):
- Comprehensive travel insurance: EKTA
- eSIM virtual sim card with internet in Montenegro
- Taxi and transfers from Montenegro airports: Intui.Travel