one of the many narrow streets in the old town of Herceg Novi
The westernmost Montenegrin coastal town, all the way on the other side of the Bay of Kotor and just a few kilometres from the Croatian border, is Herceg Novi. And it is actually the nicest one. There is some development at the edges of town, with new apartments stacked against the mountain slope, and a big new hotel, but most of the centre of town, and middle part of the promenade that runs all along the coast, is low-rise, and for a large part still villas from the Yugoslav era, it seems. One exception to the low-rise is the gigantic Igalo resort, apparently the Institute Simo Milosevic rehabilitation clinic during the communist times. It is not only the huge sea front building, but a whole set of lower buildings behind it, that belong to the complex – which doesn’t seem to be actively used anymore.
house along the boulevard, closed shutters but with the name of the town!
the diving board, solid concrete
palm-fringed boulevard
and further concrete platforms, in the absence of sand
classic villa from the Yugoslav era
and another, 1970s modernernity, villa model
individual, but very tiny, balconies
the gigantic Igalo resort
easily qualifying for the Brutalist architectural collection of this trip
the Sea Castle, originating from 1382
another, more imposing, view of the castle
from the castle, great views over the harbour and the Bay of Kotor
the Saint Jerome church in the upper part of the old town
surrounded by the Belavista square, with low key terraces, not the screeming tourist type
The old town is really an old town, and once you get a little higher than the promenade, most tourist references have gone; most houses are actually for normal people to live in, not to rent out as an apartment. There are several small churches in town, a pleasant little square to have a coffee, and the so-called Sea Castle, bordering the coast, which is good for the views, but not very interesting otherwise.
parasol, just in case the sun holds out a little longer
All together a nice town, that even warrants an extra night, and some time on the ‘beach’, which in this part of the world, by lack of sand, consists again of concrete swimming platforms (like we saw in Piran), complete with a concrete diving board. Admittedly, the water of the Adriatic in early October was a little too cold for a dip that reached much further than my toe.
Herceg Novi does warrent an extra night….
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