Tivat & Porto Montenegro: 10 Tips for the Luxury Marina and Beyond

Tivat in Montenegro was once an unassuming little port, but today it’s home to the most luxurious marina on the entire Adriatic, where the world’s priciest superyachts drop anchor. If you’re after a place that blends the glamorous atmosphere of the French Riviera with affordable Balkan prices, you’ve just found it.

In this guide we’ll explore 10 tips for what to see and do in Tivat, including the famous Porto Montenegro and the gorgeous surrounding area. You’ll discover that while you’ll find boutiques from the world’s biggest designer brands here, the beautiful promenade and the breathtaking views are completely free for everyone.

I’ll also tell you where to base yourself strategically, when is the best time to visit, and how to enjoy a perfect holiday without huge costs. Tivat is, after all, the ideal gateway into the whole of Montenegro, a place from which you can set off on wonderful day trips.

TL;DR

• Tivat Airport sits right in town, so you’re on the promenade within a five-minute taxi ride from the terminal.
• Entry to Porto Montenegro is free — you can wander around freely and admire the enormous superyachts.
• The best beach for families is Plavi Horizonti, with its rare soft sand and a very gentle slope into the water.
• History lovers will appreciate the Naval Heritage Museum, where you can climb inside a real Yugoslav submarine.
• Prices in central Tivat are very friendly, unlike the luxury yacht district, where coffee or lunch will cost you noticeably more.
• The Island of Flowers and the mountain village of Gornja Lastva offer the perfect escape from the tourist bustle into quiet nature.

When to visit Tivat

If you’re planning a holiday on the Montenegrin coast, the best months to visit are June and September. At this time the air temperatures hover around a very pleasant 25 to 28 degrees, the sea is beautifully warm, and best of all you’ll avoid the biggest crowds.

The peak summer season falls in July and August, when prices soar and long queues build up on the roads. Tivat Airport gets extremely busy during these months, so journeys along the coast take far longer.

Out of season, from October to April, Tivat is a great year-round base, because both the airport and the promenade keep running. You’ll find some restaurants closed, but the sprawling botanical park and the surrounding mountain villages have an absolutely magical winter atmosphere without a single tourist in sight.

Where to stay in Tivat

💡 Tip for accommodation and experiences: We like to look for places to stay on Booking.com, which usually has the best cancellation terms. Tickets, tours and activities are then worth comparing and buying through GetYourGuide.

Tivat offers an incredibly varied range of accommodation, from absolute five-star luxury to cosy hotels at very reasonable prices. It’s best to stay close to the centre or the promenade, so that all the main attractions, shops and local restaurants are within comfortable walking distance.

For those after an unforgettable experience with no budget worries, the obvious choice is the Regent Porto Montenegro. This iconic five-star hotel in a Venetian-Renaissance style offers luxury pools and direct access to the yacht-lined piers, with in-season prices climbing into the high hundreds of euros per night. An alternative for lovers of total peace and quiet is The Chedi Luštica Bay, a stunning resort on the nearby peninsula with a private beach, golf and top-class service.

If you’re looking for great value close to the water, I recommend the four-star Boutique Hotel La Roche, which guests love for its cleanliness and private beach. Also very popular is La Fleur Boutique Hotel, which offers a lovely setting with a spa and excellent breakfasts. For travellers on a smaller budget, the three-star Hotel Astoria sits right on the Pine promenade and, for around €100, offers perfectly adequate comfort with a view over the bay.

10 tips for what to see and do in Tivat

Tivat is definitely not just about expensive boats and luxury boutiques. Let’s take a look at 10 specific tips for places you shouldn’t miss, from beautiful sandy beaches and historic landmarks to stunning mountain viewpoints.

1. Porto Montenegro and the superyachts

On the site of the former Austro-Hungarian naval base Arsenal, the only platinum-certified marina in the world has sprung up. Here you can admire yachts up to 250 metres long, and the whole promenade between the boats is completely free for all visitors, with no entry gates or reception desks of any kind.

As you stroll, you’ll come across boutiques from world-famous brands like Rolex and Gucci, plus luxury restaurants lining the waterfront. It’s worth knowing that prices in this part are roughly 30 to 50 percent higher than in the rest of town. A coffee here can easily set you back €4, but for that view over the glittering water and the vessels, it’s sometimes well worth it.

💡 Tip: If you want to soak up the atmosphere without the crowds, come early in the morning, around seven o’clock. The piers are beautifully calm, the yachts bathe in the golden morning sun, and you can take the best photos in peace before all the businesses open.

2. Naval Heritage Museum and the submarines

At the northern end of the marina you’ll find a wonderful naval museum, housed in a carefully restored 19th-century shipyard building. It holds more than 300 historical exhibits, from old nautical charts to preserved ship-engineers’ equipment and period uniforms.

The biggest draw, though, is undoubtedly two real Yugoslav submarines standing outside in a dry dock. The larger one, named P-821 Heroj, is even accessible from the inside, so you can experience first-hand just how cramped the conditions were in which sailors once lived and worked deep beneath the surface of the sea.

💡 Tip: A museum ticket including the unique submarine tour costs a pleasant €7 for an adult. The museum alone, without the submarine, costs just €2 — a historical experience that would be a real shame to skip.

3. The Pine promenade and the old centre

The luxurious Porto Montenegro flows seamlessly into the traditional Pine promenade, which the locals call nothing other than Pinea. This beautiful three-kilometre pedestrian zone, lined with towering palms, is the heart of everyday social life, where Tivat’s residents head out for their traditional evening strolls.

You’ll find plenty of pleasant cafés, restaurants and ice-cream stands here, with ordinary local prices and no luxury markup. Lunch for two at places like Marquise or Propela averages between €15 and €30, while an excellent espresso costs just under €2.

💡 Tip: Pop into one of the local bakeries for traditional Montenegrin pastries, perfect for a quick snack. A great choice for vegetarians is meat-free zeljanica, a delicious savoury filo pie filled with spinach and local white cheese.

4. The sandy beach of Plavi Horizonti

Sandy beaches are quite a rarity in Montenegro, since most of the coast is simply pebbly or rocky. That makes Plavi Horizonti beach, on the nearby Luštica peninsula, all the more precious — it offers gorgeous golden sand and crystal-clear water awarded a Blue Flag for its high cleanliness.

This bay surrounded by a pine grove is an absolute paradise for families with small children. The shallows here reach up to 100 metres from the shore, so the little ones can play safely in the warm water while the grown-ups relax on rented sun loungers. From central Tivat you can get here by car in about fifteen minutes.

💡 Tip: Parking right by the beach costs €5 a day, but in the summer months capacity quickly fills up. I recommend arriving as early as possible in the morning, ideally just after eight o’clock, to secure a hassle-free space and a good spot on the sand.

5. Luštica Bay and the village of Rose

About a twenty-minute drive from Tivat, a brand-new luxury resort called Luštica Bay is rising on the Luštica peninsula. It includes a beautiful promenade, top-class hotels and an emerging eighteen-hole golf course, from which a breathtaking view opens up over the open Adriatic Sea.

If you prefer something more authentic, take a trip to the very tip of the peninsula, to the old fishing village of Rose. No tourist buses come here, and you’ll find nothing but old stone houses and absolute calm, scented with olives and salt water. Cycling here through the olive groves takes just under an hour.

💡 Tip: Boat trips to the Blue Cave (Plava špilja) depart straight from the Luštica Bay resort or from the harbour in Tivat. Swimming in its crystal-blue water, which literally glows thanks to the refraction of sunlight, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

6. The Island of Flowers and the historic monastery

Just four kilometres from town lies the picturesque Island of Flowers (Ostrvo cvijeća), connected to the mainland by a narrow natural isthmus. So you can comfortably reach it on foot or by car, without needing to arrange any kind of boat transfer as you would for other islets in the bay.

This little patch of land is incredibly densely overgrown with palms, olive trees and wild herbs. It hides the remains of the 13th-century monastery of Saint Michael the Archangel, whose courtyard and two smaller working chapels you can explore at leisure, completely free of charge.

💡 Tip: Visit the island in the morning hours. Around midday and in the afternoon, organised groups of tourists from cruise ships start to arrive, and the place quickly loses its quiet, contemplative atmosphere.

7. The mountain village of Gornja Lastva

If you like to stretch your legs a little, set off on foot from Tivat up Vrmac hill, where the picturesque stone village of Gornja Lastva nestles. The path winds through fragrant olive groves and takes about three-quarters of an hour, with an absolutely phenomenal view over the bay and the marina from the top.

The village lives at its own slow, lazy pace; in the middle you’ll find a small square with a church, surrounded by perfect silence. It’s a great alternative to overcrowded Kotor, because most ordinary tourists never venture up here, leaving the old lanes all to yourself.

💡 Tip: For fitter hikers, a beautiful ridge trek leads from Gornja Lastva all the way to Kotor, measuring around 16 kilometres and taking roughly five hours on foot. Be sure to bring plenty of water and sturdy footwear.

8. The Veliki Gradski Park botanical garden

Right in the centre of Tivat lies the largest botanical garden on the entire southern Adriatic, covering an impressive four hectares. It was founded back in 1892, when the local admiral of the time ordered all captains to bring back rare seeds and seedlings from across the world during their voyages.

Today, more than one hundred and thirty years on, you’ll find huge old trees here — mighty eucalyptus, rare araucarias and beautiful magnolias. Especially on hot summer days, the park offers a perfect refuge full of cooling shade, and what’s more, entry to the whole protected site is completely free.

💡 Tip: The garden is ideal for a peaceful morning or afternoon stroll, when you need to take a break from the scorching Balkan sun for a while. Right next door you’ll also find a cultural centre with a few more small points of interest.

9. Tivat Airport as a practical gateway

Few seaside resorts in the world can boast an international airport just one kilometre from the centre. From the arrivals hall you can reach the town promenade by taxi in under five minutes, paying around €5. There are direct flights to the Montenegro Tivat Airport from several UK airports, particularly with easyJet and Jet2 during the summer season, which makes it an easy long-weekend destination.

This incredibly convenient location makes Tivat the most practical gateway to the whole coast. Famous Kotor is just eight kilometres away, a distance you can cover in fifteen minutes outside the peak summer rush hours.

💡 Tip: Unfortunately, no direct buses run from the airport to the main tourist destinations. So I recommend arranging a private transfer in advance or using a shared shuttle service — it’ll save you a lot of hassle with luggage in the heat.

10. Boat trips around the Bay of Kotor

To be in Tivat and not head out on the water would be a huge shame. Boats set off every day from the local piers on the most beautiful trips around the entire Bay of Kotor, with one of the most popular routes being the cruise to the artificial island of Our Lady of the Rocks (Gospa od Škrpjela) near historic Perast.

A group full-day cruise will cost you around €30 for an adult and €15 for a child. If you prefer privacy, you can hire a small motorboat with a skipper who’ll take you to hidden coves exactly as you wish.

💡 Tip: Plenty of tourists overlook the small islets right opposite Tivat, such as Sveti Marko or Gospa od Milosti with its 15th-century monastery. Yet it’s precisely here that you’ll enjoy far more genuine peace than at the more famous spots, where hundreds of people head every day.

Where to go next from Tivat

Tivat has an absolutely ideal location for exploring more of Montenegro. You definitely shouldn’t miss historic Kotor with its breathtaking walls, or head south towards the busier Budva. Nature lovers will be drawn to the stunning Lovćen National Park, which you reach via the famous Kotor switchbacks, full of incredible views.

If you’re looking for more inspiration for your trip, I’ve put together a big overview in the article Holiday in Montenegro: 15 tips for the coast and the mountains, where you’ll find plenty more practical advice and specific recommendations across this whole beautiful country.

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