Gulf of Kotor
Gulf of Kotor (or Bay of Kotor or Serbo-Croatian/Montenegrin/Croat/Serbian: Boka Kotorska, Cyrillic script: Бока Которска) in southwestern Montenegro is a winding bay on the Adriatic Sea. The bay, once called Europe's southernmost fjord, is in fact a ria of the disintegrated Bokelj River which used to run from the high mountain plateaus of Mount Orjen. It is an important tourist attraction in Montenegro and site of a Strel Swimming Adventures holiday tour, led by Borut Strel and Martin Strel.
The bay has been inhabited since antiquity and has some well preserved medieval towns. The picturesque towns of Kotor, Risan, Tivat, Perast, Prčanj, Herceg Novi, and Budva, along with their natural surroundings, are major tourist attractions. The religious heritage of the land around the bay — its numerous Orthodox and Catholic Christian churches and monasteries — makes it one of the major pilgrimage sites of the region.
Strel Swimming
Borut Strel and Martin Strel offer a 7-day, 6-night fjord and sea swimming tour of the Gulf of Koto. The average daily swim distance is 4 km. Participants stay in a hotel on the mainland and are escorted by one large boat and two smaller dinghies.
Kotor
Kotor is a fortified town on Montenegro’s Adriatic coast, in a bay near the limestone cliffs of Mt. Lovćen. Characterized by winding streets and squares, its medieval old town has several Romanesque churches, including Kotor Cathedral. It's also home to the Maritime Museum, which explores local seafaring history. Sveti Đorđe, one of 2 tiny islands off the ancient town of Perast, features a centuries-old church.
World's 15 Best Beach Towns
Men's Journal selected Kotor as one of its World's 15 Best Beach Towns in 2017:
In the very best way possible, Kotor, Montenegro is a veritable backwater. To get there, you first have to sail down the Adriatic Sea's Croatian coast, pass into the Gulf of Herceg-Novi, carefully cruise through the narrow Verige Strait, and then, finally, continue east and then south through the sky-blue Boko Kotorska (Bay of Kotor). Your arrival will be unmistakable, as the splendor of Kotor unfolds before you. You'd swear you were in a Norwegian fjord, were it not for the 100-degree temperature, Venetian-style architecture, and really cheap (but good) beer.
Kotor packs its harbor front like a symphony orchestra sits on a stage. It has to, because immediately behind it rise steep, craggy mountains with Mediterranean cypress trees growing high and thin from the solid rock. The lack of cover makes it easy to see Kotor's ancient walled fortress from the water, and from nearly every place in town, for that matter. Enormous stone walls snake up the mountain for nearly three miles, tracing out an arc of protection from the seafront to the fortress buildings atop the mountain and back down. At night, the entire length of the walls is floodlit, making for one spectacular view.
To reach the top of the mountain, put on hiking boots, slip the town's gatekeeper three euros, and then climb 1350 semi-crumbling steps to the top. After reaching the fortress on the peak, head back down to one of the many open-air cafes in the city's charming and seemingly prosperous old town. Or, should you visit in the scorching heat of mid-summer, you won't be faulted if you simply stop halfway up and buy a beer from the vendor who invariably sits with his ice chest in the welcoming shade of the ancient Our Lady of Remedy church (built by 14th-century plague survivors). It's the perfect place to hang out and thank your maker, while gazing up towards the unforgiving, winding rocky top and down to the sparkling azure and terra cotta scene below.
The stari grad (old town) is a jumble of narrow streets and town squares filled with medieval architecture, 12th-century churches, and small shops. The seafood in Kotor is fresh and tasty, and places like the Cesarica and Luna Rossa have good reputations. We're especially fond of the outdoor Scorpio Caffé: Here, shaded by the spire of St. Nicholas's church, you can view the fortress, use the free Wi-Fi, enjoy relaxed but gracious service, and drink your fill of Karlovac or Nikšiko beer for practically nothing. As the locals say, Ziveli!
More information: Besides the elaborate coastal route mentioned above, for which you'd need to charter your own boat, Kotor can also be reached by flying to the nearest airport at Tivat (TIV), about five miles away. Montenegro Airlines offers the most nonstop flights from European hubs such as Belgrade, Copenhagen, London-Gatwick, Paris, and Rome, among others.
