Sutomore Beach

Getting there

Sutomore is one of the few beaches in Montenegro with a railway station behind it. The station is on the Bar-Belgrade line, one stop before Bar (station telephone +382 30 301 692); the timetable changes once a year in mid-December, and tickets have been sold online at tickets-zpcg.me since 21 July 2026. The Bar-Belgrade train page has the route and the fares. Buses between Bar and Sutomore are the short runs of intercity operators rather than a town bus; see buses in Montenegro for how tickets and stations work.

By car, without traffic: Bar 12 km (about 20 minutes), Petrovac 14 km (about 22 minutes), Virpazar on Skadar Lake 16.5 km (about 20 minutes), Budva 31 km (about 48 minutes), Podgorica Airport 39 km (about 47 minutes), Podgorica 46 km (about 55 minutes) and Tivat Airport 53 km (about 73 minutes). The road from Podgorica passes through the Sozina tunnel, which is tolled. Street parking in part of Sutomore is zone I of Parking servis Bar: €0.50 an hour, charged Monday to Friday 08:00-21:00 and Saturday 08:00-14:00, free outside those hours.

Sand, size and water

The beach is 1,200 m long and covers 56,000 m², sand along its whole length. The bathing season runs from May to October, when the bathing water is tested. The bathing area Centar (5A) has held the Blue Flag; Lancana (5E) and Coralia (5F) are in the pilot phase before a flag of their own. Local tradition credits the sand with easing rheumatic complaints, and older visitors still bury their legs in it for that reason.

Is Sutomore beach free?

Partly, by law. Every public bathing area in Montenegro must keep half of its length free of loungers and umbrellas and mark that half, so there is always room for your own towel; on the furnished half one umbrella with two loungers takes at least 8 m². A passage to the sea at least 1 m wide is left every 20 m, and a strip at least 3 m wide along the waterline stays clear. Hotel bathing areas may furnish their whole surface, with at least 10 m² per set, or 15 m² at five-star hotels. Lifeguards are posted at least one per 50 m of shore in July and August and one per 100 m in the other months of the season. Under the current rule the loungers on leased areas are free after 17:00 until closing only for citizens of Montenegro showing an ID; in earlier years that late-afternoon rule applied to everyone.

Facilities

Restaurants, cafés, fast food and souvenir shops run along the beach, and the leased bathing areas have beach bars, sunbeds and umbrellas and water sports. Everything in town is within a few minutes' walk of the sand, which is why Sutomore works without a car.

Haj-Nehaj fortress

The Haj-Nehaj fortress stands on a rocky hill at 225-230 m above Sutomore, about 10 km north-west of Bar. It is first mentioned in 1542; in 1555 it was held by two soldiers and a gunner, and in 1558 it could shelter 900 people. The small church of St Demetrius on the highest point inside the walls is probably older than the fortifications, a powder magazine sits above the eastern cliffs, and the entrance is on the west side. The walk up starts at the junction of the main road with the road to Maljevik beach: about 1 km one way, about 40 minutes and 170 m of ascent on a stony path; from the middle of Sutomore beach it is 3.0 km and about 37 minutes on foot. The fortress is an open ruin with no fee or opening hours, and parking at the foot is free.

Ratac

The wooded cape of Ratac closes the bay to the south, between Sutomore and Bar. On it are the ruins of a Benedictine abbey founded between the 9th and 11th centuries, first dedicated to St Michael and later to the Mother of God; the oldest surviving church is 11th-century, a royal charter of 1319 mentions the church, and an inscription of 1347 names an abbot. The Venetians made the abbey a fortress, the Ottomans sacked it in the 16th century, and artillery positions and bunkers built in the Second World War damaged it further. The two naturist areas are on this cape.

Naturist area

Sutomore's two official naturist areas are on the Ratac cape, between Sutomore and Bar, on the stretch of coast officially called Sutomore-Ćeskota-Zlatna obala. Area 5N2 (29 m) is a small cove on the north side of the cape, facing Zlatna obala and Sutomore, about 170 m north-north-east of the ruins of the Ratac monastery; concrete steps lead down to it. Area 5N3 (55 m) is the rocky shore on the south side of the cape, about 120 m east of the ruins, facing Crvena plaža. Both are about 400 m and 5 minutes on foot from the roadside parking on the cape, along dirt paths. Nothing is built at either, and entry is for naturists only.

Nearby

• Maljevik, the next cove north; Čanj and Kraljičina plaža further north.
• Crvena plaža (Red Beach) and Žukotrlica towards Bar, past the Ratac cape.
• Bar, with the port, the Old Town of Stari Bar and the end of the Bar-Belgrade railway.

Questions

Can I get to Sutomore by train?

Yes. Sutomore is a station on the Bar-Belgrade line, one stop before Bar, with the beach a short walk away; the timetable is at zpcg.me and tickets at tickets-zpcg.me.

Is Sutomore beach free?

Half of every public bathing area must stay free of loungers by law, so you can always use your own towel. Loungers on the leased areas are paid; under the current rule they are free after 17:00 only for citizens of Montenegro.

How far is Sutomore from Podgorica?

About 46 km by road through the Sozina tunnel, about 55 minutes without traffic; Podgorica Airport is 39 km away. The train from Podgorica stops at Sutomore too.

How do I get up to Haj-Nehaj?

On foot only: about 40 minutes and 170 m of climbing up a stony path from the Maljevik road junction. There is no fee.

Is it sand?

Yes, along its whole 1,200 m.