Twenty Four Days by Land and Sea in Europe - Port Call: Kotor, Montenegro

We were greeted with Chamber of Commerce weather for our first visit to Montenegro.

Getting there aboard Vision of the Seas was just amazing...  Look at the map below and you can see the maneuvering we had to do to get from the Adriatic to Kotor all the way over on the right -- including that narrow passage where we turned right on our final approach to Kotor.  

The next 5 pictures were taken along the route into Kotor - great sailing by our Capitan and crew.

Starting the run in...

Making our first big turn...

At the narrowest part of our passage...

Made the turn, heading to our anchorage...

What a backdrop - looks like it could be in Alaska... We tendered in from our anchorage

Welcome to Kotor

The town is completely charming - Cobblestone streets, small churches, and sidewalk cafes.

And if you want some serious exercise, you can climb the hill in the background

This is the south entrance of the old town's castle

Map of the town, castle, and fortifications on the hill above the old town

It is quite a hike...

Kotor is famous for its cats

Our port call in Kotor was half a day - plenty of time to wait for the tender lines to slow down, go ashore, walk from one end of the old town to the other, do some shopping, stop in a cafe for a local beer, and still get back to the ship with plenty of time before we left.  It was an easy walk from the tender load/unload point to the old town -- no need for maps or guided tours if the old town is your ultimate objective.  If you are feeling spry and full of energy, climbing the hill behind the town which takes more than an hour up and 40 minutes or so back down is a great way to burn off some of that energy.  I expect the view from up top, particularly on a clear, warm, and sunny day like the one we enjoyed, would be a pretty awesome reward for your effort.

We left Kotor when the sun was hiding behind the mountains surrounding the city and sailed back to the Adriatic - rewarded this time by the lights of the small towns along the way reflected in the water as we glided past - a perfect first port call aboard "Vision of the Seas".