MONTENEGRO OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

The last few years of our life were not easy: the Covid pandemic made it impossible to travel – even within the borders of Montenegro, and my mobility problems, which were concluded with spinal surgery, seriously limited my freedom of movement. But I recovered and now I am on the road again!

By the way, as I am 74 years old now, I am aware of the fact that Paul (75) and I have to leave behind mountaineering adventures and other strenuous activities. But traveling through backward areas and discovering abandoned villages and impressive karst landscapes with our Dacia Duster 4×4 is still possible and gives us much pleasure and satisfaction.

As you will understand, I have not stood still in the previous period: I decided to write a road book for adventure lovers. It is called „Montenegro off the beaten track“ and it contains 21 adventurous day trips through my beloved Land behind God’s Back.

I adapted 21 blog posts I wrote in the last few years, I selected the appropriate photographs, described the routes and transformed them into map sketches. And altogether, using Paul’s editing experience, I wrote a guide book that efficiently takes adventurous travelers to the places they would like to visit and where they can still enjoy the old, authentic Montenegro.

Of course, many authors have written books, articles and blog posts about the tourist attractions of Montenegro. Tourist attractions and places that are often overcrowded, not only in the main season but also in June and September.

The purpose of this book is different. It is meant for those travelers with solid passenger cars, terrain vehicles and motor bikes, who want to discover authentic places „off the beaten track“.

I also know that there are many expats in Montenegro who are interested in such road tours, where they can learn more about hidden places, authentic villages, rough karst landscapes, less-known cultural and historical monuments.

My favorite areas are, first of all, Kučka Krajina and the surroundings of Lake Skadar (in particular Skadarska Krajina), but also the „old“ Montenegro, i.e. the central area, Durmitor and Sinjajevina…

I would advise you to make these tours off-season, when there is less traffic on the Montenegrin roads. Namely, most roads described are narrow and curvy. Many of them are not provided with protection rails. So, if there is traffic coming from the opposite direction, one has to shunt and get arranged! 

The departure point of most trips is Podgorica, as from this city you can make them all within one day (that is why I love living in Podgorica!). Some tours are short, other ones are pretty long and strenuous. Some of them are (partly) off-road, other ones only use narrow paved roads. Are you a good driver? Then just make a choice!

Did you arrive in Podgorica (or Tivat) by plane? I am sure that you can rent a car and make an individual discovery tour of Montenegro by yourself.

I have described 4 tours in the coastal region, 12 in the central region and 5 in the northern region. Most of them can be combined with a hiking tour, a walk or a visit to cultural and historical monuments. If you are interested in legends, stories or particular details – see the cursive parts. Or maybe you would like to make one or two war monument tours? Or a round trip through the wetlands of Lake Skadar?

If you need more information, read the appropriate posts in my blog www.montenegro-for.me

Of course, I was very happy to find a company that was interested in printing my book and I would like to thank Tinka Djuranović, executive director of Portal Analitika, Ankica Remiković, who made the cover design, and Marija Petrović (PR), as they are the ones who made the printing possible.

At the same time, I would like to express my gratitude to the sponsors: Tourism Organization of Podgorica, Porto Montenegro, the Secretariat for Culture and Sport of the Capital City Podgorica and Lovćen Insurance Company.

The book „Montenegro off the beaten track“ will be sold at the price of 10.00 €. I will inform you next week about the sales points in Montenegro.

In the meantime, if there are any companies or organizations interested in larger quantities (5 or more), please let me know. In this case, the discount will be 30%.

I hope you will enjoy the book. It was created with lots of love for Montenegro, the country that has been my homeland for more than 50 years.

Enjoy your road trips and discover the „real“ Montenegro.

The Land behind God’s Back is waiting for you!