With our excursion in Montenegro over that had seen us travel up the Bay of Kotor by boat to visit Our Lady of the Rocks, then a short stop in the charming town of Perast before returning on another boat trip down the bay we had some free time before heading back to the cruise ship to explore the medieval, walled town of Kotor.
At the point where we disembarked from the boat there was a monument and some nice views beyond the town to St. John’s Fortress that was situated up in the mountains.
Our ship was anchored in the bay which is why we’d had to use tender boats ashore earlier in the day. The Cunard cruise ship Queen Victoria was alongside the town.
The town is no more than five minutes’ walk from the waterside area where the boats tie up. Probably one of the most photographed sights on the approach to Kotor on foot has to be the impressive fortifications built during the period when the town was under Venetian rule.
The town is surrounded by walls and the main entrance was through a large, arched gate.
Outside the walls were a number of vendors and places to grab maps of the old town but for the amount of time we had to spend there we didn’t bother picking any up and headed straight past the queues of tourists and through the crowds of more tourists into Kotor’s lovely interior. The architecture was fabulous and the town had plenty of narrow alleys and tall buildings; shops, houses, museums, and churches could be found at every turn. While the place was somewhat maze-like at points Kotor was not large enough to really get lost in especially with the imposing views of the mountains behind it that always gave a good indication as to what direction you were facing.
We mostly wandered at random, taking photographs naturally, but also did a little bit of shopping for souvenirs. Finally, to eat up the remainder of our time in the fabulous Montenegrin location and because it’s something we like to do when we’re abroad, we sought out a bar away from the main and very crowded square and ordered some local beers. The place we selected had free Wi-Fi, was shaded, and gave us ample opportunity to observe the many cats and kittens wandering around to passing tourists’ and our delight.
Exploration, shopping, and sampling of local wares done we headed back out of the town to the bay and found our Princess Cruises boarding area. Gratefully accepting the cool towels they handed out to help freshen us up from the intense heat of the day we then boarded a local boat rather than one of the ship’s tender boats – both types were in operation carrying passengers and crew back and forth and it was good to see that sort of aid to the local economy taking place as well – and headed back to the ship.
Some photos and information about Kotor’s cats as well as another cruiser’s view of the town can be found here: Adriatic medieval gem for cat ladies – port of Kotor!.
Video from a walk through Kotor (and some more about its cats) by one of the cruise vloggers I follow, Scott Singer, is below: