Montenegro Coast holidays - travel guide - activities & sights

Sailing is popular along the coast, and berths and boats can be hired at all ports. The superb clear water favours snorkeling and scuba diving, and the Tara River in Durmitor National Park provides excellent facilities for white-water rafting.

There are good skiing and spa resorts, and the hiking is excellent, particularly in Durmitor National Park. Football is a popular spectator sport.

Montenegro's coastline offers some of the Adriatic's finest beaches (117 in all) and the clearest, sparkling blue-green seas. Stretched along the shoreline you'll find secluded rocky coves only accessible by boat, romantic inlets and vast crescents of golden sands - many awarded with blue flags. These are overlooked by medieval walled towns, aromatic pine forests and sheer mountains plunging into the sea. Around Budva, there are numerous idyllic sandy and shingle beaches, whilst Sveti Stefan boasts two gorgeous pink sand stretches to laze on. And if you fancy stealing away to a quiet pebbled cove, some of the best lie amid the craggy cliffs between Budva and Petrovac.

A trip to this vast, stunningly beautiful lake will make a truly memorable day out. Set 40 km inland from Sveti Stefan, it's 30 miles long and 10 miles wide, making it the largest in the Balkans. It's also virtually untouched by development, giving it a surreal beauty and tranquillity that acts like a magnet for animals and birds. You can take a boat trip across its clear, fish-filled waters, drifting gently through stretches of water-lilies and passing little islands covered in pomegranate trees - all the while keeping watch for the lake's famous pelicans and water birds. There's also a selection of little lakeside restaurants where you can round off your day sampling local specialities like grilled carp and eel risotto.

Cupped into the end of the long, steep-walled Bay of Kotor and framed by mountains, Kotor is one of the Mediterranean's finest medieval walled towns and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Crowned by a magnificent hilltop fortress, it's a delight to wander around its labyrinth of winding, cobbled streets, picturesque squares, Romanesque churches and Gothic palaces. Make sure you visit the splendid twin-towered cathedral of St. Triphun with its interior frescoes, and climb the steep trail to the fortress to soak up the breathtaking vistas over the town and bay below. You'll also find lots of welcoming pavement cafe-bars mixed in with charming restaurants and shops when you want a break from your sightseeing.

Montenegro's interior offers gorgeous natural scenery with wild mountains, hidden lakes, mown pastures and dense forests, all rich in beautiful flora and fauna. Here, you'll find sleepy farming villages, imposing canyons and forgotten towns crying out to be explored. The peaceful Njeguski Valley is renowned for Montenegro's speciality of smoked ham and sir cheese, and in the old capital of Cetinje you can visit the museum Palace of King Nikola I, filled with sumptuous displays and magnificent artworks, as well as an ancient monastery housing revered religious relics. Further inland, a landscape of soaring peaks and crashing rapids awaits in the Durmitor Mountains, a spectacular range boasting the awesomely deep Tara Canyon with its rushing river, waterfalls and cascades.